Two Iowa school districts are implementing firearm safety courses according to Radio Iowa.
Starting in the spring, North Butler and Clarksville Community 7th and 8th grade students will take a mandatory hunter safety course in their P.E. classes.
There will be a voluntary closed course for high school students who wish to participate.
"We feel if we educate our kids in how to use weapons responsibly, how to respect them, understand it's not a video game and those sort of things, that maybe we'll cut down on our chances of having a severe incident," said Superintendent Joel Foster.
The course will be taught by the Butler County Conservation. There will be no operable firearms or live ammunition present during instruction.
Parents who don't want their child participating have the option of signing a form to opt them out of the class.
The Center for Injury and Research Prevention says 89 percent of unintentional shooting deaths occur in the home when children are playing with a loaded gun in their parent's absence.
