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Some states are requiring gun safety lessons in schools that teach kids ‘stop, don’t touch’

This school year, public schools in Arkansas, Tennessee and Utah will teach children as young as 5 the basics of gun safety and proper home gun storage across all grade levels.
Many children in the U.S. grow up around firearms, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found guns were the leading cause of death among children and teens in 2022, while Arkansas and Tennessee exceed the national average in firearm deaths.
Classroom materials range from Tennessee lesson materials like stickers, games, quizzes, videos, jingles to a relay-race game at Berclair Elementary School, Memphis, where a class of 16 fifth graders learned to stop, don't touch, leave quickly, and tell an adult.
Organizers say the lessons may encourage families, but some gun-control advocates argue teaching children shifts responsibility from adults, while only Utah allows students to opt out if parents request.
Gun legislation is a partisan issue across the U.S., with Republican lawmakers sponsoring bills in Arkansas, Tennessee and Utah, while a similar law in Arizona was vetoed by the Democratic governor and school districts control lesson plans and instructors.

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