House advances bill requiring schools to provide gun‑safety materials, adds legislative review

DENVER — The Colorado House advanced House Bill 12‑50 on March 17, 2025, requiring school districts, charter schools and other local education providers to distribute materials from the Office of Gun Violence Prevention about Colorado’s safe‑storage law at the start of each school year and to post the materials on the local provider’s website.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Lisa Hamrick, told the committee the measure was intended "to keep children safe by providing information on Colorado's safe storage law through the schools," and noted the bill stems from work by the Colorado Youth Advisory Council and a 2023 interim committee.

Supporters said the bill gives parents easy access to safety resources. Hamrick pointed to an interactive map developed at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus and said districts may distribute the material as a printed handout or a web link, and that the bill carries a zero fiscal note at the state level: "This bill has a 0 fiscal note and no new restrictions," she said.

Opponents raised procedural and policy concerns. Representative Ron Caldwell said the mandated annual distribution could “further the stigmatization” of firearms and argued schools can already share safety materials without a law. Caldwell warned the Office’s content could change year to year and that annual, unfunded requirements impose costs on districts for website updates and distribution. Representative Bradfield, the ranking minority member on education, also called it an unnecessary unfunded mandate.

Several members suggested alternatives such as expanding hunter‑education and other hands‑on safety training instead of annual mandatory handouts. Representative Hamrick and others said the bill is permissive in format (paper or link) and that the Office’s materials are intended as information for parents, not new legal restrictions on families.

During floor committee consideration lawmakers adopted Amendment L002 (displayed and discussed on the record), which requires the Office of Gun Violence Prevention to present the materials it plans to distribute to the legislature as part of SMART Act hearings each January. Representative Armaghost supported the amendment as a way for the legislature to "get eyes on" the materials before they are distributed to families.

The Education Committee voted to advance the bill as amended, and the Committee of the Whole later reported the bill with recommendation (recorded 41 yes, 19 no, 5 excused). The Committee record shows the bill passed that stage and will proceed to further House consideration.

Clarifying points recorded in debate: the bill defines "local education provider" to include school districts, boards of cooperative services, charter schools authorized by districts or the State Charter School Institute, approved facility schools and the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind; districts may provide the materials as a handout or by posting a link to the Office’s website; the sponsor cited examples of similar efforts in Texas (2019) and California (2022) as comparators; and the Office’s materials will include links to state and nonprofit resources that provide safe‑storage options.

What’s next: HB 12‑50 was advanced as amended to the next House stage after the Committee of the Whole recommendation. Because the bill requires annual materials that may change over time, the adopted SMART Act reporting requirement means the legislature will review the Office’s content each January going forward.