Renee Hopkins, CEO of the Alliance for Gun Responsibility Seattle, lost her brother Arnie in the 1996 Moses Lake Junior High School shooting. She lost her brother because someone had access to a firearm who shouldn’t have. She reflects on this in a recent Spokesman Review article framing the ongoing effects of gun violence in how it “shapes who gets to be at the dinner table. It changes every milestone in your life and rewrites the future in a way you never agreed to. Like my love for Arnie will never end, my grief will always be a part of who I am” (Hopkins, 2026).
Gun violence is still the leading cause of death of children in the United States. The current legislative session here in Washington has bills such as House Bill 1152 with new safe storage requirements can change that!
Safe Firearm Storage Resources and Recommendations
There are resources such as those from Seattle Children’s that have effective suggestions on how to store firearms and communicate with other parents, children, and teens about firearms. They are available in English, Russian, Spanish, Somali, and Simplified Chinese. King County’s “Lock It Up” Program also has great resources.
NASSP also shares several recommendations around safe firearm storage in a recent blog post:
- School districts receiving mental health or suicide prevention funding should conduct yearly instruction on firearm safety, firearm storage safety, and suicide prevention.  
- Age-appropriate education on secure storage of firearms (firearm safes, trigger locks, and cable locks), information on risks associated with incorrect firearm use, unintentional injury, mass shooting, and steps to take if students encounter an improperly stored firearm.  
- Required parental/guardian involvement and instruction about home and vehicle gun safety to ensure firearms stay out of the hands of children. 
Call to Action
Please follow Olympia School District’s brave lead in getting these resources out to families in the form of fliers in school offices, including resources in school safety month celebrations, and links in safety emails. You can also find out where free trigger locks are available in your community and get the word out. (Try police departments, city hall, etc.)
