Starting this upcoming school year students in Johnson City Schools will learn how to handle one of the most serious safety issues in the state: guns. This will be incorporated by a four phase method: “Stop, Don’t Touch, Leave the Area, and Tell an Adult.” These rules are for younger students and expands to topics such as safe storage and firearm identification for older students. This whole process has stemmed from the 2024 Tennessee state law requiring annual firearm safety instruction for all public school students within the 2025-2026 school year.
A question you might be wondering: do we really need this law? The law was first incorporated with the hopes of preventing accidental shootings and firearm related deaths, as Tennessee has had a high number of deaths from accidental shootings by children in recent years. Public schools will make this mandatory learning for all K-12 students. The curriculum, developed by the state, teaches students what to do if they come across a firearm, how to recognize differences between toys and real guns, and the importance of notifying an adult, without using the live weapon. Schools have the flexibility to determine how they want to implement the curriculum. A local news agency, WJHL broadcasting, has also been exploring all the implications of the new law. They quote the main points as follows:
- Safe storage of firearms;
- School safety relating to firearms;
- How to avoid injury if the student finds a firearm;
- To never touch a found firearm
- To immediately notify an adult of the location of a found firearm
Everytown Research goes on further to discuss the law when they found a staggering statistic: “According to data from Everytown and the Tennessee Department of Health, the state recorded 158 unintentional shootings by children between 2015 to 2023.” This really demonstrates a problem that clearly needs to be addressed, and the state is hoping the new requirement for schools will help diminish these statistics.
What does the public think about the new law? Mixed opinions have been given throughout the state on whether they appreciate this law or not. Some families in Nashville have stated that they don’t mind at all that their children are learning these requirements. For example, according to News Channel 5 in Nashville,”Jenniffer Manhart says she doesn’t mind that all three of her children will get a refresher at school this year. ‘Me and my husband are both carriers, and they see them, and we just tell them it’s not a toy. You don’t touch it, and we keep them locked up,’ she said. ‘With the laws here in Tennessee, it’s very common that a lot of homes and families do have guns, and kids are curious,’ she went on. ‘And if they understand the severity of it, then I think there would be less bad outcomes.’” Manhart’s viewpoint shows one of the more positive takes on the new law. On the contrary, some parents are not fully on board with the idea. Olivia Bradford, a parent who thinks that kids should not have to even worry about this concept at such a young age has quoted according to WBIR 10 News,“‘It’s scary… I don’t really know how to feel,’ said Bradford. ‘I think kids need to be kids. They need to just go to school and learn.’” Not everyone is on board for the bill and this quote proves that.
This new school year will have its gun safety requirements incorporated everywhere in the state of Tennessee; in hopes of the statistics stated earlier to decline significantly. Only time will tell if this approach will truly make a difference, but one thing is for certain-gun safety has become part of students’ curriculum. Whether people agree with this law or not, the goal remains the same: keep children safe inside and outside of school.
