Gov. Laura Kelly rejects bill to increase uptake of NRA gun safety program in schools

Gov. Laura Kelly rejected Friday a bill that would have expanded a National Rifle Association-backed gun safety program in Kansas schools, arguing the measure oversteps on the authority of state and local education policymakers.

Kelly's veto of the bill comes after a series of high-profile mass shootings in other states in recent weeks, with critics of the measure believing the training does not work and comes at the expense of more robust gun control measures to require safe storage of firearms and limit the sale of high-powered weapons.

Under House Bill 2304, school districts would not be required to teach gun safety. But if they were to choose to do so, younger students would need to be taught using the NRA's Eddie Eagle program or curriculum that has similar aims, with the Kansas State Board of Education establishing the curriculum guidelines.

High school students would use a hunter safety course developed by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.

Kelly vetoed a similar bill in 2021.

"This bill is yet again an act of legislative overreach, an attempt to override our locally elected leaders and insert partisan politics into our children’s education.," Kelly wrote in her 2023 veto message.

Kansas Republicans not saying whether they will try to override veto

Her actions drew stiff criticism from legislative Republicans, but House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, stopped short of pledging a veto override attempt.

“It’s clear that with the veto of the Eddie Eagle GunSafe fire-arm safety bill, Governor Kelly cares more about scoring political points simply talking about gun safety rather than taking action to actually increase the safety of our children around firearms," Hawkins said in a statement.

The policy has been a longtime aim of gun rights advocates, including the Kansas State Rifle Association, who argue the program is a way of exposing young children to gun safety, with a flock of cartoon birds encouraging students to follow a series of instructions if they find a gun in their household.

Rep. Doug Blex, R-Independence, said the program's message was "benign" and that it was appropriate for younger kids.

"We've always had a void (for education) with the young kids and a lot of hunting accidents and a lot of kids that aren't familiar with any kind of a firearm," Blex said. "I see people are going from the rural to the urban and less familiarity with firearms than when I was growing up."

But researchers have long raised concerns about whether the program actually satisfies its aims. A 2004 study found that children could recite slogans from the curriculum but “were unable to perform the skills” when prompted in a role-playing scenario.

Debate in Kansas came a day after mass shooting at Nashville school

Legislators debated the bill in the Kansas Senate a day after three children and three adults were killed at a shooting in a Nashville Christian school. Democrats unsuccessfully attempted to allow school districts to also use curriculum promoted by the gun control group Everytown For Gun Safety, with Republicans labeling it as "propaganda."

"I'm very concerned that the Eddie Eagle program gives adults a false sense of security that you have helped your children understand how to use guns," said Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence.

Concern over the bill has been bipartisan, with lawmakers not even attempting to override Kelly's 2021 veto. While the Senate had the requisite two-thirds supermajority to overturn Kelly in 2021, three GOP members of the Kansas House — Reps. Michael Dodson, R-Manhattan, Mark Schreiber, R-Emporia, and Chuck Smith, R-Pittsburg — voted against the measure to leave that body shy of the threshold needed to override.

"Where are the bills that actually do something?" Dodson said on the House floor. "Where are the bills that would advocate for safe storage, for trigger locks, for electronic safety systems?"

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas Gov. Kelly vetoes NRA program expansion amid mass shootings