According to Guns & Ammo magazine’s rankings for most gun-friendly and concealed carry-friendly states, Ohio is ranked 23rd and 34th, respectively. In sum, Ohio still has plenty of work to do in protecting the Second Amendment.
Now it could be improving its gun rights environment after Ohio lawmakers re-introduced legislation to allow personnel in schools to be armed. Previously, Ohio had several school districts with armed school staff.
However, an Ohio Supreme Court ruling determined that state law doesn’t permit school district employees from legally carrying a firearm unless they have over 700 hours of training under their belt. This is the same level of training that law enforcement must receive.
Now, Ohio lawmakers are putting forward a new proposal to allow local school districts to determine if they want armed staff on their campuses.
On October 21, 2021, the House Criminal Justice Committee addressed House Bill 99, the bill in question that would grant school districts more autonomy in shaping their armed staff policies.
Before the meeting concluded, several of HB 99’s provisions were changed.
The bill had the initial goal of creating minimum training standards for teachers and school staff to be armed on school property. HB 99 is the second iteration of the bill. The first iteration of the bill was introduced in the last General Assembly and passed in the Senate, but was not able to pass in the House before the General Assembly ended.
According to the Ohio Capital Journal, the current bill has received criticism from organizations ranging from the Fraternal Order of Police to the Ohio Federation of Teachers.
Changes were made to the bill on October 21 that would allow a school board to establish the “manner in which the person may convey or possess deadly weapons … in a school safety zone,” in addition to granting school boards the authority to raise the amount of training staff needs to complete before getting armed at schools.
As far as minimum training goes, the modified bill would mandate a valid concealed handgun license and “initial training” prior to school staff are allowed to bring a firearm to school, on top of the additional training.
More meetings are expected after the changes were made to the bill.
There’s nothing special about schools that justifies gun-free policies. In fact, their gun-free status makes them a susceptible target for mass shooters. Policymakers would be wise to incrementally allow for teachers and other personnel to carry firearms at schools.
At the end of the day, gun-free zones are safe spaces for criminals hell-bent on accumulating a nasty kill count.
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