Tennessee Becomes First U.S. State to Introduce Gun Safety Classes in Schools: What Will Be Taught to Children in 2025?

Tennessee has set a precedent by making it the first state to require gun safety education for public school students starting in kindergarten. Taking effect in the 2025-2026 school year, the new law will provide firearm safety education for five-year-olds. Designed to prevent accidental harm with firearms' by teaching students to identify, keep away from, and engage with firearms rather than promoting gun ownership or gun use, the program hopes to limit the chances of firearm related injury and death.

Proponents argue that teaching children vital skills in households with firearms is an important life-saving lesson. However, critics have raised concerns regarding parental opt-out's backward approach and the type of emotional impact that activities on gun safety would evoke in young learners. The legislation has stirred up a national debate about thousands of access to guns, has now become a debate robust in safety, responsibility, and education.  

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What Will Children Be Taught?

The new program will provide firearm safety education from kindergarten to 12th grade at an age-appropriate pace and level, every year.

The curriculum will be neutral, apolitical, and strictly educational.

For people between kindergarten and third grade, the focus will be on general awareness and safety principles such as:

• Recognizing a real gun versus a toy gun
• Understanding what a trigger is and what a barrel is
• Understanding what to do if they find a gun (the common safety rule: Stop, Don’t Touch it, Leave the Area, Tell an Adult)
• Understanding guns are dangerous and that they aren’t to be played with

For older students, they will participate in more detailed lessons regarding gun safety at home, storage, and making responsible decisions surrounding guns.

Importantly, no real loaded firearms will be a part of the training at all. The lessons will involve illustrations, video, and discussion-based learning for each age level.

Mixed Responses from Parents and Educators

The law has ignited a clash between parents, educators, and advocacy groups. The supporters consider the law as a no-brainer public safety initiative, alongside teaching fire drills or crossing the street. Supporters also emphasize the notion that if you can teach kids to respond to firearms, you can help save lives, especially in a state with the highest gun ownership rates.

Of course, there are critiques, including:

• No opt-out provision for parents abstaining on their child’s behalf,
• Gun safety education is a parental function, not public education,
• Teaching kindergarten and first grade students about firearms could cause anxiety or trauma.

Civil rights and education groups question whether the law attempts to take control of the real problem, unsafe gun storage by adults and place the onus on children to safeguard themselves.

Tennessee’s Gun Safety Law: Why It’s Happening Now?

As the law takes effect, the concern over the number of accidental shootings involving children in the U.S. is at an all-time high. In Tennessee specifically, the number of accidents in which a child shoots themselves or someone else involving an unsecured handgun in a home is overwhelming. We typically see reports of at least one accidental shooting per week, which is alarming and there appear to be no signs of it decreasing. 

The proponents of the bill say they are not pushing for gun use or ownership, but they want to teach children about situations where a gun might be accessed at their own home, at a friend's house, or even in public. 

Supporters say they are working to address the ongoing issue and that education is one of the greatest tools for reducing preventable injuries and deaths.