Ohio Governor DeWine says he will sign bill to provide weapons to teachers after a day of training: NPR

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, at a news conference earlier this month, said the move to make it easier for teachers to carry guns would give school districts more options.

David Richard / AP

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David Richard / AP

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, at a news conference earlier this month, said the move to make it easier for teachers to carry guns would give school districts more options.

David Richard / AP

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is poised to sign a bill on Monday that would allow teachers to carry guns in classrooms after 24 hours of training, in the face of protests from teachers and a group of police officers. Supporters say the policy will make schools safer, but critics say that’s not the case, citing analysis by experts.

The new law dramatically reduces the amount of training a teacher must go through before they can carry a gun in a safe area of ​​a school. Instead of the current 700+ hours of training, school personnel who want to be armed will receive “no more than” 24-hour training, House bill 99 Statuses.

“DeWine, who campaigned for gun restrictions after the mass shooting in Dayton in 2019said the bill’s signing was part of an overall plan to increase school security, “under Statehouse News Bureau.

A controversial approach gets Ohio legal backing

The new law is similar to a controversial policy adopted in 2018 by a school district in Madison Township, Ohio, to make it easier for employees to carry guns. A group of local parents sued, saying teachers should receive peace officer training before they can carry guns to work.

Ohio Supreme Court side with parents last summer. But now the 24-hour requirement is becoming state law.

Supporters of the bill include State Senator Frank Hoagland, who called it? “a proactive, common sense step in protecting our schools from the threat of an active shooter.”

Among the few who testified in support of the bill in the final hearing on the law, one was the CEO of START, a company Hoagland founded to advise schools and other organizations on security and crisis preparedness, such as Ohio Capital Magazine Note.

In more than one year of debate Regarding the law, witnesses voiced opposition to it more than 360 times, while about 20 people supported it.

DeWine says the law will give schools an option

Both the Ohio Federation of Teachers and the Ohio Education Association urged DeWine to veto the bill, saying putting more guns in schools in the hands of inadequately trained people was “dangerous and irrespons “.

“House bill 99 would make Ohio’s students less safe in their schools,” organizations said in a joint statement.

Its rivals also include the Mothers’ Demand Action and the Ohio Police Fraternity Order.

Mike Weinman of FOP testified that the measure would create a mess of district requirements and lead to inadequately trained teachers, who would then face role confusion.

When armed, the teacher’s first responsibility is to act as a first responder, Weinman said: “She will be required to abandon her students and respond to any threat can happen in the building immediately.”

But the governor had previously signaled his support for the bill and he confirmed the timing of signing the bill into law in an interview on Sunday with local TV station WFMJ.

“No school has to do this,” DeWine said. “It’s up to the local school board,” DeWine said, adding that some schools may have security staff or other plans to do so. prevent or combat an active shooting.

“The best thing is to have a police officer in the schools,” he said. “They may be plain clothes, but some schools may not be able to do that.”

Studies and experts say it’s not a good idea if teachers

A longtime researcher of school shootings recently told NPR that he has found that arming teachers is not a good strategy “because it leads to countless disasters and problems, and the chances of it actually helping are slim.”

In 2020, one analyzed by RAND concluded that “there are no qualified studies” on whether armed personnel in K-12 schools cause or prevent a range of negative outcomes, including death or injury from discharges Guns accidentally come suicide, crime and mass shootings or not.

But the RAND analysis also says that in the decades since two federal gun laws were passed in the early 1990s, the ability for students to carry a weapon, be it a gun or a knife, has become much less.

“In 1993, 12% of students reported carrying a weapon on school property in the previous 30 days,” RAND said. In 2017, just 4% of students reported bringing a weapon to school.

The analysis also notes that despite the horrific tragedy of school shootings, “most students who are killed with a gun are shot in their own home, often as a result of a family dispute, a negligent or negligent shooting or suicide.”

State gun laws in schools vary widely

At least three US states – Alabama, Oregon and Utah – allow anyone with a concealed carry permit to bring a firearm into K-12 schools, according to National Conference of State Legislatures.

It’s part of a patchwork policy on guns on campus, with varying degrees of training and licensing requirements. All but a few states allow law enforcement to carry firearms on school grounds. But from there, the laws are different.

According to the NCSL, in at least 18 states, school authorities can allow anyone they choose to carry a firearm on campus under certain circumstances.