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- HB104 would mandate firearm safety instruction in Utah public schools for K-12 students.
- Rep. Rex Shipp, the bill's sponsor, emphasized preventing accidental shootings, while critics question schools' role in and available time for teaching firearm safety.
- The bill passed committee with an opt-out clause, but some prefer an opt-in approach.
SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would require the Utah State Board of Education to establish standards for mandated firearm safety instruction in public schools for K-12 students advanced through a Utah House committee this week.
Utah code already says firearm safety can be taught in schools, but it's optional. HB104, sponsored by Rep. Rex Shipp, R-Cedar City, would make doing so a requirement.
During a hearing for the bill, Shipp said that he knows firearm safety is a part of many Utah kids' lives while growing up, but not for everyone. And he sponsored the bill with those kids in mind.
"It's a critical thing. Kids that have not grown up around firearms, whether it's hunting or shooting with their families, they need to know how simple it is to be safe with a firearm," Shipp said, referencing accidental shootings as a primary motivator of the bill.
Shipp said this instruction could be as simple as a 15 to 20-minute video about firearm safety, adding that he could see school resource officers and different law enforcement agencies being involved in the instruction.
Through the bill, all public schools would be required to provide firearm safety instruction to every student once per school year, from kindergarten through sixth grade, and for every student at least once while the student is attending middle school and at least once while the student is attending high school.
While all of the lawmakers seemed to agree that firearm safety education is important, they weren't sure if it's the responsibility of schools to teach students about it, especially with "so many hours in a day" that are usually devoted to more standard instruction.
"There's nothing in this bill that is not important, but I also am the parent, and I have to teach my kids those things, too. And I can't expect the school to teach them everything," Rep. Karen Peterson, R-Clinton, said during the bill's first reading in January. "I understand that some parents might not know about guns, but there's lots of things I don't, kind of, know about as a parent, but I still have that responsibility."
Lexi Cunningham, who spoke on behalf of the Utah School Boards Association and the Utah School Superintendents Association, raised concerns over how much time teachers will have to carve out for various safety related programs.
Other folks see HB014 as essential for the safety of Utah's children.
"We have a responsibility to protect our most vulnerable citizens from harm, and yet, every day we hear tragic accidents and senseless violence involving guns that claim lives of innocent children," said Jeff Jarrett, who runs a local nonprofit called Harley's Angels. "It's time for us to take action. It's time for us to bring gun safety education into our school system. We owe it to our children to teach them the importance of handling firearms responsibly and the devastating consequences of gun accidents."
It's a topic that hits close to home for Jarrett, too. That's because Harley's Angels was inspired by Jarrett's son, Harley Jarrett, who, at the age of 17, was accidentally shot and killed by his friend while looking at a firearm.
"If we can get this done today, it's going to be like Christmas (and) my birthday all in one," Jarrett said.
Under the bill, parents would have the option to opt out of firearm instruction for their students, though Shipp said that if it were up to him, he would make it mandatory.
This was another point of contention that came up during discussions around the bill, with parents and educators alike saying they'd like to see the bill as an "opt in" program.
"I would suggest that this becomes an opt-in bill instead of an opt-out," said Julie King, Alpine School District board member. "I think we would be supportive of a situation in which we make school space available for free for that instruction to happen in the evening so parents can choose to attend those, potentially attend with their children, and that can have a higher level of parental involvement, too."
After more debate, the bill eventually passed out of the committee with a favorable recommendation, with House Minority Whip Sahara Hayes, D-Salt Lake City, and Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, casting the lone votes in opposition.
However, both expressed their support in educating children about firearm safety and said they'd be willing to change their votes on the floor if some of the issues they have with the bill can get ironed out.
