The Ohio Senate has passed a Republican-backed bill to allow people to carry concealed weapons without permits or the training that comes with them. And a few weeks ago the House approved, along party lines, a bill to dramatically reduce the required training for teachers who want to be armed in class.
The armed teachers bill changes the training requirements from over 700 hours in state law now to 20 hours of concealed carry and other training. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Thomas Hall (R-Middletown), passed the House last month with the backing of the Buckeye Firearms Association, which provides training for teachers and employees who want to carry weapons in school.
In an year-end interview with the Statehouse News Bureau for "The State of Ohio", DeWine suggested he doesn’t like the bill as written, but that there is room to negotiate over what he calls the right kind of training.
“We need to make sure those teachers or custodian or whoever is carrying a gun in that school has that requirement. So I believe there will be a bill that we work out with the Legislature in that regard that that I will be able to sign," DeWine said.
DeWine's office confirmed later in a statement: "Our office is currently engaged with Representative Hall and the legislature on this issue, but we decline further comment at this time."
DeWine wouldn't say whether he’d sign a bill allowing for permitless concealed carry with no required training, saying only that he wants to see how it’s written.
The Senate and House have each passed a version of that bill.