While officers had for years been allowed to carry guns on school premises with the consent of the local school committee, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that state law required them to first undergo the same basic peacekeeping training as law enforcement officers. law enforcement or security officers carrying firearms on campus – which involves more than 700 hours of instruction. That decision, Mr. DeWine said Monday, had made it largely impossible for Ohio school districts to allow employees to carry firearms. Under the new law, a maximum of 24 hours of training will be enough for teachers to bring weapons to school, although the local council will still have to give its approval. Twenty-eight states allow non-security personnel to carry firearms on school premises, with laws in nine of these states explicitly reporting school staff, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Polls in recent years show that the majority of Americans, and the vast majority of teachers, oppose the idea of arming teachers. In a statement on the passage of the bill, Mr DeWine said his office “worked with the General Assembly to remove hundreds of curriculum-related curriculum hours” and thanked the legislature for “approving of this Ohio Child and Teacher Protection Bill. ” The governor stressed that local school districts would still be able to ban firearms on school campuses. “This does not require any school to arm teachers or staff,” he said. “Each school will make its own decision.” Last week, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bieber said his city would continue to ban teachers and other non-security staff from carrying weapons in schools. Ohio’s new law, which passed abruptly and quickly in the State Senate after the shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas, was passed on June 1 in almost partisan lines, with two Republicans uniting all Democrats voting against it. The bill passed the House in November, also with a vote almost by party line. A Republican united with the Democrats voted against. In a speech to the Senate, state Sen. Niraj Antani, a Republican, dismissed the “crocodile tears” of lawmakers who saw the bill as dangerous, arguing that armed teachers would prevent school shootings and most important thing we have. “They did it to prevent a shooting at a school in Ohio.” A fairly large opposition to the bill had grown against him during his trip to the legislature. Hundreds gathered in the halls of the committee’s hearings, with all but two or three speakers testifying against it. Opposition groups called for a cease-fire in protest of a governemt decision to reduce their retirement benefits, a change which would take effect in October. Robert Mider, who recently retired as commander of the Ohio Columbus Police Department, called the training requirement in the bill “sadly inadequate,” saying it would “cause harmful accidents and possibly even unnecessary deaths.” The bill is the second major arms bill Mr. DeWine, a Republican, has signed into law this year. The first, which went into effect on Monday, removes the requirement for a license to carry a concealed weapon. The governor faced intense pressure to deal with armed violence following the 2019 Dayton shootings, in which nine people were killed and 17 injured by a young man who opened fire outside a bar. In the days following the shooting, a vigilant crowd greeted Mr. DeWine with a loud “Do something!” which would become something of a slogan for those seeking action against armed violence. Mr DeWine initially voiced support for a so-called red flag bill, but neither he nor other gun restrictions have been put to a vote in the Republican-controlled legislature. In 2021, Mr. DeWine signed a “Stand Your Ground” measure, allowing people to use deadly violence without first attempting to withdraw from a dangerous situation. Signed the bill allowing smuggling without permission in March. Republicans argued in the debate before this latest bill that drastically reducing the training required for teachers to carry weapons was the same response to people’s demands for action against armed violence. “We’ve heard people say, ‘Do something,’” said Republican Sen. Terry Johnson, a Republican, on the floor of the Senate. “Well, that’s something and it’s something important.” The Democrats, who were much larger in the legislature, were left only to condemn the bill and warn of its possible consequences. “They just wanted to say that they did something and that what they escaped with is unconscious,” said Sen. Teresa Fedor, a Democrat who served in the Air Force and taught fourth grade for years. “They will have blood on their hands.”
