With 24 hours of gun training and eight hours training each subsequent year, Ohio school employees and teachers can carry a gun in the classroom.
Employees carrying weapons on school grounds in Ohio is nothing new, but the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that employees would need 700 hours of instruction, the same training that is required by law enforcement officials and security officers.
The new law drastically reduces the required hours of training. Local school boards will still need to give their approval. They can vote to ban weapons on their campuses.
Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio signed the bill into law on Monday. He said that 700 hours of training was impractical for school districts.
The law specifies required minimum training, but schools can decide to provide additional training if they feel it’s necessary.
Governor DeWine said, “[his office] worked with the General Assembly to remove hundreds of hours of curriculum irrelevant to school safety,” and expressed his thanks to lawmakers “for passing this bill to protect Ohio children and teachers.”
Cleveland mayor, Justin Bibb, said Cleveland will prohibit teachers and other employees from carrying a weapon in school, with the exception of security personnel.
The governor spoke about other school safety laws they want to pass in the state – $100 million for security improvements in schools and $5 million for colleges.
School districts will help school districts adapt to the new law and provide help in training. There’s also another $1.2 billion to improve mental health services in Ohio.
The governor emphasized that employees having weapons is not mandatory. It gives schools the option to do so if they deem its appropriate and they have the staff that is willing to carry a weapon and do the training.
On the same day as the bill was signed into law, another law went into effect in Ohio – a concealed weapons permit is no longer required for persons legally allowed to carry a handgun.
Arming school staff is generally opposed by Democrats, law enforcement groups, advocates for gun control, and the Ohio State teacher’s unions.
Republicans, who have a majority in the Ohio Legislature, said their vote for the bill was in response to the public’s demands that something be done to increase school safety.
“We’ve heard people say ‘Do something,’” State Senator Terry Johnson, a Republican, said. “Well, this is something and it’s a significant something.”
State Senator Teresa Fedor, a Democrat, warned, “They will have blood on their hands.”