The seven member Bend-La Pine School Board unanimously passed a resolution earlier this month to start providing information to families about the safe storage of firearms.
The board has already started implementing the resolution to send more than 18,000 families in the school district information about how to safely store guns.
Newly elected board members Caroline Skidmore and Amy Tatom coauthored the resolution.
Though gun ownership and storage can be a sensitive topic for some people, Skidmore said they haven’t received any push back from the community.
"It’s a pretty simple action that we’re taking. We’re not telling anybody what to do, we’re just communicating information that will save lives," she said.
The board’s next step is to incorporate safe storage messaging into the district’s safety plan, add information to the district and school websites and eventually start including safe storage information in messages sent home to parents.
"I would say routine communication is a great way to put it," Skidmore said. "So we don’t just say it once, but we are consistent and provide that information throughout the school year."
During this year's legislative session, safe storage legislation was part of the omnibus gun bill that was bargained away by Gov. Kate Brown in order to coax Republican senators back to work and vote on an education funding bill.
Oregon-based gun safety group State of Safety Action has filed an initiative petition to put a safe firearms storage law on the Nov. 2020 ballot.