Civics classes across the country could soon include lessons on the Second Amendment created by the University of Wyoming’s Firearms Research Center.
“Armed with Knowledge: A Nonpartisan Second Amendment Initiative” will include lessons on the history, legal interpretations and implications of the Second Amendment, UW reports.
It’s funded through a roughly $1 million, two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s American History and Civics Education Program.
The program will be designed for secondary-level classes.
It will focus on factual information rather than the typical heated political debates around the Second Amendment and firearms policy, said UW College of Law professor George Mocsary, the Firearms Research Center’s director.
“We seek to provide a much-needed apolitical approach to an otherwise politically charged topic, emphasizing the legal and civic origins of the right to bear arms, connecting it to the early principles of the nation’s founding and examining its evolving role, through legal interpretation, in American culture over time,” Mocsary said in a statement from the university.
He could not be reached for further comment before publication time.
Degenfelder Approves
Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder said the “Armed with Knowledge” program will enhance civics courses in Wyoming and other states.
"This grant is well deserved by professor Mocsary and the center,” she said in a statement to Cowboy State Daily. "Their work is pivotal in advancing education on the importance of the Second Amendment and civics in general.
“In education, we are tasked not only with preparing students for jobs, but to be good American citizens as well, and I applaud President Trump and (Secretary of Education) Linda McMahon for prioritizing such."
The Wyoming Education Association doesn’t yet know enough about the grant or the program to take a position on it, WEA spokesman Troy Rumpf said in an email to Cowboy State Daily.
Delegates Praise The Move
Wyoming’s Republican Congressional delegates all praised the program in statements sent from their offices to Cowboy State Daily.
U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman said she welcomes efforts to increase students’ understanding of the Second Amendment beyond the pro-gun, anti-gun argument.
"Civic education is critically important to ensure each generation of Americans understands the role our Constitution plays in securing our natural liberties, including the right to keep and bear arms,” Hageman said. “I welcome all efforts to strengthen our understanding of the Second Amendment, especially as our modern perception of this amendment is shaped more by political activism than by law and history.
"I am thankful that the Trump administration shares this goal, and can think of no place better than Wyoming to serve as a beacon to push past political noise and clearly teach why the right to keep and bear arms is essential to our freedoms."
U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis also stated that they also are thankful that the Trump administration provided the grant and that UW was chosen to create the program.
“Every day across Wyoming, we responsibly exercise our right to keep and bear arms,” Barrasso said. "The Firearms Research Center in the University of Wyoming’s College of Law has done a terrific job educating college students, lawyers and all Americans about this sacred Constitutional right.
“With this new grant from the Trump administration, Wyoming will expand this vital education program to our secondary school students and teachers. This will ensure future generations of Americans better understand and appreciate our Second Amendment rights.”
Lummis agrees.
“Every day, I stand on the front lines in Washington defending our Second Amendment freedoms,” Lummis said. “This is why I'm glad to see the Department of Education, under President Trump's leadership, prioritizing nonpartisan education about the Second Amendment's rich heritage and ensuring our students understand why defending our right to bear arms remains vital to the future of American liberty.
"The Firearms Research Center in the UW College of Law is doing a great job, and I’m pleased that the Trump administration is rewarding their work."
‘Our Founding Fathers Were Incredibly Clear’
State Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, has been one of the Wyoming Legislature’s most outspoken supporters of Second Amendment rights.
He sponsored a bill during the 2025 legislative session that overturned Wyoming’s gun-free zones.
He told Cowboy State Daily he’s hopeful that the Firearms Research Center will bring clarity to Second Amendment education.
“Our founding fathers were incredibly clear,” he said. "They didn’t give us the Second Amendment to go hunting or so we could have gun collections."
The amendment was always intended to be a safeguard against government overreach, Haroldson said.
“If we can’t defend ourselves against the potential of a threatening governing body, then we’ve lost the purpose of the Second Amendment,” he said.
He added that it's encouraging to hear that the courses are intended to be nonpartisan and historically factual.
“To the schools I would say, represent well. At any moment, we can all be guilty of a slant,” so it’s important for students to get an unbiased picture of the Second Amendment, he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
