Ohio school district arms teachers to protect students against intruders, shooters

Logan County’s Benjamin Long Local School District was the first to create a so-called "armed response team" after the state began allowing it in 2022. 17 staff members have undergone training to serve on the team. This is in addition to three armed school resource officers in the district, per WBNS.

Weapons are either kept in safes across the district’s school buildings or worn by select staff. Superintendent John Scheu said, "When we learned it could take 10 to 15 minutes for deputies to get here, we knew we needed to have an immediate response." He added, "The first person an intruder looks for is the one in uniform. This gives us backup inside the building."

Since Ohio passed the law, the number of school districts in which school employees carry firearms has grown to 90 across the state, or around 15 percent of the state’s 613 districts. Ohio's HB 99 took effect in September of 2022.

Opponents claim that arming school staff is dangerous. Kelly Drane, research director of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said, "There’s no evidence these policies prevent shootings or make them less deadly." She added, "Many states, Ohio included, have woefully inadequate gun laws that would allow guns to fall into the hands of people who commit these kinds of shootings."

Supporters of the law say that arming staff members is crucial for rural communities in which police response times can be long. One member of the response team at Benjamin Long Local School District told the outlet, "We can take on the threat until law enforcement arrives."