As our nation continues to deal with the aftermath of the Uvalde, Texas elementary school massacre, there are a number of disparate paths forward in the name of school safety.
Predictably, those on the left side of the aisle appear to be hellbent on exploiting the tragedy to push their consistent gun control agenda, ignoring the time-trusted adage about outlaws not really paying much attention to the law.
But on the right, there are more direct measures being discussed and implemented, including a rather powerful statement being made in the state of Ohio.
Ohio school districts could begin arming employees as soon as this fall under a bill signed into law Monday by GOP Gov. Mike DeWine.
The law, as enacted, requires up to 24 hours of training before an employee can go armed, and up to eight hours of annual training. The training programs must be approved by the Ohio School Safety Center, and DeWine announced he’s ordering the center to require the maximum 24 hours and the maximum eight hours.
The decision was part of a larger movement to provide more safety for students.
Before announcing the bill signing, the governor outlined several other school safety measures he and lawmakers have promoted, including $100 million for school security upgrades in schools and $5 million for upgrades at colleges.
The state is also adding 28 employees to the school safety center to work with districts on safety issues and to provide training under the new law. Ohio has also provided $1.2 billion in wellness funding for schools to address mental health and other issues, the governor said.
Arming teachers has long been one of the more controversial suggestions being made in regard to mass shootings, and Ohio’s decision will surely prompt a rigorous discussion in America this week.
