Loudoun County Public Schools will update its student handbook with information about parents’ legal obligation to safely secure guns, as part of a resolution the school board passed Tuesday night.
The Gun Safety Storage Resolution, which board members in the Northern Virginia district approved unanimously, comes in the aftermath of recent school shootings in Georgia and Maryland, plus a series of unsubstantiated threats to schools in Loudoun.
Those incidents, board member April Chandler said, have prompted community members to inquire about what more can be done to keep schools safe.
“There’s no denying that the fear of gun violence at school has an impact on our students,” Chandler said. “This fear is hurting our kids.”
In Virginia, it’s against the law for anyone to leave a loaded, unsecured firearm out in a way that could endanger a child under 14 years old. The penalty for doing that is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Now, as part of the resolution, the school division will update the student handbook with information about parents’ responsibility to safely secure guns.
A notification will also be sent to parents and guardians, detailing why it’s important to store guns securely and explaining the legal obligation to protect kids from guns that aren’t stored properly.
“The facts show that a lot of people are not responsibly storing their firearms in a safe way,” board member Anne Donohue said. “Which is why I think it is appropriate for the division to put out some of that information to the community, just like we do about the opioid crisis, the mental health crisis, just like we do about other threats to the safety and security of our children and the families in our county.”
Information won’t be collected from parents, Chandler said. The school district also isn’t collecting information about gun ownership, she added.
“It’s a nearly no-cost communication to educate the community,” Chandler said. “Now is not the time to play politics with student safety.”
During Tuesday night’s meeting, Chandler cited data from a 2023 study by the American Academy of Pediatrics that found guns are the leading cause of death for American children and teens.
“People safe-storing their guns is common sense,” board member Lauren Shernoff said. “I know we’ve said that before, but this is an opportunity for us to work together as a community and a school division to say we’re committed to keeping kids safe.”
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