On Sunday afternoon, Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones announced that he will be offering an opportunity for educators to learn how to defend themselves and potentially protect the lives of their students.
Sheriff Jones tweeted that he will offer free concealed carry classes to teachers in Butler County, OH. Jones emphasized that there will be a limited number.
I am going to offer free concealed and Carry class free 2 teachers in butler county. Limited number. Details coming soon on line. Also training on school shootings.
— Richard K. Jones (@butlersheriff) February 18, 2018
On Thursday, he shared a Facebook video, saying, “the current way we do things in the school system needs to be changed.” He also called for “armed guards in the schools, we need to look at metal detectors. This is not going to stop or go away, but we need to be prepared and not have our heads in the sand.”
Jones also was adamant that copycats could use the same technique of pulling the fire alarm in order to get students into the hallways. Nikolas Cruz, the gunman who killed 17 innocent Americans on Valentine's Day last week used this technique. He then was able to leave the school by dropping his weapons and running with the fleeing students.
On Facebook, a screenshot of his tweet had amassed nearly three thousand shares in 4 hours. Some of the top comments were disapproving. “I don’t want to have to carry, or learn to handle a school shooting. I want YOU and the school district to protect me and my students from having to deal with this - metal detectors, stricter gun laws with many hoops to jump, SROs who are allowed to interact with students, and more. The solution isn’t to just hand a teacher a gun,” wrote one user.
“Ahh yes, pressure some of the most underpaid, underappreciated people in our communities hop in the line of fire... Way outside the scope of work and not an actual solution. If you want protection, hire protection. I hope the Teachers Union shuts this down asap,” commented Chase Crawford.
Still, Jones is echoing calls throughout the country for armed teachers in order to prevent future tragedies in schools.