Since the tragic events of the Columbine High School massacre, hundreds of school shootings have occurred throughout the United States. These attacks not only inflict many children and young adults with injury and death but scar the minds of thousands of others.

Despite efforts to address these issues, they nonetheless persist. We, as Americans and U students, are perpetually vulnerable to the looming threat of gun violence. Consequently, we must be critical and attentive to the solutions presented by Utah legislators.

H.B. 498, sponsored by Rep. Brett Garner (D-West Valley), is a misguided attempt to address gun violence and presents an out-of-touch, superficial solution to an urgent problem.

Rep. Garner’s Plan

H.B. 498, introduced to the Utah Legislature earlier this month, proposes a pilot program for an elective firearm safety course in select Utah high schools. The course covers safety rules, firearm operation, marksmanship and suicide prevention.

In an interview with the Daily Utah Chronicle, Garner explained that the policies of countries like Switzerland and Israel inspired him to sponsor this bill. According to Garner, these countries have more robust mental health and background check systems, but those policies are “tougher things to get through Utah’s legislature.” Therefore, co-opting the firearm education policy from these countries seemed, to him, a wise workaround.

While instructors are limited to using non-firing replicas on school grounds, the course allows students to discharge real weapons at a shooting range. The bill outlines, however, little-to-no enrollment or background check process. Students who enroll in the class must attend a pre-course meeting with parents and only need a parent’s consent to move forward through the course.

If the bill passes, the State Board of Education would choose three schools that wish to participate in the program. The chosen LEA schools will be eligible to receive grants to fund the development and gather the supplies necessary for the course. Schools may also use the funds the state grants to contract third-party providers for supplies and curriculums.

It’s worth noting that H.B. 498 is not the first attempt to bring firearm safety to schools. H.B. 258, introduced in 2021, is practically identical to H.B. 498. It didn’t get out of Congress, and neither should H.B. 498.

The Holes in HB 498

At its core, H.B. 498 relies on the idea that teaching children about firearm safety will prevent violence and suicide. However, this view fails to take into account a few crucial details. While requiring training for prospective gun owners may reduce rates of violence, children and teens often don’t apply what they learn about gun safety. Most school shooters and young victims of suicide are getting their weapons from home. Teaching teens marksmanship and firearm operation won’t stop that. It’s antithetical to the bill’s primary goal. The best way we can prevent children from misusing firearms is to stop them from gaining access to weapons in the first place.

The bill doesn’t solely fail at a rudimentary level, either. As was pointed out by past legislators when Rep. Rex Shipp (R- Cedar City) initially presented this idea, H.B. 498 presents potential liability issues for the state. The lack of background checks or mental health screenings also compounds this issue. An irresponsible or violent student could easily endanger classmates and instructors during a class trip to a firing range. In a state that continually alienates and strips students of their rights, we need to take this issue seriously. The blood of a shooter’s victims would not be on their murderer’s hands alone, but on our state’s as well.

Furthermore, the bill would have Utahns pay for what hunter-safety courses already provide, which participants and the federal government fund. To burden citizens with an unnecessary, costly system unneeded for civic and professional success instead of pursuing what is known to work is wasteful and wrong.

Lastly, to co-opt a policy from countries with wildly different attitudes toward guns and mental healthcare systems is a thoughtless blunder. It is akin to feeding a horse gasoline because we know it works for cars. We cannot expect similar outcomes without working from a similar starting point.

What Needs to be Done

If we genuinely wish to ensure the safety of our students, we need to prioritize the mental health of students and enforce proper gun storage. It is simple to grasp. A majority of Americans agree that how we handle guns is problematic, but our legislators, including Rep. Garner, continually refuse to sponsor appropriate policies.

Further, providing more civic and ethical education would better produce active citizens than funneling money into creating more interest in unrestrained gun ownership ever would.

The young people of America feel hopeless and isolated. We must give them the tools to connect with their communities and sow the seeds of compassion and rationality in their hearts and minds. Until we address and fix these issues, firearm safety courses are valueless.

Right now, gun violence unnecessarily plagues the learning environment. Unless we address the root causes of this violence and hate, firearm safety can’t fix this issue; it may even worsen it.

Legislators need to take responsibility and bite the bullet: regulate gun storage, prioritize mental health and create good citizens, not future gun owners.

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@JeffLangleyII