Gun Safety in Schools

20-7-132. Firearms safety education. The trustees of a district are encouraged to establish and maintain a firearms safety education course. The trustees may adopt a course of instruction developed by the department of fish, wildlife, and parks, a law enforcement agency, or a firearms association as its firearms safety education course. Instructors from the department of fish, wildlife, and parks, a law enforcement agency, or a firearms association or a person recognized by the trustees as having expertise in firearms safety education may be used to provide the instruction.

Gun safety in schools

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 15 (1991)

A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA SUPPORTING FIREARMS SAFETY TRAINING FOR SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN IN MONTANA.

WHEREAS, of the 50 states, Montana has the second highest percentage of residents purchasing hunting licenses, and

WHEREAS, as many as 85% of Montana households are estimated to contain firearms, and

WHEREAS, improper or unsupervised use or handling of firearms by children can be hazardous, and

WHEREAS, a small, but unfortunate and preventable, number of children in Montana are the victims of unnecessary firearms accidents each year, and

WHEREAS, the right of Montana citizens to keep and bear arms is a right guaranteed under both the Montana Constitution and the United States Constitutions, and

WHEREAS, it is expected that Montana citizens will continue to have a high level of private ownership of firearms, and

WHEREAS, safety training for other life hazard or injury hazard topics, such as fire escape, is currently conducted in elementary schools, and

WHEREAS, widespread firearms safety training for school-age children could result in a significant reduction in firearm-related injuries and deaths among Montana children;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

That the Montana Legislature encourage the provision of firearms safety training for school-age children in Montana through cooperation between school districts and appropriate local organizations that represent the shooting and sporting community in Montana. The cooperation should include:

(1) The dissemination of information on firearms safety;

(2) Information on the availability of firearms safety training programs offered by the appropriate local organizations; and

(3) An offer by school districts of use of a school facility during after-school hours for any firearms safety training program offered by an appropriate local organization that represents the shooting and sporting community.