Thanks to a new law signed by Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) Monday, it is now easier for educators throughout the Buckeye State to become authorized to carry firearms on campuses.

The law, House Bill 99, drastically reduces the amount of training educators would need to undergo to carry firearms on school campuses.

Previously, it took 700 hours of training for principals, teachers and other school staff to get approved to have a firearm on them. However, this new legislation allows people to legally pack heat on school grounds after “up to 24 hours of training.”

Four of these hours will be rooted in scenario-based trainings and the remaining 20 hours will be comprised of first-aid training and education on the history of school shootings.

“Our goal is to continue to help our public and private schools get the tools they need to protect our children,” DeWine said of the initiative. “We have an obligation to do everything we can every single day to try and protect our kids.”

DeWine went on to add that he “worked with the General Assembly to remove hundreds of hours of curriculum irrelevant to school safety and to ensure training requirements were specific to a school environment and contained significant scenario-based training.”

“In life we make choices, and we don’t always know what the outcome is going to be,” he continued. “[This legislature] is giving schools an option based on their particular circumstances to make the best decision they can make with the best information they have. That’s all any decision-maker can do.”

At this point, it’s worth adding that this law doesn’t mandate that districts have to allow teachers to carry firearms. Instead, it gives local school districts the option of whether they’d be open to allowing it.

Additionally, the law also requires firearms-carrying teachers to undergo 8 hours of yearly prequalification training that will include de-escalation tactics.

“No school has to do this. This is up to a local school board,” DeWine noted.

This initiative notably comes just a few weeks following a brutal school shooting that occurred in Uvalde, Texas.

Back on May 24, an 18-year-old gunman entered Robb Elementary School and massacred 21 people, including 19 young children. This incident opened up conversations on school safety throughout the country and this legislation is marketed as a solution to the issue.

Despite the intentions behind House Bill 99, various people have spoken out against it. Check out what some people had to say down below.

What do you think about Ohio’s new law and do you think other states will pass similar legislative measures?

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