UP Gazette

State Representative Karl Bohnak has advanced a legislative plan to introduce firearm safety programs in schools. On Wednesday, Bohnak led the effort to pass House Bill 4285, which aims to create an elective firearm safety program available to all schools in Michigan.

"Hunting heritage runs deep in the Upper Peninsula," stated Bohnak, R-Deerton. "However, in recent years, fewer and fewer people have taken up the tradition and become hunters. If we can equip students with the training they need to be hunters, maybe we can reignite a love of the outdoors in kids throughout the U.P. and across Michigan."

The proposed program would be developed by the Michigan Department of Education and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR). It would cover topics such as proper usage and handling of firearms, safe cleaning and maintenance of firearms, different types of firearms, and safe hunting practices.

"Every hunter in Michigan is required to have undergone one of these courses," Bohnak noted. "It’s important that people understand the basics of handling a firearm before going out into the woods. However, it’s also important that we make these courses easily accessible for would-be-hunters. By putting these classes in schools, we’re clearing a path for thousands of future hunters who may never have become one otherwise."

The instruction must comply with DNR's requirements for safe firearm handling and be conducted by a certified hunter-education instructor from DNR. Local school boards could offer this course as part of physical education or as an optional extracurricular activity. Students would have the option to opt out without any academic penalty.

Should this bill gain Senate approval and receive gubernatorial assent, schools might start offering hunter's safety programming as early as this fall.