House passes bill requiring schools to distribute gun-violence-prevention materials to parents

The Colorado House of Representatives on March 17 passed House Bill 12-50, requiring local education providers to provide parents and legal custodians of K–12 students with gun-violence-prevention materials prepared by the Office of Gun Violence Prevention and to post the materials or a link on the district website.

Supporters said the bill creates a simple, statewide mechanism to put safe-storage information in front of families. "This bill creates a process in which school districts provide information about Colorado's safe storage law at the start of each year, as well as local resources that can aid in safe storage of firearms," Representative Briana Hamrick said during floor debate.

Opponents raised concerns that the requirement is an unfunded mandate, could inflame local tensions, and might have the effect of stigmatizing lawful firearm ownership. "We're giving this to kids at the beginning of every year, and we're telling them that 90 percent of suicides are by firearms," Representative Ben Caldwell said. Representative Jon Harstuck warned the materials risk "putting the schools and the parents against each other with the kids in the middle." Representative Andrew Armaghost said he was worried the measure could "further creat[e] this...demonization of firearms."

Lawmakers amended the bill on the floor to add an annual transparency requirement. Under the adopted amendment, the Office of Gun Violence Prevention must present the materials it plans to distribute for the coming year in the SMART Act review process in January so the legislature can review them before districts distribute them. "Every year, the Office of Gun Violence Prevention is going to need to present what information they're going to be putting out," Representative Colin Armagost said when introducing the amendment; the House approved the amendment.

Sponsor remarks and the education committee report said the bill carries a zero fiscal note for the state and that districts may comply by posting a link rather than reproducing a PDF. Still, several members said local website updates and distribution tasks create costs at the district level. Critics called this an unfunded mandate and argued local school boards already have authority to distribute safety resources. Supporters pointed to similar district-level practices in other states and to a health-care coalition resource referenced on the House floor, a CU Anschutz Medical Campus initiative that maps safe-storage options.

The House approved the bill as amended. The bill text specifies an effective date of 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the 90-day period after final adjournment of the General Assembly unless a referendum petition is filed.

Clarifying details recorded during debate: the Office of Gun Violence Prevention materials may be distributed as a written handout or via electronic link; the sponsor and fiscal analysts said the state fiscal note is zero; several members said local compliance could require staff time or website updates; the adopted amendment requires an annual SMART Act presentation of the materials in January.

Next steps: the bill passed the House; the transcript records its passage on third reading in the House on March 17. If enacted without successful referendum, its effective date will follow the statutory 90‑day lapse after adjournment as stated in the bill language.