TOLEDO, Ohio — Should teachers be armed in the classroom, and if so, how long should they be trained before they can do so?
That's the question the Ohio Senate is trying to solve as they held their second hearing for HB 99 on May 31.
The bill passed the Ohio House last November. Now the Senate continues to amend the bill before voting.
Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn said multiple school districts have already approached him about the idea, and he can see how it could be applied in a safe way.
"That that they would go to the same training my deputies would go through to qualify with their firearm, and would actually ask us to do the training for them," Wasylyshyn said.
However, that training would be significantly longer than the bill's minimum standard. Currently, it calls for 18 hours of general training and two hours of handgun training. The sheriff says that amount of training makes him uncomfortable, but it's better than nothing.
"With the change in the CCW law, there are a lot of people with zero training that are out there in the public carrying guns, without possibly ever firing a gun before in their life. So I guess 20 hours is better than zero," Wasylyshyn said.
State Rep. Lisa Sobecki, D-Toledo, doesn't share the sheriff's optimism and believes the lack of training is a serious issue.
"From my past military experience and having training on weapons, we spent a lot more than 20 hours on training," Sobecki said.
Sobecki said the bill will make schools less safe, not safer, and instead called for universal background checks and red flag laws on firearm purchases.
Sobecki isn't alone in her thinking. Springfield math teacher Kyle Linehan said he just wants to teach algebra problems. He said regardless of training, he doesn't think it's the right solution.
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"I don't feel comfortable with it. We have teachers at school who forget their coffee mug in everybody's classroom. Heaven forbid we give that person a firearm," Linehan said. "It's just not a realistic option."
While the bill is in a Senate hearing in May, the Ohio congress' summer recess begins June 8, so a vote is not expected on the bill until this September at the earliest.