Mandatory school gun safety training course clears House panel
Four-term state Rep. Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, who is a retired police officer, said a mandatory one-hour annual firearms safety training course for all K-12 public school students would help the state respond to dangerous permissive videos youths see about guns on social media.
'Go on TikTok or YouTube and the gun glorification culture our young people are being exposed to is awful,' said Roy, who chairs the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.
'What is the countermeasure to that? We need to meet children where they are and that's at school.'
Critics maintain some studies have concluded the courses from the National Rifle Association and other advocacy groups don't make children any more prepared to deal with guns in a real-life scenario, such as a school shooting.
'Let's call this bill what it is; an attempted jobs bill for gun lobbyists and firearm dealers,' said Zandra Rice Hawkins, a leader in Common Sense New Hampshire, a left-of-center group that supports gun-control legislation.
Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, said it's the height of hypocrisy for a leader in the Republican-led Legislature to champion a gun-safety course for children when lawmakers have rejected countless proposals for adults, such as firearm waiting periods, closing background check loopholes and 'red flag' laws that allow a judge to seize the weapons of someone judged as a danger to himself or others.
'The content of this program I find personally offensive. This Legislature has refused to take any action on firearm protection. We have done nothing to increase safety in this state when it comes to firearm violence,' Altschiller said.
'Normalizing firearms in kindergarten inside the school when we do nothing to promote safety outside the school is inappropriate and outrageous.'
Roy's committee voted 9-6 to attach the amendment to a popular Senate-passed bill that would raise the penalty for those accused of drunk or drugged driving who refuse to take a blood alcohol content (BAC) test along the roadside (SB 54).
Safety Commissioner Robert Quinn has said this is the most important in a package of bills his team is promoting to deal with a rise in those engaging in hyper-speed, distracted and impaired driving on state highways.
Roy also tweaked the refusal to consent bill to enhance an incentive for motorists who agree to take the BAC test after they're pulled over.
His changes would allow someone who gets drug counseling to ask a judge to reduce the license suspension period by nine months.
Drivers who have BAC analyzed under Roy's plan could also seek a 'Cinderella' license while under suspension. This would permit them to drive from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. as long as they agree to install an ignition interlock device that won't allow the car to start if the driver is impaired.
'These alterations would add more of a carrot while still retaining the stick of longer suspension and loss of license for those who refuse to consent,' Roy said.
On the firearm training course, leaders of the pro-gun control Moms Demand Action turned out to oppose Roy's idea. One of them was Gabrielle Rothstein, a student at the University of North Carolina and Chapel Hill who dealt with shooting threats at Portsmouth High School.
'I have lived through the fear which this bill ignores,' Rothstein said. 'The root of gun violence in schools isn't a lack of knowledge; it is the choice to provide harm.'
The bill makes a reference to Eddie Eagle GunSafe, the NRA course started in 1998 that has been taught to 30 million children.
'This is the number one priority of the NRA this legislative session,' said Justin Davis, state director of the NRA. 'It is critical for gun safety for the state of New Hampshire.'
Roy said it's only an example and the bill expressly directs the state departments of Education and Safety to come up with a curriculum by next Jan. 1 to be introduced in the 2026-27 school year.
State educators must provide materials for the courses at no cost to the local school districts.
The proposal requires all study be 'age appropriate.'
Live firearms and ammunition are not permitted on school grounds for the courses, but they would permit 'dummy firearms' or 'multimedia resources.'
All schools must offer the course, but any parent could opt out of having their child be involved.
Rep. Heather Raymond, D-Nashua, dealt with this controversy as an eight-year member of the Nashua Board of Education when the junior ROTC program wanted to start an air rifle competition team.
The board held three public hearings, took more than 10 hours of testimony and came up with an off-site program that was opt-in, meaning a parent had to volunteer to have their child take part or they could not.
'Since this started in 2019, we have not heard another word about it,' Raymond said.
'Nothing prohibits any school district to offer a gun safety course, I get an email from NRA every month offering this training. I would really encourage you making this an opt-in program given the sensitivity about this topic.'
What's Next: The bill comes to the full House and is likely to pass given support for gun rights among its rank-and-file members.
Prospects: Roy has tacked this onto a bill Senate GOP leaders consider a must pass and it will be up to them to decide whether to accept this marriage or seek a conference committee to try and settle their differences.
klandrigan@unionleader.com
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