The Pennsylvania Capitol in downtown Harrisburg, October 14, 2025. (Photo by Jessica Kourkounis for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
Pennsylvania schools would be required to notify parents and employees within 24 hours of gun incidents under a bill passed by both houses of the state Legislature.
The Senate approved the decision almost unanimously Senate Bill No. 246 Wednesday afternoon. It now awaits Gov. Josh Shapiro’s signature. Shapiro’s office did not respond to the Capital Star’s inquiry about whether he would sign the bill.
State law already requires schools to notify local law enforcement and the Commonwealth Department of Education.
SB246 adds parents, guardians, and school staff and faculty to the list of parties that must be notified “using a method of communication that may reach them” by public and private schools – including intermediate entities and online and charter schools.
This includes “any knife, cutting implement, cutting implement, nunchuck, firearm, shotgun, rifle, or any other implement, instrument, or implement capable of causing serious bodily injury” brought to campus and/or school-sponsored events and transportation.
The student’s identity will not be disclosed in the notification; however, as proposed, it will be distributed to their teachers and other staff to whom they have been assigned.
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Senator Jarrett Coleman (R-Lehigh), co-sponsor Philadelphia Democrat Christine Tartaglionesaid one constituent raised the issue after discovering a knife had been brought into their child’s school because another parent had read about it in a police report.
Democratic senators Lindsey Williams (Allegheny) and Amanda Cappelletti (Delaware/Montgomery) cast the only votes against the measure on Wednesday.
Williams said earlier fears the recent rules will “cause unnecessary fear and anxiety for parents.”
She spoke about her concerns before the first vote on the bill during a meeting of the Senate Education Committee, of which she is the minority chairman.
This solution does not distinguish between a child taking his parents’ gun to school and “a student who goes to the office to return a pocket knife he left in his backpack after a weekend hike,” she said.
Cappelletti’s office was unable to provide details about her vote.
Some lawmakers also raised concerns about the unclear definition of a gun in the original version of the measure.
At one point, the proposal expanded to require notification of abuse, harassment, incidents involving grave bodily injury and intentional damage to property valued at more than $1,000. These provisions appeared in the draft law before its introduction last passage in the House in the summer only Rep. Stephanie Borowicz (R-Clinton/Union) opposed.
Meanwhile, Rep. Barb Gleim (R-Cumberland) made an unsuccessful attempt to add another person to the notification: the Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS). The idea, she said, is to generate better data on guns in schools and ultimately inform policies and practices that will make them safer. Gleim would also monitor the effectiveness and compliance with school safety and security grants, Gleim said.
