As many Democrat states call to get rid of guns, Republicans are fighting to keep the Second Amendment alive and protected.
This week a new law went into effect in Ohio allowing teachers, principals and school staff to carry firearms while in the classroom.
House bill 99 will require only 24 hours of training, down from the previous 700 hours, followed by 8 annual hours of re-qualification training. School staff will also be required to undergo yearly criminal background checks.
“We have a lot of requests from schools to allow this to be done,” Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) said adding, "to continue to help our public and private schools get the tools they need to protect our children. ... We have an obligation to do everything we can every single day to try and protect our kids."
The training will also include how to stop an active shooter, de-escalation techniques, and first aid care.
DeWine made it clear that the bill does not mandate teachers to be armed, however it leaves the decision up to local school districts who can also require staff to take more than 24 hours of training.
Rep. Thomas Hall (R-OH) introduced the bill saying that it is necessary when it can sometimes take first responders too long to get to an emergency.
“Some of the inner city schools have police officers at their school, some of these rural schools don’t have that luxury,” Hall said in a statement.
In the past, firearms in a school safety zone was prohibited with the exception of persons employed as security officers or others with written authorization from a board of education.
Additionally, DeWine secured $100 million to help Ohio K-12 schools pay for security upgrades, such as visitor badging systems, security training, and door locking systems
Gov. DeWine talking about school safety upgrades as well as HB 99, which gives teachers an option to be armed in schools. @wsyx6 pic.twitter.com/ESZb0XKLXf
— Alexis Moberger (@alexis_moberger) June 13, 2022