Ohio bill allowing school staff to carry guns with less training comes with own obstacles

CINCINNATI (WKRC) - A bill that would allow Ohio teachers to carry guns in the classroom with only 20 hours of training moved forward in the statehouse last week.

HB 99 advanced out of the Ohio House with a 58-33 vote last Wednesday. The bill sets a minimum of 20 hours of training for a teacher to carry a gun in a school. State Rep. Thomas Hall said this may be a win for rural schools that can’t afford a school resource officer.

“Cities have school resource officers. They have the resources to have an armed staffer that's a police officer in their school, and, in a lot of instances, this will be for the rural schools that don't have the luxury of having a school resource officer,” said Hall.

What HB 99 doesn't outline is the cost schools could face if they implement it. Ken Trump, the president of National School Safety and Security Services, said he’s seen cases in other states where insurance companies walk away from schools or refuse to cover teachers who carry guns because of the liability it brings with it.

“Many districts have insurance companies that won't touch this with a 10-foot pole,” said Trump.

Without insurance coverage, the idea could be dead in the water for many schools. More than that, Trump says it's cheaper to invest in school safety right from the get-go. Factors like maintaining equipment, continued training and psychological training in an active-shooter situation are all things that will fall on the district’s shoulders.

“They have to realize that with armed responsibility comes great liability, and if they want an armed presence on campus, they need to put their money where their mouth is and make that a budget priority and hire a trained, certified police officer to be on campus,” said Trump.

Trump believes school district staff may pull double duty in a career they didn't sign up for and don't have enough expertise in.

“School principals and superintendents are not law enforcement chiefs and administrators. It's not their professional expertise to manage an armed force as a police officer, chief or sheriff would have to do,” said Trump.

Trump said he suspects the bill will pass in Ohio but says it will be met with more obstacles. One of the most important is: In an active-shooter situation, when law enforcement responds, how will they know who's a teacher holding a gun and who's the shooter?

Madison High School had an active shooter in 2016. School officials have no comment on the ongoing legislation. They did say their teachers who choose to carry will have to complete over 700 hours of training.