A Study of a Statewide Safe Firearms Storage Message Campaign in Texas Schools

WestEd and the Texas School Safety Center propose a mixed-methods study to examine the early-stage implementation of a school-based statewide safe firearms storage message campaign, including early outcomes in attitudes and behavior change among parents and families exposed to the campaign. The proposed study takes advantage of a recent state legislative mandate in Texas that requires schools as of fall 2023 to disseminate safe storage communication to all families to examine the potential effectiveness of such a strategy in both reaching families and informing their attitudes and behaviors related to firearms storage practices. The study team will collect cross-sectional survey data from a statewide representative sample of approximately 900 school administrators, utilizing a stratified random sampling strategy to examine administrators’ perceptions of the communication campaign, including their current communication practices and recommendations for improvement. In addition to school administrators, the study team will survey parents within the same schools to examine their exposure to and perceptions of the campaign communication materials and implementation experience as well as their self-reported gun ownership status, attitudes towards and behaviors around safe firearms storage practices, and factors that might relate to such practices. Importantly, the study will examine external school and community factors (e.g., school location (urban, rural), socioeconomic status, racial and ethnic composition in the school and community) that may relate to program implementation and perception among families. Finally, the study will also draw on the lived experience and expertise of parents and students to co-interpret the study findings and inform future revisions to the school-based safe firearms storage message campaign. There are no empirical studies, to our knowledge, that examine the potential impact of a school-based statewide legislative mandate to deliver safe firearms storage information to families and the proposed study’s findings fill this critical gap, which may be used within Texas and other states and localities seeking to implement and refine such campaigns. WestEd and its partner at the Texas School Safety Center will ensure this research reaches its intended audience through a comprehensive, multipronged dissemination campaign that is carried out across the project lifecycle.