Teachers must have police training to carry guns at school, Ohio court rules

Previous policy allowed those with handgun licences and 24 hours of training to carry concealed firearm

Ohio school teachers and staff will be required to undergo extensive police training or have 20 years of experience as a peace officer to be able to carry a gun in school.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled against a policy that allowed up to 10 employees to carry weapons while in school in a four to three decision on Wednesday, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

Under the Madison Local School District policy, employees were only required to have concealed handgun licences and 24 hours of training to be able to carry a firearm within a school.

The directive was put in place following a school shooting in 2016 at a school in southwestern Ohio during which two students were struck with bullets.

However, a group of parents at the school launched a challenge against the policy, suing the district in September 2018.

The court ruled that the school district’s policy violated the state’s law, deferring to a prior ruling from the 12th District Court of Appeals that stipulates police training is required to carry a concealed gun in schools.

Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor wrote in the decision that completion of an approved basic peace-officer training program or 20 years of experience as a peace officer is required under the law.

Erin Gabbard, one of the parents, called the ruling a “relief” saying “they will at least know that the teachers who carry firearms in our schools are properly trained, as required by state law”.

“The board authorised here less training than a Little League umpire, less training than a nail technician in Ohio,” Rachel Bloomekatz, who represented the five parents, told WVXU.

Dissenting Republican Justice Sharon Kennedy said: “Had the General Assembly intended to condition the authority to carry a firearm in a school safety zone on having the basic police training required of peace officers, it could have written the statute that way. It did not.”