An Act to promote safe firearm storage education and increase the well-being of students

194th Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Jason Lewis

The bill would require schools to publish multilingual, model safe firearm storage education and suicide prevention resources for families and staff annually.

House concurred

Overview

SD 1304 proposes adding a new section to Chapter 71 of the General Laws to advance safe firearm storage education in Massachusetts schools. The bill emphasizes informing school communities about secure storage practices, suicide prevention, and related resources, with content published in multiple languages and distributed annually by school districts.

Status: House concurred (introduced in the 2025-2026 session; previously referred to the Education Committee).
Introduced: February 27, 2025.

What the bill would do

Create model content on safe firearm storage for school communities.

Require dissemination of this information to students’ families, guardians, and staff, and make it electronically accessible on district websites.

Ensure model content highlights:

The life-saving importance of secure storage to prevent access by unsupervised children and teens.
Risks to children, teens, schools, and the wider community from unsecured firearms.
Actions everyone can take to enhance community safety, including awareness of secure storage requirements (referencing the storage requirements in section 131L of chapter 140) and suicide prevention/behavioral health resources.

Publish the model content in English and multiple other languages chosen to reflect local community needs, with annual department review.

Require school districts to collaborate (superintendent and school committee) to annually distribute a notice based on this model to the school community and to maintain access on the district webpage.

Key provisions and language

New statutory addition: Section 99 to Chapter 71.

Content scope: safe firearm storage, community safety actions, storage requirements, suicide prevention resources, and additional behavioral health/educational resources.

Accessibility: multilingual publication; district websites host the information.

Review cycle: annual review by the state department to update the model content.

Who would be affected

State: Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (for consultation).

Local governments: Public school districts in Massachusetts.

School entities: Superintendents, school committees, district staff.

School communities: Students' families/guardians, staff, and other members of the school community.

General public: Communities receive ongoing information and resources related to safe storage and suicide prevention.

Implementation and timeline

Implementation hinges on the adoption of the new Section 99 standards.

Annual cycle: DESE updates the model content; districts must disseminate notices annually and keep information accessible online.

Language alignment: content published in English plus other languages determined by the department.

Context and notes

References existing firearm storage provisions (section 131L of chapter 140) within the awareness framework.

Similar matter previously filed in the 2023-2024 session (Senate No. 305).

The bill balances safety education with ongoing district outreach requirements without prescribing district-specific curricula.

This summary captures the bill’s core aims, requirements, and potential local impact to help readers understand how SD 1304 would influence school communications and safety resources.

Bill