RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A bill that would require Virginia school boards to annually notify parents of their responsibility to safely store firearms has passed the House of Delegates, with its next stop being Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk.
The measure passed the state Senate in early February with minimal Republican support. Delegates voted similarly, with three House Republicans joining almost all House Democrats in support of the bill — though one Democrat and three Republicans did not vote at all.
Senate Bill 255 would require all local school boards to both develop and implement a policy of annually informing parents of their “legal responsibility to safely store any firearm present in the household,” according to the bill’s text.
“In the wake of tragedies like we saw in Newport News and more recently in Oakland County,
Michigan, it’s vital that parents know they are responsible and will be held accountable for
ensuring they do everything they can to keep weapons stored safely and inaccessible to their
children,” said Stella Pekarsky (D-Fairfax), one of the bill’s patrons, in a press release. “I will continue to take every opportunity and use every avenue to ensure that no family has to know the pain of an empty seat at their dinner table because of gun violence. We owe that to our children.”
In the state of Virginia, reckless storage of a firearm in a household with a child under 14 is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Part of what these notifications hope to achieve is letting parents know about these potential criminal charges, should they not store their firearms safely.
According to the bill’s text, alongside reminding parents about their responsibility and the relevant state law, schools would also need to provide the following information in these annual notifications:
- The importance of safe firearm storage in both homes and vehicles
- The importance of modeling safe behavior with firearms for children
- How to discuss the presence of unsecured firearms in the homes of others
- Information on firearm-related accidents, injuries and deaths, including:
- The role of firearms in suicides, including the suicides of children
- Tips and resources on how to help a child that may be a risk to themself or others
- Current statistics published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on youth firearm fatality rates
“There is a gun violence epidemic in our schools and in our communities,” Pekarsky said. “Too many children have easy access to weapons. The goal is to ensure that we can share information about the importance of safely storing weapons with as many families as possible.”
Gov. Youngkin will have the opportunity to either sign this measure into law or veto it in the coming weeks.
