Gun safety becomes homework: Here's which US states now require schools to teach it

A new kind of classroom lesson is emerging across parts of the United States, one that moves beyond mathematics, science, and social studies. This school year, students as young as five in several states are being formally taught what to do if they come across a firearm.

Arkansas, Tennessee, and Utah have become the first states to pass laws mandating gun safety lessons in public schools. The new requirement extends from elementary to high school levels, marking a significant expansion of the classroom’s role in addressing the realities of gun culture in America. Of the three, only Utah’s legislation allows parents or guardians to opt their children out of the programme.

Lessons in caution
The new curriculum focuses on what educators describe as “foundational safety knowledge” rather than instruction in firearm use. In Tennessee, for example, classroom activities include games, quizzes, and short animated videos featuring colourful illustrations and simplified messages such as “stop, do not touch, leave quickly, and tell an adult,” the Associated Press reports

While these lessons are adapted from hunter safety courses, they exclude any practical handling or firing of weapons. In Tennessee, the use of real firearms in schools is explicitly prohibited. In Arkansas, however, parents may opt for alternative off-campus programmes that can involve live firearms under supervised instruction.

At one Memphis elementary school, nearly every fifth-grade student said they had seen a real gun, a response that underscored the widespread exposure of children to firearms in some communities. Educators argue that this reality makes such lessons necessary, even if they are controversial, AP reports.

A politically charged initiative

The introduction of these laws has reignited America’s long-running debate over gun control and the responsibilities of the state. Republicans have led and supported the education bills in the three states, while Democratic lawmakers have largely opposed similar proposals elsewhere.

An attempt to pass comparable legislation in Arizona was vetoed by the state’s Democratic governor. Meanwhile, at least five other states have introduced similar proposals, signalling a broader trend of bringing gun safety education into public classrooms.

Proponents of the move, including the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Voices for a Safer Tennessee, a nonpartisan group formed after the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, argue that early education could prevent tragedies. The latter organisation told AP that introducing safety conversations at school might encourage parents to store firearms more securely at home.

The legislation in all three states requires that any gun-related curriculum maintain a neutral stance on broader issues such as gun ownership or rights.

Critics question the approach
Despite bipartisan support for improving child safety, critics contend that the new curriculum shifts responsibility away from adults. Gun control advocates, including policy experts at Everytown for Gun Safety, told AP that teaching children to avoid guns does little to address the root causes of firearm-related deaths — unsafe storage, lax background checks, and widespread access to weapons.

Data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that firearms are now the leading cause of death among children and teenagers nationwide. Both Arkansas and Tennessee record rates of youth firearm deaths that exceed the national average, according to AP.

Advocates of tighter gun control argue that meaningful prevention lies not in classroom awareness but in legislation that holds adults accountable for securing their weapons.

A new kind of civic lesson
The debate reflects a deeper national divide, one between teaching children to adapt to America’s gun reality and changing that reality altogether. For now, thousands of students will leave school each year not just with homework and report cards, but with a new set of safety instructions: stop, do not touch, leave quickly, tell an adult.