The full Ohio House will vote on a Republican-backed bill that would allow teachers and staff to carry guns in school with the eight hours of training they receive with their concealed carry permit, and not more thorough training as currently required by law. Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler reports the bill was approved by a House committee Wednesday on a party line vote.
Columbus Police Commander Robert Meader told the committee the Ohio Peace Officers Training Commission should have the responsibility to develop training standards for school workers, giving as an example the night he had to confront an armed teenager on a routine call.
“Would you want a school official with this scant training to make that same decision in that same moment? I will challenge this group and the men and women behind me irrespective of their ideology. You can have as much dead bodies as you’re willing to legislate.”
The bill does allow school districts to require more than eight hours of training. It comes after a sharply split Ohio Supreme Court ruled in June that the Madison Local School District in Butler County violated state law by allowing certain staff to be armed without completing a peace officer training program or possessing 20 years experience.
