Arizona bill could require gun safety classes for K-12 students

PHOENIX - Starting next year, students in Arizona K-12 schools may be receiving annual firearm safety classes, if a bill currently working its way through the statehouse this session is signed into law.

What we know:

Gun safety classes for students as young as 5 years old are at the heart of the debate at the Arizona statehouse over Senate Bill 1424. The bill would require all school districts and charter schools to provide annual gun safety instruction to K-12 students. 

Supporters compare the education to water safety classes.

"We try to do everything we can to keep our kids safe around pools. Same thing with fire, mandating fire drills and stop, drop and roll when I was a kid. All we're trying to do is keep our kids safe," Michael Infanzon, Chief Lobbyist for the Arizona Citizens Defense League, said.

The bill does not involve any students touching or learning to handle a gun. However, the opposition believes there are more effective gun laws to pass in Arizona before bringing the topic into a classroom.

The other side:

"How many times have we told a child not to touch something, only to turn around and see them do exactly that?" said Lora Bell Newton, a volunteer for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

"This bill is for non-partisan education," Infanzon said.

Those against the bill want more onus placed on parents.

"We should not place adult responsibilities on young children," Newton said. "The responsibility to keep firearms safely stored and out of reach should always rest with adults."

Local perspective:

Safe storage laws and the voluntary "Be SMART" program were brought up by Rep. Stephanie Simacek.

"It teaches the parent the importance of lock-safe storage and the program also aims to hand out free gun locks to parents," Simacek said.

Simacek’s push for the program also took place at a Deer Valley Unified School District meeting last week, where she serves as a board member.

"I would like to once again have the opportunity for that program, that organization, to come and speak to the board as an agenda item," Simacek said.

Dig deeper:

The proposed training would include safe storage information, and no firearms or ammunition would be present in the classroom.

"If you come across a firearm, doesn't matter whether it's at your home, a friend's home, on the street. Don't touch it, get away from it, go tell an adult. That's all this is," Infanzon said.

The opposition argues the training would not be necessary if other steps were taken in Arizona homes.

"If we are storing our firearms properly, we don't even have to have this second conversation. Children simply would not have access," Newton said.

What's next:

The bill still has to pass through a full House vote before it can reach Gov. Hobbs' desk. 

To read the full bill text along with findings from a 2002 study that looked into the success of these classes, click here.