The governor of Ohio has signed a bill allowing school teachers and other employees to carry firearms into educational establishments with limited training compared to what has been required since last year.
Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill on Monday in the wake of several deadly mass shootings in the United States, a notable one was the incident that happened in Uvalde, Texas, occurred at an elementary school, and killed 19 students and two teachers.
Arming School Teachers
For years, employees have been allowed to carry guns on school grounds with the consent of the local school board. However, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that state law required them to first undergo the same basic peace officer training as law enforcement officials or security officers who carry firearms on campus, which includes more than 700 hours of instruction.
DeWine said on Monday that the ruling had made it largely impractical for Ohio school districts to allow staff members to carry firearms. In a statement, the governor said that his office "worked with the General Assembly to remove hundreds of hours of curriculum irrelevant to school safety," as per the New York Times.
The Ohio governor also thanked the Legislature "for passing this bill to protect Ohio children and teachers." Under the new law, only a maximum of 24 hours of training is needed to allow teachers to carry guns at school. However, the local board will still need to give its approval beforehand.
The National Conference of State Legislatures said that 28 states allow people other than security personnel to carry firearms on school grounds, with laws in nine of those areas explicitly mentioning school employees. In recent years, polls showed that a majority of Americans, and a large majority of teachers, oppose the idea of arming teachers in schools.
According to the Associated Press, before DeWine signed the bill, he outlined several other school safety measures that he and other lawmakers have promoted, including $100 million for school security upgrades for schools and $5 million for upgrades at colleges. Furthermore, the state is adding 28 employees to the school safety center to work on districts on safety issues.
School Opposition
The new personnel will also provide training under the new law as authorities have given $1.2 billion in wellness funding for schools to address mental health and other issues. DeWine noted that the new law will provide schools with an option, "based on their particular circumstances, to make the best decision they can make with the best information they have."
DeWine's signing of the new bill prompted questions during an hour-long news conference. The Ohio governor noted that the debates and discussions about the bill preceded the most recent deadly school shooting in Texas.
However, the lawmaker repeatedly defended his support of the bill, saying that schools were not required to arm their employees. Columbus City Schools, the state's largest school district, opposed the bill, saying it would not change its policy and would still prohibit students, teachers, or members of the public from having firearms on school property, 10TV reported.
