Anchorage parents could be held legally liable if their child brings a gun or other deadly weapon to school under a proposed Assembly ordinance.
East Anchorage Assembly member Karen Bronga introduced the ordinance. She said in the past three school years, the Anchorage School District has confiscated dozens of deadly weapons from students, like knives and hatchets. In the 2023-24 school year, ASD officials reported they had 69 “weapons incidents” on school campuses.
Bronga said school officials have found roughly five firearms a year in the same period.
“When I first looked at five, I'm like, well, that's kind of small,” Bronga said. “But it's kind of big because of the imminent danger that that presents.”
If the Assembly passes the ordinance, prosecutors could charge a parent or legal guardian with a class A misdemeanor if their child brings a deadly weapon to a school and there’s proof that they provided the child the weapon or allowed them access through negligence.
Bronga said the school district has done a number of initiatives in recent years to lay out responsible gun ownership and the importance of safe storage of firearms, but legally the city can’t mandate that storage.
“We're not telling you you can't have these things in your home,” Bronga said. “We're just saying, if you have these things, that you need to check your kids. Because we can't charge them with a felony because of state law, but they will have a class A misdemeanor if they show up at school with a dangerous weapon.”
If convicted, the parent or guardian could face up to a year in jail and up to a $25,000 fine.
There are caveats to the liability, such as if the parent or guardian reported the weapon stolen or had stored it in a reasonable manner.
A school district spokesman declined to comment on the ordinance. In a statement from the Anchorage Police Department, officials said the ordinance contributes to public safety and responsible firearm ownership
“This holds parents accountable if they allow a child access to a firearm brought onto school grounds, reinforcing the importance of secure storage,” APD officials said in an email.
Bronga said the ordinance will likely be voted on in early April.
