Armed Teachers Now Trained in 63 Ohio Counties

[TechMan]

http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/armed-teachers-now-trained-63-ohio-counties

In response to the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, which claimed the lives of 20 children and 6 adult staff members, Buckeye Firearms Foundation launched an emergency response training program here in Ohio for teachers, administrators, and other school staff.

Called FASTER ( Faculty / Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response), the nonprofit program has to date provide high-level training to more than 400 teachers and administrators from 152 school districts in 63 of Ohio's 88 counties over the last three years.

I call it a good start and hope they can keep training more teachers.

[T.O.M.]

Just checked.  It is still illegal for anyone other than an LEO to have a firearm in a school...

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2923.122

Nice that they've been trained, but are still unarmed.

[TechMan]

Just checked.  It is still illegal for anyone other than an LEO to have a firearm in a school...

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2923.122

Nice that they've been trained, but are still unarmed.

Check it again Chris, it is not illegal.  From 2923.122.D.1.a  

any other person who has written authorization from the board of education or governing body of a school to convey deadly weapons or dangerous ordnance into a school safety zone or to possess a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance in a school safety zone and who conveys or possesses the deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance in accordance with that authorization;

[T.O.M.]

Check it again Chris, it is not illegal.  From 2923.122.D.1.a  

That'll teach me to skim through the first half of the subsection. 

Do you know if any districts have granted such authority?

[TechMan]

That'll teach me to skim through the first half of the subsection. 

Do you know if any districts have granted such authority?

I personally do not, but reading what BFA has put out in the past...they go in and work with the school boards to obtain the need permission pursuant to the section.

[Perd Hapley]

That'll teach me to skim through the first half of the subsection. 

Remind me to stay out of your jurisdiction. 

[230RN]

Buckeye Firearms Foundation launched an emergency response training program here in Ohio for teachers, administrators, and other school staff.

Great!

Called FASTER ( Faculty / Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response)...]

That's one acronym I can like.

I hope the idea spreads far and wide, with the wind behind it.

Terry

[T.O.M.]

I personally do not, but reading what BFA has put out in the past...they go in and work with the school boards to obtain the need permission pursuant to the section.

Pleasantly surprised by this.  Hard to imagine school boards ignoring risk management telling them of all the reasons why it shouldn't be done.

[MillCreek]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/29/us/ohio-school-incident/

And yet a 14 year old just shot four other students in Middletown, Ohio. 

[T.O.M.]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/29/us/ohio-school-incident/

And yet a 14 year old just shot four other students in Middletown, Ohio. 

There are 88 counties in Ohio.   Even the smaller counties have 8-10 high schools minimum.  Odds are still favoring the bad guys.

[RoadKingLarry]

That'll teach me to skim through the first half of the subsection. 

Do you know if any districts have granted such authority?

Ignorance of the law is no excuse....unless you're a cop or a judge...

[T.O.M.]

Ignorance of the law is no excuse....unless you're a cop or a judge...

...or a DC politician!   

[TechMan]

Sorry a little thread necromancy.

Buckeye Firearms has released some more numbers:  400 teachers/administrators have gone through BFA's FASTER training.  These teachers/administrators are in 153 of the 611 schools districts. These districts are in 63 of the 88 counties in Ohio.  They have a waiting list of 2000 teachers/administrators wanting to be trained.  I would say it is a good start.

http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/another-ohio-school-district-incorporates-armed-trained-staff-members-safety-plan

[T.O.M.]

Sorry a little thread necromancy.

Buckeye Firearms has released some more numbers:  400 teachers/administrators have gone through BFA's FASTER training.  These teachers/administrators are in 153 of the 611 schools districts. These districts are in 63 of the 88 counties in Ohio.  They have a waiting list of 2000 teachers/administrators wanting to be trained.  I would say it is a good start.

http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/another-ohio-school-district-incorporates-armed-trained-staff-members-safety-plan

That is a good start.  I would be willing to bet that these districts are almost exclusively rural districts and smaller communities where firearm ownership is common and accepted.  Also be willing to bet that darned few, if any, of the districts are in Hamilton County (Cincinnati), Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), or Franklin County (Columbus).

[TechMan]

That is a good start.  I would be willing to bet that these districts are almost exclusively rural districts and smaller communities where firearm ownership is common and accepted.  Also be willing to bet that darned few, if any, of the districts are in Hamilton County (Cincinnati), Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), or Franklin County (Columbus).

Agreed...I don't think we will ever see any of the Big 8 urbans go through FASTER.  I do find it interesting the Mad River SD has implemented it and they are right next to Dayton Public.

[De Selby]

I honestly wonder how the injury rate from gun accidents compares to the risk of mass shootings. 

Might it be possible that predictable accident rates mean that arming vast swaths of the population leads to more deaths than mass shootings?

[makattak]

I honestly wonder how the injury rate from gun accidents compares to the risk of mass shootings. 

Might it be possible that predictable accident rates mean that arming vast swaths of the population leads to more deaths than mass shootings?

There are currently ~550 accidental firearm deaths per year.

There are about 13,000,000 concealed carriers in the U.S. Extrapolating from that, even adding 13,000 teachers to that number (we'll never get that many armed), it would represent about an increase of half a death a year (IF there is any correlation between concealed carry and accidents.)

I think more than 1 person every two years dies in a mass shooting. 

[dogmush]

I honestly wonder how the injury rate from gun accidents compares to the risk of mass shootings. 

Might it be possible that predictable accident rates mean that arming vast swaths of the population leads to more deaths than mass shootings?

Freedom can be risky.  Suck it up, buttercup.

[Nick1911]

I honestly wonder how the injury rate from gun accidents compares to the risk of mass shootings. 

Might it be possible that predictable accident rates mean that arming vast swaths of the population leads to more deaths than mass shootings?

Perhaps.  Although, I'd hardly consider 2400 out of 110,000 to be "vast swaths"...  2.2%?

Further, I think there are some contributing factors to consider:
1. This is a voluntary program, which requires some effort on the part of the individual to go through.
2. While past performance does not guarantee future results, the persons in this training have clean records
3. There is a training program in place.
4. Weapons are inaccessable to students and untrained individuals during day to day operations.

[De Selby]

Freedom can be risky.  Suck it up, buttercup.

I was making just that point - reactions to mass shootings of any kind might do more harm than just wearing the risk.  Particularly when the reaction has to do with a workplace, and not personal choices about firearms or being around them.

Mass shootings are sufficiently rare that I think the issue is worth exploring.  Sort of like how the market tends to discourage armed security at walmarts - the odds that some flunkie will accidentally injure or kill someone seem to me much higher than the odds that Walmart loss prevention is going to prevent death.

[dogmush]

I was making just that point - reactions to mass shootings of any kind might do more harm than just wearing the risk.  Particularly when the reaction has to do with a workplace, and not personal choices about firearms or being around them.

And yet your comment made it clear from the onset that you were considering those two choices as equal.

One's personal choices about firearms is their choice and it applies to them.  In this case teachers/admins can choose to have a firearm (after some hoops jumped) or not. 

Your feelings about being around firearms are an attempt to project your choice on to others.  You don't get to force others to change their choices based on proximity to you.

Your first comment made it clear you felt that someone's feelings about being "around" something were relevant to other's behavior.  Your (or others if this is a hypothetical) feelings are irrelevant.  Hence: Suck it up, Buttercup.

[De Selby]

What about the students who think the armed teacher is a bigger risk than the next mass shooter?  That was my point.  Seems to me in evaluating the answer of who should be made to suck it up (ie, does the teacher who wants to carry suck it up, or do the parents and students more worried about the carrying teacher?) we should probably crunch the math on competing risks.

I'm not sure how that was a comment on "my feelings about firearms" or projection, considering that I'm perfectly comfortable with them.  

[Perd Hapley]

There are currently ~550 accidental firearm deaths per year.

There are about 13,000,000 concealed carriers in the U.S. Extrapolating from that, even adding 13,000 teachers to that number (we'll never get that many armed), it would represent about an increase of half a death a year (IF there is any correlation between concealed carry and accidents.)

I think more than 1 person every two years dies in a mass shooting. 

Looks like the question's been answered. The question's off, though. Mass shootings may be the catalyst for arming teachers, but there's no reason to think they're the only crimes that arming teachers may counteract.

A more general response than makattak's would be to ask why the risks would outweigh the benefits in a school setting, if they haven't anywhere else. The predicted horrors of allowing concealed carry routinely fail to materialize.

[dogmush]

What about the students who think the armed teacher is a bigger risk than the next mass shooter?  That was my point.  Seems to me in evaluating the answer of who should be made to suck it up (ie, does the teacher who wants to carry suck it up, or do the parents and students more worried about the carrying teacher?) we should probably crunch the math on competing risks.

You still don't get it.  No, we should not crunch the math.  I'll try small words this time:

Teacher wants to carry firearm:  That is personal choice.  It only affects that individual's behavior. Liberty.  Good.
Teacher/student/parent doesn't want to be "around firearms": That is forcing other's behavior to conform to your wishes. Bad.

 

[zxcvbob]

I think DeSelby has a point.  (I never thought I would say that)  The students don't really have a choice in being at school, the teachers do.