Safe Firearm Storage Information: District Distribution Requirements

Texas school districts and open-enrollment charter schools are required to provide parents and guardians with information and resources concerning the safe storage of firearms.

What’s Required?

Texas Education Code §37.222 requires the Texas School Safety Center, in collaboration with the Texas Department of Public Safety, to provide schools with resources addressing:

• The offense of making a firearm accessible to a child under Texas Penal Code §46.13; and
• Ways parents and guardians can effectively prevent children from accessing firearms.

Districts and open-enrollment charter schools must distribute this information to the parent or guardian of every enrolled student at least three times during each school year.

The Texas School Safety Center recommends distributing the information:

• At the beginning of the school year;
• Before holidays and extended school breaks; and
• At the end of the school year.

Districts should document when and how each distribution is completed. Distribution may be incorporated into existing parent communications, such as district emails, newsletters, parent portals, or other established communication systems.

Policy Reference

For districts using the TASB localized policy manual, this requirement is addressed in:

CKC(LEGAL) — Safety Program/Risk Management: Emergency Plans, under the heading of Safe Firearm Storage.

Districts should review their current policy manual and related administrative procedures to ensure responsibility for the three required annual distributions is clearly assigned.

Compliance Resources

The following state resources may be used to support the required parent communications:

• Texas School Safety Center Safe Gun Storage Information (includes templates for parent letters in Spanish and English)
• Keep ’Em Safe Texas, a Texas Department of Public Safety campaign offering downloadable firearm-storage information and materials

Districts may use these materials as provided or incorporate them into locally developed communications, provided the information required by Texas Education Code §37.222 is included.