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Public school students in Arkansas will soon be required to take gun safety courses as new state laws come into effect.
Last week, the Arkansas State Senate passed a bill to provide age-appropriate firearms safety instruction to students.
The state’s Department of Education will be working with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to develop a plan.
The new rule comes under Act 229, also known as House Bill 1117.
It will require public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools to provide students with annual instruction on firearm safety.
The bill’s sponsors say the idea came from conversations among neighbors.
Republican State Rep. Scott Richardson explains:
“All of our children play together and invade whatever home happens to be the play of the day.”
“And in that process, they may go into a neighbor’s home and discover that unsecured firearm, and how would they react?”