Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) on Monday announced that he had signed a bill into law that would allow teachers to be armed in schools. But when a reporter questioned DeWine during a press conference if the legislation effectively addresses calls from the public to take meaningful action to reduce gun violence after the 2019 mass shooting at Ned Peppers Bar in the Oregon District of Dayton, DeWine was unable to provide a concrete response.
"After the Dayton shooting, members of the crowd said 'do something.' Do you feel what you're doing today is exactly what those people intended you to do?" the journalist asked.
"I don't know," DeWine replied. "My job is to try to do things and we have done – and I outlined them for you a moment ago – we have done a number of different things."
DeWine then abruptly changed the subject.
"What I didn't mention, for example, another one that we have done without legislation, another thing that we have done is by talking to local law enforcement, we've gone from about 10 percent of the outstanding warrants that are entered into the national database to 85 percent," he said.
Watch below via Heartland Signal:
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announces he signed a bill allowing teachers to carry guns in schools.
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) June 13, 2022
REPORTER: "After the Dayton shooting, members of the crowd said 'do something.' Do you feel what you're doing today is exactly what those people intended?"
DEWINE: "I don't know." pic.twitter.com/4bN2920H7w
National Public Radio noted that "the new law dramatically reduces the amount of training a teacher must undergo before they can carry a gun in a school safety zone. Instead of more than 700 hours of training that's currently required, school staff who want to be armed would get training that 'shall not exceed' 24 hours, House Bill 99 states."
NPR also pointed out that "both the Ohio Federation of Teachers and Ohio Education Association urged DeWine to veto the bill, saying it is 'dangerous and irresponsible' to put more guns in schools in the hands of people who aren't adequately trained."
The organizations said in a joint statement that "House Bill 99 will make Ohio's students less safe in their schools."
Additional opposition to House Bill 99 became apparent in a torrent of criticism on social media.
A GREAT question by that reporter. Well done.
— Austin Barker (@AustinBarker) June 13, 2022
@MikeDeWine this makes me ashamed to be a Buckeye.
— CritterLife 🇺🇸🏳️🌈🐿🏳️🌈🇺🇦 (@critter_life) June 13, 2022
We grew up learning commonsense.
This is not the way.
lol - he knows it's not what Ohioans want. But he's been paid off by gun lobby to put every Ohioan in danger with the crap he has recently signed.
— Thank you Science (@BuckeyeVoter) June 13, 2022
I wonder if he sat down with a single teacher in his state to see if they support this new law.
— Jennifer North (@MrsNorthToYou) June 13, 2022
They never know anything. Except how to obstruct real progress.
— Charles in Charge (@CHBRTG) June 13, 2022
Yea let's add more for teachers to do pic.twitter.com/9hmUwuSP5e
— SeditionistGOP (@rocky0413) June 13, 2022
It blows my mind that people think more bullets flying around children will somehow make them safer.
— Mitchell Adams (@MitchellAdams90) June 13, 2022
Skepticism swirled around the implementation and potential repercussions of House Bill 99.
And what are training requirements? Will you pay teachers to be trained? Will they get raises for this responsibility? Will you cover their liability? How will guns be stored? What kind of guns are permitted?
— Juliette G (@JulietteG987) June 13, 2022
the countdown to a teacher shooting a student, themselves, or a coworker or a kid getting ahold of a gun starts now
— WatchYourRepsMN (@WatchYourRepsMN) June 13, 2022
Perhaps that's the point? I know here in Texas, they'd love to funnel all that public school money to charter schools.
— Shannon Copeland (@shinyshannon73) June 13, 2022
Teacher kills students because they feared for their lives.
— Jody Wallace (@jodywallace) June 13, 2022
Exactly. Or how long until a teacher just loses it and takes the gun out and shoots a student they were pissed at! Not sure we want to introduce guns into the teacher/student mix. Students are really good at making teachers mad, lol.
— EE (@EEstaris) June 13, 2022
Without even getting into the specific firearms, *that* is the critical question: Should the teacher protect the students, or, confront the shooter?
— Scott Kinney (@sakinney3) June 13, 2022
