January 16, 2013
WCMH (NBC Columbus)

January 16, 2013
WNYC 820 AM/ 93.9 FM (New York City)

January 15, 2013
KKOH 780 AM (Reno) "The Dan Mason Show"

January 15, 2013
Cleveland Plain Dealer - Ohio Senate Democrats lay out their legislative priorities

Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association, said the Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus contacted him Tuesday morning about the legislation, and he's optimistic about the discussion.

"If we focus on the crime instead of focusing on the gun, then I think there exists an ability to find a compromise," Irvine said. "Nobody likes what happened in Newtown, Connecticut, and everybody's looking for ways to deal with things in a better way."

January 15, 2013
The News Journal - Firearm training for teachers?

Additionally, the Buckeye Firearms Association (BFA) is sponsoring an Armed Teacher Training Program to train school officials on how to handle a firearm. As of Jan. 9, 1,048 educators applied for training. Most are from Ohio, but many requests are from other states.

According to BFA's website, approximately 60 percent of the applicants are men and 40 percent are women. More than 70 percent are teachers, 14 percent are administrators, and the balance is made up of office staff and other employees. About 85 percent work in public schools and more than 50 percent work in high schools. There's a fairly even distribution among urban, suburban, and rural schools.

About 55 percent have moderate to extensive firearm experience, 70 percent have experience with handguns, and more than 40 percent already have a license to carry a concealed firearm. A number of these applicants are ex-military and former law enforcement.

Currently, those who enter the first training set for spring 2013 must already have their Concealed Handgun License (CHL).

The class will cost about $1,000 per student. BFA is raising money so that those who attend do not have to pay.

...According to the BFA, schools are gun-free zones by law, but Ohio Revised Code, specifically, 2923.122, permits a board of education to authorize employees who are otherwise allowed to own and carry firearms to carry them in schools.

January 14, 2013
WLW 700 AM (Cincinnati) "The Marc Amazon Show"

January 13, 2013
Columbus Dispatch - Teachers and guns: Local school personnel comment on arming staff

Defenders of gun ownership insist that prohibitions of or restrictions on certain guns, such as a ban on 19 semiautomatic assault weapons that expired in 2004, have been failures. Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Fire Arms Association, said: "We tried that for 10 years," and it did not prevent mass shootings at Columbine High School in 1999 or at a middle school in Jonesboro, Ark., in 1998.

"It's a terrible idea," Irvine said. "It doesn't solve the problem. If the problem is our children are being killed in our schools, then let's address the problem and see what we can do about it. Are we going to put aside the politics of 'feel good' and do something that works?"

...To the Buckeye Fire Arms Association's Irvine and other gun-rights activists, protecting schools makes more sense than what he regards as a quixotic effort to ban some guns. He advocates throwing a web of "layers of protection" around schools that includes early identification of people with signs of mental illness, improved medical and trauma care at schools, training teachers in self-defense and allowing schools to have "some armed defense."

January 13, 2013
The Crescent News - Teachers and guns: Local school personnel comment on arming staff

Locally, Northwest Self Defense, Archbold, is reaching out to teachers and administrators in the region, offering them a free concealed handgun license (CHL) class.

"Each time one of these tragedies occurs, the politicians just want to talk," said Chad Baus, president of Northwest Self Defense [and Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman], in a prepared press release.

"Whether it's talk about gun control policies that have failed in the past, or talk about increased secutiry funding that we just can't afford to add to our deficit budgets, the talk always comes to nothing. Here at Northwest Self Defense, we're done talking."

"Ohio law currently allows school boards to give permission to persons they with to being a firearm to the school building," Baus noted. "Letting the community know that willing teachers and support staff who have received training are now allowed to carry at school will provide a significant deterrent to other potential attackers, and won't add a penny to the budget."

The CHL class is slated for March 23-34 and preregistration is required. To register, call Northwest Self Defense at 419-572-1526 or by email at cbaus@buckeyefirearms.org.

Co-sponsoring the training are Buckeye Firearms Foundation, ACE Hardware in Wauseon and an anonymous corporate donor.

Similar training programs throughout the country have enlisted an abundance of applicants from a 15-state region, including Ohio. The Buckeye Firearm[sic] Association reported last week that more than 1000 educators have requested the free firearm/first responder training throughout the state.

The association reports that 61 percent of the applicants are men. Overall, approximately 73 percent are teachers, 14 percent are administrators, with other school staff making up the remaining percentage.

January 13, 2013
Corus Radio Network (Canada) "The Roy Green Show"

January 12, 2013
Dayton Daily News - Gun changes sought after Newtown shooting

Gun advocates say there are better ways to respond to the violence in places like Aurora and Newtown than to enact further gun restrictions, such as a ban that expired in 2004 on 19 semi-automatic assault weapons.

"We tried that for 10 years," Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association, said of the ban, noting that it did not prevent the mass shootings at Columbine High School in 1999 or at a middle school in Jonesboro, Ark., in 1998.

"It's a terrible idea. It doesn't solve the problem," Irvine said. "If the problem is our children are being killed in our schools, then let's address the problem and see what we can do about it. Are we going to put aside the politics of 'feel good' and do something that works?"

The firearms association revealed last week that more than 1,000 teachers and other school staff — most of them from Ohio — applied for 24 slots in a free training program being offered through the association's foundation. A questionnaire from the group says the training is of an advanced nature "dealing with active killer scenarios and requires a dynamic range that allows shooting on the move, force-on-force, live-fire houses, and outdoor training."

...Irvine advocates throwing "layers of protection" around schools, including identifying people with signs of mental illness, improving medical and trauma care at schools, training teachers for self-defense, and allowing schools to have "some armed defense."

January 11, 2013
NBC Nightly News

January 11, 2013
Education Week

January 11, 2013
TIME Magazine

January 11, 2013
The Canton Repository - Superintendents: No guns in our schools

Jim Irvine, president of the Delaware, Ohio-based, Buckeye Firearms Association says arming teachers is not only a good idea, he believes it's the only "responsible" approach Ohio school districts have left.

This discussion, Irvine said, "is not about guns, it's about saving kids lives. If you leave anything on the table that would have saved kids lives and something does happen, that is, in my opinion, unacceptable."

Irvine runs through a list of now infamous school shootings: Columbine, Virginia Tech, Chardon, Sandy Hook. Violence in schools is becoming far too common, he said, and the only way to curb it is to stand up to it with firepower.

"An unarmed person is always going to lose against an armed person," Irvine said, "so let's give someone the skills and tools to stop that armed person."

Irvine believes in innovative approaches as well. He applauds efforts like those of Perry. Schools should always be looking for ways to step-up safety measures and he encourages districts to provide teachers with trauma treatment training as well.

But that is just the start to changing the mental approach to security, he said.

According to Irvine, schools view security as a passive thing. It's about waiting and reacting. Security, he contends, should be about more.

Security is about "fighting back."

"The Virginia Tech students sat in their seats, waiting for their turn to be executed because that is what we told them to do," Irvine said. "...We tell (our kids) that violence is wrong, that fighting back is always wrong and that it will not be tolerated and there will be no exceptions. It's that mentality (for which) they (Virginia Tech students) sat there and died....

"The mindset is that we are going to call 911 and wait for police and be passive about this," he later added. "That notion should have died with those 20 students in Connecticut."

Irvine believes that when teachers and administrators, as well as professors and college students, are trained to use firearms, they have the power to fight back when they need it most. Preventing them from doing so, Irvine said, stifles their rights to protect themselves.

That's why Irvine's group is working to help individuals and school officials obtain training for firearms use.

"We have been working with lots of school districts in various capacities, helping them understand the law," Irvine said. "No. 1, they need to know they have the authority to do this."

January 10, 2013
The (London) Times

January 7, 2013
WXIX (FOX Cincinnati) - Springboro board member pushing for armed teachers

Will teachers soon be carrying guns at Springboro schools? They will if Jim Rigano gets his way.

..."Yes, I think they should have more training than required for a concealed carry permit. The Buckeye Firearms Association in Ohio alone has had over 1,000 teachers, administrators, and staff apply to carry a weapon on their school grounds".

January 11, 2013
The Post Newspapers (Wadsworth) - Group wants to arm schools with increased security

Just weeks after the mass shooting in a Newtown, Conn. elementary school, the Buckeye Firearms Association has decided to offer firearms training to teachers, but local school and safety officials say they don't know that arming teachers is the answer to making schools safer.

...Buckeye Firearms Association Chairman Jim Irvine said that an armed response is the best way to lower the body count when faced with an active shooter situation. Arming teachers and administrators is another layer of protection in case entrance security or other measures fail.

Irving[sic] describes the Armed Teacher Program as "an intensive three-day class where you will learn many of the same skills and tactics used by first responders. Instructors will include professional law enforcement personnel with knowledge of active shooter situations."

Participants are required to pass a background check and will not be allowed to attend if they are prohibited from possessing a firearm.

Irvine said that, in addition to learning how to use a gun, program participants would learn how to treat causalities and how to best protect their classrooms. There will also be an emphasis on how to recognize potential issues and deal with that person before the situation escalates to violence.

...Irvine said that the inaugural class of the Armed Teacher Program has only 24 openings, but added that 759 school-related personnel had applied to take the class as of Jan. 3.

Irvine said there were a number of teachers, staff and administrators who applied from the 14 school districts covered by The Post Newspapers. He declined to name which ones had applicants because such information could cause shooters to target the districts without a trained staff member or to target that person first. However, Irvine did say that none of the schools currently allow staff to carry guns.

The total number of applicants comes from all over Ohio and some from nearby states. Irvine said 29 percent of interested people come from urban areas, 31 percent from rural areas and 40 percent from suburban areas. It’s also fairly evenly divided by school size. As for gender, 61 percent of applicants are male and 39 percent female, a breakdown similar to that of concealed carry weapons courses according to Irvine.

"The respondents run the gamut, from people who carry a gun every day to those with no experience at all," he said. "Some people said they just don't feel safe in our schools."

While guns or other weapons are not allowed in schools per the Ohio Revised Code, they are legally permitted if given prior written approval by the local school board.

Since the application response has been overwhelming, Buckeye Firearms plans to develop a curriculum that can be used in other states, as well.

"We need to do this as quickly as we can do it excellently," Irvine said.

January 10, 2013
WDTN (NBC Dayton) - Schools, city leaders talk CCW

The Buckeye Firearm's Association is backing Rigano. Southwest Regional Leader Joe Eaton believes Rigano's take on allowing school employees who are Ohio Concealed Handgun License holders to bring their weapon in schools is a step in the right direction

"We are making progress because we are discussing all of the options, we tried a lot of things in the past. We need to look at what has not worked, put it out, move on to something else, keeping trying different things until we get to a closer solution to keep our teachers and our kids safe," said Joe Eaton.

January 10, 2013
WYFX (FOX Youngstown) - Armed Teacher Proposal Nets Applications, Questions

There apparently is a lot of interest in teaching school employees how to better protect themselves and their classrooms with guns.

Leaders with the Ohio-based gun rights advocacy group Buckeye Firearms Association decided late last month to offer an instruction course for teachers, thinking they would limit it to just a couple dozen people. So far, the group already has received more than 1,000 applications and hundreds of questions from parents, school board members and others.

"That doesn't surprise me at all. I know a lot of teachers personally, all of them are very dedicated, and they want to be able to protect their children. And who can better protect the children than the people who are with them from the opening bell of school until the end of the day," said Rick Kaleda, a local spokesman for the Buckeye Firearms Association.

Kaleda believes if a potential shooter does not know whether teachers can and will fight back, he may think twice before committing the crime.

"When you have a uniformed officer, that easily becomes the first target, whereas if you don't know that the classroom that you might be going to may be the classroom that's the best protected one in the school, that acts as a deterrent in and of itself," he said.

For security and confidentiality purposes, organizers will only say the class will be held sometime this spring at a training center in southern Ohio near Portsmouth. After the first course is completed, the group said additional programs may be offered in other parts of the state.

January 10, 2013
Gongwer News Service - Education Notes: 1,000 Educators Seek Firearm Training

The Buckeye Firearms Association said this week that since its announcement of an Armed Teacher Training Program, more than 1,000 educators have requested participation.

The association announced the program Dec. 20 with the intent to offer free firearm training to 24 teachers "in order to show that teachers could be an effective deterrent to mass murder in schools," the group said.

The training was announced following the shooting in Newtown, Conn. Dec. 14 when 20 children and six educators were shot and killed.

"After three weeks, we have received well over 1,000 requests for this training. So while the goal is still the same, the scope of this program has changed significantly," BFA said in an email.

The program sponsored by Buckeye Firearms Foundation will provide free first responder training to education employees, focused primarily on armed response to an "active killer" scenario. Instruction on medical trauma care, mindset and general school security might also be offered.

Of the 1,048 educators who have completed a questionnaire to apply for training, about 60% are men, more than 70% are teachers and 14% are administrators. About 85% work in public schools and more than half are employed in high schools.

About 55% have moderate to extensive firearm experience, 70% have experience with handguns, and more than 40% already have a license to carry a concealed firearm, according to BFA. A number of applicants are ex-military and former law enforcement.

Allowing school employees to carry guns is a policy that can be implemented by school boards, and the Ohio School Boards Association said it thinks that should remain a local decision.

"If there are going to be armed individuals in schools, they need to be police officers with appropriate training," spokeswoman Michelle Francis said. "We think school boards should look at what they think they need in their particular situation."

January 10, 2013
The Fulton County Expositor - Teachers sign up for gun class

About two dozen school teachers and staff members from the four-county area will participate in March in a local concealed carry class tailored specifically to their positions.

All but two of the 25 spaces available in the free class offered by Northwest Self Defense were filled as of Tuesday, said company president Chad Baus. The spaces filled within two days of being advertised and of information being sent directly to the school districts.

The concealed carry class is being held the weekend of March 23 in direct response to the massacre Dec. 14 of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. by 20-year-old Adam Lanza. The class location has not been determined.

Sponsors include Ace Hardware in Wauseon and the Buckeye Firearms Foundation based in Delaware, Ohio.

Participants will be instructed on pistol and ammunitions[sic] mechanics, safety issues and conceal carry law in Ohio. A 12-hour class is state-mandated for any citizen who considers obtaining a conceal carry license.

Those who successfully complete the class are eligible to apply for a five-year conceal carry license through their local sheriff’s office, a process requiring a background check. The initial license carries a $70 fee; a license can be renewed for a reduced amount every five years.

"This is to get more people educated and trained," Baus said. "We protect our movie stars and rock stars and politicians with guns, but we’re not willing to protect our kids with guns."

In the past, the feeling was that placing a warning sign on the door of a school or business protected it from guns, Baus said. "It's a fantasy. It's the same thing with these discussions over assault weapons."

Over half of those who have signed up for the concealed carry class are women. Baus opened it to all school employees in Fulton, Henry, Williams and Defiance counties to encourage them to think differently about how to protect students.

"I was fully confident that we'd be able to fill this class because these teachers and staff love their kids, and they're as tired of seeing these incidents happen as we are. We need to be protecting our kids in a different way, and giving teachers alternatives other than throwing themselves in front of the bullets," he said.

The class he and his partner will conduct will specifically address the positions of teachers and other school staff members.

Baus conceded that training school personnel to use guns is controversial, but added: "It's time to stop talking. Every time one of these instances happens we talk, but it never goes anywhere. Well, it's time to discuss something else."

He said school shootings in Newtown, Conn., Paducah, Ky., and Littleton, Colo., among others, over the past decade or more have reinforced his and others' belief "that a good guy with a gun is the ultimate means to stop an act of violence."

He said the shooters in these type of incidents always seem to attack at places where guns are purposely banned.

"Who do you call when problems start? You call someone with a gun," Baus said. "My argument for people who don"t want to see kids witness a gun fight is, better a gun fight than a firing squad."

Citing arguments against arming school personnel who never handled a weapon before training, Baus said generally not many accidents occur under those circumstances, "and I don't think they would in school."

The Archbold native and owner of Car 1 became familiar with concealed-carry law while working in Nashville, Tenn. He was among Second Amendment proponents who successfully advocated for an Ohio concealed-carry law in 2004. He began teaching gun self-defense classes in 2004, and founded Northwest Self Defense two years later.

The business conducts general firearm safety classes and conceal-carry classes in various locations, including the Fulton County Sportsmen Club in Wauseon and at the Archbold and Fayette police department firing ranges.

Baus dismisses attempts to regulate guns, saying, "We've already tried it. We had an assault weapon ban in place from 1994 to 2004 nationally. It doesn't work.

"How in the world can we prohibit guns – which are protected by the Second Amendment – in the public domain, when we can't prevent drugs from getting inside our prisons? Show me a place where cocaine and heroin don’t exist, and then you can talk to me about making something illegal [makes it] unavailable."

Interim Archbold school superintendent Joe Long said the question of whether school personnel need the school district's permission to take a gun class is moot. "That's their option. That's their choice. That's their business. The only question would (arise) if someone actually wanted to do that – conceal carry at the school," he said.
The Archbold school board has had no discussions about permitting conceal-carry in the district's buildings.

Wauseon Exempted Village Schools Superintendent Larry Brown said at present taking the class is a district employee's individual decision. He said the school board has had no concealed carry discussions, and would probably first seek a recommendation from NEOLA, a national organization that provides school districts with policy guidance.

Baus plans to keep the names of the concealed carry class participants and their school districts confidential. But he is encouraging school boards to announce publicly whether district personnel members are participating.

"That's going to be a deterrent," he said.

January 9, 2013
WKRC 550 AM (Cincinnati) "The Brian Thomas Show

January 9, 2013
Youth Radio (Oakland, CA)

January 9, 2013
The Post Newspapers (Medina) - Buckeye Firearms offers gun training to teachers

"Layers of protection" is what spurred the Buckeye Firearms Association to offer firearms training to teachers, according to Chairman Jim Irvine.
After the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. the organization began offering the Armed Teacher Training Program. The inaugural class only has 24 openings, but 759 school-related personnel had applied as of Jan. 3 after about 10 days worth of advertising.

Locally, Irvine said, there were a number of teachers, staff and administrators who applied from the 14 school districts covered by The Post Newspapers. He declined to name which ones had applicants because such information could cause shooters to target the districts without a trained staff member or to target that person first. However, Irvine did say that none of those schools currently allow staff to carry guns.

The total number of applicants come from all over Ohio and some from nearby states. Irvine said 29 percent of interested people come from urban areas, 31 percent from rural areas and 40 percent from suburban areas. It’s also fairly evenly divided by school size. As for gender, 61 percent of applicants are male and 39 percent female, a breakdown similar to that of concealed carry weapons courses according to Irvine.

"The respondents run the gamut, from people who carry a gun every day to those with no experience at all," he said. "Some people said they just don't feel safe in our schools."

...Irvine claimed an armed response is the best way to lower the body count when faced with an active shooter situation. Arming teachers and administrators is another layer of protection in case entrance security or other measures fail.

The Armed Teacher Training Program is "an intensive three-day class where you will learn many of the same skills and tactics used by first responders. Your instructors will include professional law enforcement personnel with knowledge of active shooter situations." Participants are required to pass a background check and will not be allowed to attend if they are prohibited from possessing a firearm.

Irvine said that, in addition to learning how to use a gun, program participants would learn how to treat causalities and how to best protect their classrooms. There will also be an emphasis on how to recognize potential issues and deal with that person before the situation escalates to violence.

Buckeye Firearms plans to develop a curriculum that can be used in other states, as well, in response to the overwhelming number of applications.

"We need to do this as quickly as we can do it excellently," Irvine said.

While guns or other weapons are not allowed in schools per the Ohio Revised Code, they are legally permitted if given prior written approval by the local school board. If that permission were to be granted, it would need to be in a meeting open to the public and become part of publicly-available information.

Using the same logic with which he refused to disclose the participants and their school districts, Irvine said that Buckeye Firearms is lobbying the state legislature to change the laws to allow school boards to give permission for teachers to be armed without it becoming public record.

January 9, 2013
Al Jazerra

January 9, 2013
WTAM 1100AM (Cleveland)

January 9, 2013
WLW 700 AM (Cincinnati) "The Big Show with Bill Cunningham"

January 9, 2013
WAKR 1590 AM (Akron) - Teachers flock to gun courses as gun-violence debate heats up

Free gun courses aimed at teachers and school administrators in Utah, Texas, North Carolina and Ohio have attracted hundreds of applicants in the wake of the shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

The classes provide gun training and a concealed carry license for those who qualify. Gerard Valentino, a co-founder of the Buckeye Firearms advocacy group in Ohio, said more than 900 teachers and administrators have signed up to take the three-day class his organization is offering at the Tactical Defense Institute in West Union, Ohio.

January 9, 2013
Columbus Dispatch - Teachers line up for "active shooter" training

Meanwhile, 1,048 teachers and other school employees from across Ohio have applied for 24 spots in a free firearms-training program being offered later this year by the Buckeye Firearms Association.

"This isn't ordinary training. It's not a typical 'safety' or beginner's class that can be done at any neighborhood shooting range. It's advanced training dealing with active killer scenarios and requires a dynamic range that allows shooting on the move, force-on-force, live-fire houses, and outdoor training," the association said.

The first firearms class, a three-day program at the Tactical Defense Institute in West Union in Adams County, hasn't been scheduled nor have the participants been chosen.

"Based on the current 1,000+ applicants, about 60% are men and 40% are women. More than 70% are teachers, 14% are administrators, and the balance are office staff and other employees. About 85% work in public schools and over 50% work in high schools. There's a fairly even distribution among urban, suburban, and rural schools," the gun group said today.

"About 55% have moderate to extensive firearm experience, 70% have experience with handguns, and more than 40% already have a license to carry a concealed firearm. A number of these applicants are ex-military and former law enforcement."

January 9, 2013
The Northwest Signal - Security in schools: Officials debate arming staff

Meanwhile, the Buckeye Firearms Association has also announced it is offering free firearms training to teachers and school administrative staff this spring. Also, Northwest Self Defense in Archbold is providing free Ohio concealed handgun license classes to Ohio teachers and others employed in northwest Ohio schools.

Jim Irvine, chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association, said there have been more than 650 applications received from throughout the state and country and more are still arriving.

"We've been overwhelmed," he said, adding the applications are being reviewed to make selections for the 24 available spots. "The common theme is they all really care about the kids and want them to be safe."

The Armed Teacher Training Program seeks to help teachers get permission to carry concealed weapons on the job and provide advanced training that goes above the beyond the typical requirements of concealed carry, while also providing general security and first aid training.

Irvine said those who have applied for the spots range from those who currently have conceal carry licenses, those who own and use firearms and those who are completely new to firearms. Of those who have applied, for training, more than half already have a concealed carry license and more than 80 percent have experience with handguns.

January 8, 2013
WSYX (ABC Columbus) - Central Ohio Teacher Among First To Sign Up For Gun Training

A middle school teacher hopes to be among the first for a special firearms training class offered soon in light of the Connecticut school massacre.

She teaches art but knows her way around guns.

The teacher from central Ohio is close to getting her concealed carry permit.

When Buckeye Firearms Association offered the free Armed Teachers Training Program, she was among the first to sign up.

Hundreds from around Ohio and across the United States have also put their names on the list.

24 people will take the initial class in the spring of this year.

The central Ohio teacher says she'd do anything to protect her students and hopes her school will one day allow her to bring a gun to class.

January 8, 2013
CKNW 980 AM (Vancouver) "The Bill Good Show"

January 8, 2013
WUTC (NPR Chattanooga)

January 8, 2013
Al Jazerra

January 8, 2013
MSNBC - Giffords vs the NRA

An "Armed Teacher Training Program," launched by the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, has started in 15 states and has attracted over 600 applications. The program will train teachers how to use the same firearms as law enforcement officers. The NRA also plans to host an elected-officials-only class for a "range tutorial on the purpose and practical use of semi-automatic firearms and the differences between semi-automatic and automatic function."

January 8, 2013
WNWO (NBC Toledo) - Gun control laws, battle continue

An initiative called Americans for Responsible Solutions will be raising money to support greater gun control efforts.

It's being spearheaded by former State Representative Gabby Gifford, and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly.

But some say it's just another fruitless effort with misplaced focus.

"What their talking about now is punishing law abiding citizens," says attorney Mark Abramson, who is and[sic] advocate of gun rights [and a Buckeye Firearms Association spokesperson].

He says there the laws are already in place the accomplish the change that's being lobbied by the anti-gun community.

"We already have the laws on the books. We just need to find the vehicle to enforce them. Most of the guns that are used in criminal acts aren't coming from gun shows, they certainly aren't coming from lawful dealers," Mark says.

...And while noone wants a gun to be used for atrocities like the Connecticut school shooting, pro-gun folks don't want events like that to be used as a catalyst for a prior agenda by the anti-gun people.

"This is something that has been on their list of things to do. And they're using this tragedy as the excuse," says Abramson.

The gun world will now have to wait to see what legislation will be introduced, and what will be inacted[sic].

January 8, 2013
WOIO (CBS Cleveland) - State program to arm teachers flooded with applicants

In the case of Sandy Hook 20 kids were shot and killed and teachers were killed trying to dive in front of those children.

"We think we owe it to those teachers to give them the tools and skills to do something besides die when they step in front of our children to defend their life," Jim Irvine, President of the Buckeye Firearm Foundation told reporter Dan DeRoos.

Irvine explained a couple weeks ago they launched the Armed Teachers Training Program. It will be free of charge, approximately $1000 value, to train them to carry weapons in school.

"When we call 911 in a school. What are we calling? We're calling police, we're calling people with guns to come solve our problem. The killing continues until they meet some resistance," according to Irvine.

In just a couple weeks time since announcing the class they've received some 900 applications. Buckeye Firearms will only be accepting 24, for this first time around.

The first class will only be for teachers and staff who already have their concealed weapons permits. With this new training there will then be extra background checks, training on marksmanship, safety and first aid.

January 8, 2013
The Bucyrus Telegram - Sheriffs see little CCW change here since Newtown

Jim Irvine, chairman of Buckeye Firearms Association, said it's difficult to track since CCW permits are granted on a quarterly basis.

"There are no statistics available since the Newtown shooting," Irvine said.

Irvine said 13,949 licenses were issued in the third quarter of 2012, a 39 percent increase over the same period a year earlier. Of those, 3,447 were renewed. That's not unusual, as many people opt to take the classes in the summer.

Statewide, 547 were revoked for various reasons, Irvine said. One reason was a large group of residents received inadequate training by a Columbus-area instructor.

Buckeye Firearms Association is a grassroots political action committee dedicated to defending and advancing the right of Ohio citizens to own and use firearms for all legal activities, including self-defense, hunting, competition and recreation.

...Sheriffs in all 88 counties carry the burden of granting the permits, and Irvine said they do a good job.

"They know if it's a bad guy who is requesting one," Irvine said. "In some states people are denied based on political affiliation or the color of their skin. That doesn't happen in Ohio."

Residents must find a qualified instructor and complete the 12-hour class before a certificate of competency is issued.

Irvine said classes are full and "the demand for training is really high." He said political fallout from the shooting, more so than the actual incident, has helped drive the numbers.

"Some people read things and think, 'What if they shut down the program?' I'd better get my permit now," Irvine said.

January 8, 2013
Reuters - Teachers in Ohio, Texas flock to free gun training classes

School teachers in Texas and Ohio are flocking to free firearms classes in the wake of the Connecticut elementary school massacre, some vowing to protect their students with guns even at the risk of losing their jobs.

In Ohio, more than 900 teachers, administrators and school employees asked to take part in the Buckeye Firearms Association's newly created, three-day gun training program, the association said.

..."Any teacher who is licensed and chooses to be armed should be able to be armed," said Gerald[sic] Valentino, co-founder of the Buckeye Firearms Association. "It should be every teacher's choice."

..."What we know is that these spree killers are looking for the highest death toll possible. They look for no-gun zones like schools," Valentino said. "It doesn't make sense that we guard our gold with guns and we guard our kids with hope."

The Buckeye Firearms Association, which successfully lobbied for 2004 legislation in Texas[sic] allowing people to carry concealed handguns, is offering all eligible state educators free admission to what it calls "an intensive three-day class where you will learn many of the same skills and tactics used by first responders."

Of the more than 900 applicants so far, 73 percent were teachers and 10 percent were kindergarten teachers, Valentino said. Sixty percent were male and 51 percent worked in high schools, he said.

...Valentino was adamant that Ohio's armed teachers remain anonymous, citing concerns that local media might reveal who was taking the course.

"The idea is for no one to know what teachers might be carrying. It would be very dangerous to identify these teachers. We don't want to put a target on them," Valentino said.

January 7, 2013
WXIX (FOX Cincinnati) - Teachers apply to carry guns to school

Teachers, principals, assistant principals and deans are speaking out after the Connecticut school shootings. Over 900 have applied since the mass murder in the Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown on Dec. 14.

"We had filled the first 24 spots within a few hours after making the announcement at the town hall meeting in Columbus a few weeks ago so we've slowly been increasing the number of applications," says Joe Eaton, of the Buckeye Firearms Association. "A lot more people are talking about this."

Eaton says the training, which will be held this spring at the Tactical Defense Institute in Adams County, will be geared specifically towards a school environment.

"We're wanting to take this to the next level. The firearm is actually going to be the last part of this." Eaton adds. "That's a tool of last resort. So, we want to give the teachers any tools that they're comfortable with using."

Federal law says a person has to have a Concealed Carry permit to have a gun in a school. Ohio law says, not only does someone have to have the permit, but each individual school board has to approve someone having a gun on campus. Kentucky law has no provision for anyone having a gun on campus, except a cop.

So, in Ohio, why not just have teachers get a concealed carry permit?

"Our classrooms are a different situations that what a person will experience in a 'Concealed Carry' or a lot of other courses," says Eaton. "There are a lot of precious people in there that somebody should be aware of should someone try to commit violence against them."

He also said if no one on campus has a gun, the bad guys know it. Thinking like them, he says, "Do we see a sign that says 'I'm the only armed one there' or can we start taking down those signs and make the person think, I may meet some resistance here and may not meet my end goal."

Only 24 teachers and administrators will be able to enroll in the first class. After that, Eaton's not sure what will happen.

"We don't want dollars to stand between a teacher getting this type of training and keeping our kids safe. Our foundation estimated about a thousand dollars per teacher per curriculum for room and board, for the ammunition," Eaton adds. "Our foundation's going to pay for all that for the first 24. Of course, we're going to reach out to corporations and to the public for additional funding so that we can increase the number of teachers that go through this."

January 6, 2013
WIZF 101.1 FM (Cincinnati) "The Nathan Ive Show"

January 5, 2013
WDBZ 1230 AM (Cincinnati) "The Nathan Ive Show"

January 5, 2013
Press TV (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) - Arming school teachers popular for fascist elements: Analyst

Over 600 teachers from 15 states have applied for a free firearms training program that a gun advocacy group, the Buckeye Firearms Association, announced it would sponsor in the wake of the Newtown school shooting, Mother Jones reported.

The three-day training will train teachers how to wield firearms in the case of a school shooting.

January 5, 2013
The Lima News - After shooting, experts wrestle with arming teachers

Arming teachers isn’t a new idea. It's an idea that's been discussed for years. When an Ohio gun advocacy group announced it would provide free, advanced firearms training to teachers in response to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., last month, the response was overwhelming.

More than 600 teachers, administrators, office staff and guidance counselors have have applied for one of the 24 slots in the initial class offered by the Buckeye Firearms Association, according to Chairman Jim Irvine.

"This isn't a panacea. It isn't going to solve all our problems but it's a layer of protection that is critical to our children's safety. This isn't about guns," Irvine said. "This is about safety and security of our children and our schools. We need to realize that happy thoughts and a sticker on a door doesn't make our kids safe. They deserve a whole lot better than what we've been doing. It's time to reassess everything from beginning to end, throw out the policies that don't work and replace them with ones that do."

The Dec. 14 mass murder in Connecticut has plunged the issue of arming teachers or administrators back into the national discourse. Advocates, such as Irvine, say the current gun-free zones around schools make students and teachers alike easy targets. Educators, meanwhile, are left grappling with the issue of whether carrying a concealed weapon on school grounds is a good idea.

...Advocates such as Irvine said Ohio law already permits school districts, specifically school boards, to give written approval to a designee. Irvine cites Ohio Revised Code section 2923.122 as giving school boards the authority to employ either a security officer or "any other person who has written authorization from the board of education" who may carry firearms on school grounds.

"It's not the school is hiring armed security, this is a teacher who is already in the school hired as a teacher but who voluntarily provide a level of safety and security for his or her classroom and the school in general," Irvine said. "No one should be forced to carry a gun. Certainly teachers didn't set out to be teachers to carry a gun around. But we have teachers who have extensive firearm training who carry a gun all the time except when they're taking care of our children. That doesn't make any sense. We shouldn't disarm them when they are taking
care of our most precious resource."

January 5, 2013
Dayton Daily News - Better security may not make schools safer

As of last week, more than 450 teachers and other school employees from around Ohio had applied for 24 spots in a free firearms training program being funded by the Buckeye Firearms Association foundation.

Ken Hanson, the legal chairman for the association, said the Sandy Hook shooting was the "breaking point," and the group decided "it's time to quit talking about it and move forward."

At the end of the three-day course, participants will be given the same firearms tests administered to law enforcement officers.

"If they can't qualify, they shouldn't be carrying a gun," said John Benner, a former member of the Hamilton County regional SWAT team who owns the Tactical Defense Institute, which is doing the training.

January 5, 2013
The Capital Times - Gun owner? In Wisconsin your name won't be published

I didn't find much information about which states allow access to gun license records. But in 2009, after Ohio lawmakers passed a law to keep concealed carry records confidential, the Buckeye Firearms Association posted a report detailing similar efforts in several states.

January 5, 2013
Sidney Daily News - Weapons in classrooms?

The Buckeye Firearms Foundation, a Delaware-based volunteer organization, reported this week hundreds of Ohio school officials and teachers have registered for its free Armed Teacher training program in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., Sandy Nook School mass shooting tragedy.

The foundation says it will choose 24 applicants for its first class, to be held at Tactical Defense Institute in West Union. Expenses, which are expected to total $1,000 per teacher, will be paid by the foundation and outside donations.

Foundation president Jim Irvine said Ohio law allows school staff members to carry firearms as long as their school boards approve it. More information on the program is available at: www.BuckeyeFirearms.org.

...

The Buckeye Firearms Foundation reports more than 600 Ohio teachers and administrators have applied for its training program and that roughly 70 percent of current applicants are classroom teachers.

January 4, 2013
MotherJones.com - 600 Teachers Apply to Learn How to Shoot a Gun at School

As of this Wednesday, over 600 teachers from 15 states have applied for a free firearms training program that a gun advocacy group, the Buckeye Firearms Association, announced it would sponsor in the wake of the Newtown school shooting. The three-day training will train teachers how to wield firearms in the case of a school shooting.

According to a press release, the association hopes to use the training as a starting point for a more refined, ongoing "Armed Teacher" curriculum. The first training will take place this spring at an Ohio training facility. Buckeye Firearms' chairman Jim Irvine explained program details to StateImpact:

It has to be conducted in an outside range, a dynamic range as they're called, because it's just something you can't do shooting down lanes at a firing range, so weather is a factor in Ohio and the class is not completely designed yet.

In a traditional shooting range you're in a shooting lane, but classrooms aren't conducted in lanes. The threat can come from anywhere; the threat can come from multiple directions. You have to analyze the threat in a 3D environment. We want to train for the real event.

[...]

We have to change the mindset in schools and get some good people in schools that are the first line of defense. This isn't a new idea it's just that the events in Connecticut make what we've been talking about for years all of a sudden politically acceptable. Now everything is on the table, this is something that can and will be done.

Irvine acknowledged that there is a "potential risk" that students could take and use guns if teachers in the US start to conceal-and-carry more often, but noted that in the case of one school in Texas that arms teachers, "frankly, it hasn't been a problem." (An Arkansas student did successfully steal a handgun from a teacher's purse last January.)

A 2011 Mother Jones investigation found that Irvine and the Buckeye Firearms Association have a robust history of gun rights lobbying in Ohio, including a successful push for a concealed carry law in 2004. The organization is also known for its aggression: When the manager of the Sandusky Register, a small daily in Ohio, published the names and birth dates of gun permit holders in the state, he began receiving angry phone calls from gun rights advocates nationwide, and Buckeye published as much publicly available information as they could (including which school bus his daughter rode) on their website.

January 4, 2013
Cleveland Plain Dealer - Local teachers apply for free gun training from a gun advocacy group

More than 70 local teachers and school officials have joined a flood of educators across the state – and from neighboring ones – applying for free gun training aimed at stopping assailants in schools.

The Buckeye Firearms Association is offering a three-day course to a limited number of educators that includes handling armed attackers in busy areas, along with basic gun safety and handling.

Since announcing the offer last month in the wake of the Connecticut school killings, 765 teachers and administrators have applied for the training, Gerard Valentino, the group's secretary, said Thursday.

The group won't release names of any of the applicants, but Valentino said there are applicants who work in the Cleveland and Akron school districts, as well as Northeast Ohio suburbs. He estimated that a little more than 10 percent of the applicants are from the Cleveland area, with the vast majority coming from further south.

"We've seen teachers from every part of the spectrum – not only from the state of Ohio, but we've gotten requests from outside the state," Valentino said. "Men, women, teachers, principals."

The group believes that an armed response is the best way to stop a shooter in a school and keep casualties low, he said.

How many teachers will receive training and whether they'll ever be able to carry guns in their schools is still to be determined.

Guns are generally not allowed in Ohio schools, Valentino said, though state law seems to give individual districts the right to allow them. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said last month that districts should consider having an armed person in each school.

...It's also unclear how many educators would receive the training, and when. The association has committed to training one class of 24 at the Tactical Defense Institute in West Union. Between the program costs, ammunition and lodging, the group estimates it will cost about $1,000 per person.

Valentino said the group has the money to pay for a few classes, but needs donations to expand the program further.

"It's driven by the donations we get," he said.

The first class could be in the summer, he said, though if the group sponsors more classes it might schedule some sooner.

Valentino said keeping private the names of gun carriers in schools prevents assailants from targeting them first in any attacks and makes attackers wary of whether there is anyone armed in a particular school.

"Nobody would know who is armed, when they're armed, anything," he said. "Part of what makes a program like this successful is nobody knowing."

An application for the training is available on the homepage of buckeyefirearms.org.

January 4, 2013
NRAnews.com

January 4, 2013
Seattle Weekly - Armed Training For Teachers Program Draws 'Multiple Applicants' From Washington State

Less than three weeks after the slaughter at Sandy Hook, an Ohio gun owners' group has launched an "Armed Teacher Training" program. As of yesterday, more than 750 educators in 15 states -- including "multiple applicants" from Washington -- have informed the Buckeye Firearms Foundation that they are fired up and ready to go.

To paraphrase the National Rifle Associations' chief lunatic Wayne LaPierre, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good teacher with a gun." Now, there's a motto the Buckeye gun group might want to run up a flap pole and see if anyone salutes.

Sean Maloney, a criminal defense attorney in the Cincinnati area -- and member of the Foundation -- told The Daily Weekly yesterday that the first class in the pilot program will accept 24 teachers for a comprehensive 3-day training class at the Tactical Defense Institute in West Union, Ohio. All major expenses will be covered, including tuition, ammunition, and lodging (which are expected to total approximately $1,000 per teacher).
To date, three states -- Utah, Texas and Alabama -- allow teachers to carry concealed weapons to school, though it is legal in Ohio to bring a concealed weapon on school grounds if a school district has granted permission.

Foundation chairman Jim Irvine expects more school districts will sign-off on gun-toting teachers in light of the Dec. 14 mayhem, where 20 young children and 6 adults were executed by Adam Lanza with a Bushmaster assault rifle ("Consider Your Man Card Reissued") capable of firing 180 rounds a minute.

"School boards were just in denial. That denial got ripped away in Newtown, Conn. The idea is to make it hard to kill a kid," he said.

Maloney -- who by the way thinks LaPierre's insane suggestion to put armed guards in "every single one" of America's 135,000 public and private schools is not a bad idea -- would not disclose the exact number of applications the Buckeye Firearms Foundation has received from Washington state.

"I can only say there were multiple applicants," he said.

Whatever the case, Maloney is bullish about the quality of training school teachers will get at the Tactical Defense Institute, a 15-year-old program featuring classrooms and seven shooting ranges, all of which sit on 186 rural acres in southern Ohio. It's a lovely place to hear the birdsong after a grueling day of gun fire.
The school personnel chosen for the class must already have basic firearms training and a concealed carry permit, and come with their own handgun, holster, extra magazines and speed loaders.

"Not only do they learn safe gun handling, storage, and transport," noted Maloney, "but they'll learn how to draw from a concealed-carry position and how to barricade themselves properly."

The Foundation will decide by the end of the month on the 24 lucky teachers who will be chosen to go, all expenses paid, for three days of glorious gun play in the undulating hills that make West Union, Ohio, such a special place.

One can only imagine the anticipation!

January 4, 2013
WNWO (NBC Toledo) - Teachers may carry guns

The Buckeye Firearm Association is taking on the task of educating teachers in the use of guns.

"Teachers who are voluntarily interested in serving to carry a firearm in school for the protection of the children," says Buckeye Firearm volunteer Michael Temple.

This comes after the mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementar in Newtown, Connecticut. And often gun laws are brought to the forefront, instead of addressing other key problems.

"This particular issue that we're facing with the tragedy in the schools isn't about guns at all. It's about protecting the children and being safe," says Temple

Buckeye Firearms has seen over 800 applications come in for these classes. And their idea could possibly be used as a model that could potentially set the standard for training of this nature across the country.

...According to Ohio law, a teacher with a conceal carry license can carry a gun on school grounds if the district allows it. Which currently TPS does not.

"They can allow teachers to carry if they make an exemption within the school system themselves. State law does allow that," says Temple.

...These teachers are being asked to be in area where they cannot defend the children that they are in charge of. That they cannot protect them. And this is a program that would allow them to do that," says Temple.

They say they expect more people to sign up in the near future, and are currently talking with schools and dostricts that they cannot disclose at this time.

January 4, 2013
WCPO (NBC Cincinnati) - Pro-gun lobby group to send 24 Ohio teachers, administrators to tactical training course

A new program created by the Buckeye Firearms Association, a member of the pro-gun lobby, will send 24 Ohio teachers and administrators to a tactical training course this spring.

The course would instruct a teacher, licensed to carry a concealed handgun, how to confront and potentially neutralize a would-be mass shooter.

"You look at the situation in Sandy Hook, the principal, she walked up and confronted this guy with nothing except for hope," said Joe Eaton, a spokesperson for the BFA.

"She still went ahead and did that. We need to give our teachers and administrators any tools they need to keep our children alive out there. They should be able to do something besides walking up and dying," continued Eaton.

The BFA says more than 700 teachers and administrators have volunteered to be one of the first 24 students to attend the training course.

According to the BFA, more than 40 percent of those teachers already have licenses to carry concealed firearms.
"We are not asking these teachers to do any more than they already do to protect themselves and their family," Eaton said. "We think they should be able to do the same thing while on the job."

Eaton argues that the reason mass shooters target malls, schools and movie theaters is that they are generally "gun free" zones and that the shooters are confident they won't face armed resistance.

The foundation has agreed to completely cover the cost of training the first class of 24 participants. That will include tuition, ammunition and lodging, totaling about $1,000 per participant.

...The BFA says roughly two dozen of these 700 or more volunteers have the blessing and support of their local school boards.

Eaton declined to disclose the names of those districts.

January 8, 2013
Russian Nightly News

January 3, 2013
WKRC (CBS Cincinnati) - Ohio teachers to receive firearms training

Soon, two dozen Ohio teachers won't just be taking aim at test scores. They'll be taking aim at stopping violence in schools.

"It's something that needs to happen not only in Ohio, but in other states. We defend our gold with guns, and leave our kids defenseless," said Gerard Valentino, with the Buckeye Firearms Foundation.

Valentino says selecting 24 teachers out of the more than 600 who have applied will be difficult. "It's really been all socio-economic backgrounds, all school backgrounds, all age ranges - you name it," Valentino said.

The majority of them have been women.

Financial support is also pouring in from people in countries with strict gun laws, such as Great Britain, Canada and Australia, but Valentino says not everyone's on board. "We've had an email where somebody, who pretended to be from the anti-gun movement said, 'if they had their way, it would've been the Buckeye Firearms Foundation leaders' children in school at Sandy Hook, instead of 20 innocent children.'"

Valentino says that email drives home even more why protecting children in schools is so important.

January 3, 2013
WLW 700 AM (Cincinnati) "The Scott Sloan Show"

January 3, 2013
Education Week - Is Arming Teachers the Right Course?

Some 600 educators have reportedly applied to take part in a free firearms-training course being offered this spring by Ohio's Buckeye Firearms Association in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings.

In an interview with StateImpact Ohio, BFA Chairman Jim Irvine says that, to provide an authentic learning experience, the training will likely take place in a customized environment:

"In a traditional shooting range you're in a shooting lane, but classrooms aren't conducted in lanes. The threat can come from anywhere; the threat can come from multiple directions. You have to analyze the threat in a 3D environment. We want to train for the real event."

He's a bit less clear when questioned about the argument that placing guns in the classroom could be particularly hazardous because teachers have been known to lose their cool from time to time:

"If the teacher's going to snap, the teacher's going to snap. There's nothing that prevents that from happening. It's not a bigger threat now than it will be then. It could happen, but it hasn't happened yet."

January 3, 2013
StateImpact Ohio - Q&A: Buckeye Firearms Association to Arm and Train Teachers

After the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut, both the National Rifle Association and the Buckeye Firearms Association stated the best way to prevent future school shootings is by arming and training teachers and other school personnel.

The Buckeye Firearms Association is offering a pilot training course for 24 teachers in the spring, but just two weeks after announcing the program it’s already overflowing - 600 people have applied.

StateImpact Ohio caught up with Buckeye Firearms Association's Jim Irvine to talk about training and arming teachers, and the concerns some folks have about putting a gun in every classroom.

Q: What will the training be like?

A: It won't be until March or April. It has to be conducted in an outside range, a dynamic range as they're called, because it's just something you can't do shooting down lanes at a firing range, so weather is a factor in Ohio and the class is not completely designed yet.

In a traditional shooting range you're in a shooting lane, but classrooms aren't conducted in lanes. The threat can come from anywhere; the threat can come from multiple directions. You have to analyze the threat in a 3D environment. We want to train for the real event.

We're not teaching the class, we're paying for the class. We're just facilitating.

We have to change the mindset in schools and get some good people in schools that are the first line of defense. This isn't a new idea it's just that the events in Connecticut make what we've been talking about for years all of a sudden politically acceptable. Now everything is on the table, this is something that can and will be done.

Q: How do you choose which teachers get to participate?

A: We've got hundreds of teachers who will apply for the 24 spots to do this. (Ed. Note: at last count 600 teachers from Ohio and other states have applied.)

We're going to go through the applicants and pick out 24 to be a good representation of different groups. That includes different teachers of different grade levels; males and females, public and private, rural, urban and suburban teachers, and people in schools who aren't teachers. We want to touch all the bases. We’ll learn from this program. Make sure this works for all the intended people that need to take a class for this and then roll it out. This is not designed to be an ending.

We intend to lead the nation and let's rethink our school security.

Q: Some people argue arming teachers isn't a good idea. What do you say to them?

A: We're not proposing just arm all the teachers, but that's a step. Our society needs to predict, is there risk factors that says does this person need some intervention? If you can't, we need to look at hardening our schools. We've done a lot since 9/11. Look at the things that have worked well and duplicate them. Look at those things that haven't and replace them.

And we need to build layers of defense. This maybe is the most important thing, and it goes against what we've been saying for 30 years, and that is you've got to fight. These events continue until the killer meets resistance. This is a situation that not only allows fighting but demands it.

Q: Columbine had an armed officer in the school when the shooting happened there. If it didn't work there, why would arming folks in schools work elsewhere?

A: That's true. There was. We're not saying to get rid of school resource officers. We would love to have one in every school.

I find it funny that the same people that say that about Columbine are the same ones who want to ban high capacity assault weapons. The school resource officer is one guy that's armed and everybody knows who that is. That's the one guy you want to kill first.

Cops get shot at more often than the average citizen. That's the guy that you take out first.

With concealed carry, we don't see that because you don't know who the person (carrying a gun) is. We need to hide the identity of whatever teachers or administrators are carrying a gun so [a shooter] can't go kill that person first and then slaughter everyone else in the building.

Q: Others have pointed out that placing guns in the classrooms might be dangerous if a teacher snaps, or if a student gets a hold of the weapon. What happens if a teacher uses their gun to attack their own school?

A: If the teacher's going to snap, the teacher's going to snap. There's nothing that prevents that from happening. It's not a bigger threat now than it will be then. It could happen, but it hasn't happened yet.

Q: What if a student gets a hold of the teacher's weapon?

A: As far as the accidental stuff, that is something that does need to get looked at.

Maybe we should look at doing some training in schools, like the Eddy Eagle program from the NRA. My kids watch it, it's just as annoying as Barney. But I'm never going to say no to that.

Yes that is a potential risk, and we should look at it.

But, frankly, it hasn't been a problem. A couple other states have been arming teachers for years. Texas, there's a well known school in Texas that has done it. Alabama and Utah. Connecticut used to allow guns in schools, but changed their law in 1998.

I'm willing to listen to anybody and even if you're afraid of guns, maybe they can come up with something that we didn't think of.

January 3, 2013
WTVG (ABC Toledo)

January 3, 2013
WTVN 610 AM (Columbus) "The Joel Riley Show"

January 2, 2013
WFMJ (NBC Youngstown) - Some Ohio teachers and administrators sign up for firearms training

The idea of arming teachers to deal with school shooters has some willing volunteers according to Ohio's Buckeye Firearms Foundation.

Jim Irvine, president of the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, says the response by teachers and others in the school system has been positive with more than 600 across the state of Ohio applying for free training to carry a firearm into the school and classroom.

"It's not just teachers. Its administrators, principals, superintendents, office staff, guidance counselors, maintenance folks, food service people, transportation people," Irvine said.

The pilot training program would include a cross section of those who already have a concealed carry permit to those who have little to no experience with guns so the program can be analyzed and any needed changes made.

Irvine said the training will most likely be scheduled in March or April. He said it will be extensive and tailored to help school officials to prepare for school violence like what took place in Newtown, Connecticut.

The idea has been endorsed by Attorney General Mike DeWine, but it has triggered opposing views with some administrators and teachers adamantly against the idea.

Patricia Frost-Brooks, president of the Ohio Education Association, says teachers and other school employees should not be asked to serve a dual role and be armed with concealed weapons to face school intruders.

However the Buckeye Firearms Foundation president emphasizes the program would only include those who volunteer. "We've got multiple teachers who are former law enforcement officers. They've already been trained and deputized to carry firearms they just can't do it as a teacher and it doesn't make any sense," Irvine said.

Those who obtained their concealed carry permit would have to get permission from their administration.

January 2, 2013
WTAM 1100 AM (Cleveland)

January 2, 2013
Associated Press - Ohio teachers learning to fire guns

A gun rights group says more than 650 Ohio educators have expressed interest in a firearms training program announced after 20 children and six educators were killed at a Connecticut school.

The Buckeye Firearms Association was accepting applications for 24 spots in a free, three-day class to train teachers to use firearms. It said costs for the Armed Teacher Training Program would be covered by its educational foundation and outside donations.

The foundation's president says the response from hundreds of educators has been overwhelming.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has said he would support allowing trained school officials access to a gun during classes if he were a school board member, but also said such decisions should be up to each district.

January 2, 2013
WKYC (NBC Cleveland) - Hundreds of Ohio teachers sign up for free firearms training

Should teachers be armed inside the classroom? It's a debate that's been going on for years, but now ignited by the tragic school shootings in Connecticut.

The idea of arming teachers is hitting closer to home, as hundreds of Ohio teachers sign up for free firearm training courses. The Buckeye Firearms Association near Columbus announced last week, they'd offer free firearms training to teachers and administrators.

Within 10 days, they say more than 600 people applied and the number of applicants is growing. The courses are being offered for free, here in Ohio and in several other states.

In a statement to Channel 3, the Buckeye Firearms Association lawyer said the training is essential "because it gives them an option other than staying in place and hoping the gunman doesn't come into their classroom"

In Ohio, the law prohibits teachers and staff to carry guns in school. The only way around it is if the school board approves it.

January 2, 2013
WSYX (ABC Columbus) - 600 Teachers Apply For Gun Training

It was less than two weeks ago that the Buckeye Firearms Foundation said it would offer 24 Ohio teachers free firearms training.

The group told ABC 6 today, response has been through the roof, with 600 plus applicants.

That list will be whittled down and soon two dozen teachers won't just be taking aim at test scores, they'll be taking aim at stopping violence in schools.

"It's something that needs to happen not only in Ohio, but in other states," said Gerard Valentino, from the Buckeye Firearms Foundation. "We defend our gold with guns, and leave our kids defenseless."

Valentino says the applicants are from all socio economic backgrounds, all school backgrounds, and all age ranges.

The majority of them have been women.

He also says financial support is pouring in from people in countries with strict gun laws, like Britain, Canada and Australia.

But Valentino says not everyone's on board: the group has gotten disturbing phone calls and emails. "We've had an email where somebody, who pretended to be from the antigun movement, said if they had their way, it would've been the Buckeye Firearms Foundation leaders' children in school at Sandy Hook, instead of 20 innocent children," he said.

But Valentino says that email drives home even more why protecting children in schools is so important.

The training will take place at the Tactical Defense Institute in Adams County.

ABC 6 reached out to the Ohio Education Association for comment, but they haven't returned our calls.

January 2, 2013
Dayton Daily News - 600 apply for gun training

Hundreds of Ohio school officials have signed up for the free Armed Teacher Training Program offered in the wake of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., in December.

"There have been over 600 applicants overall, and by now it might be over 600 from Ohio," Jim Irvine, one of the founders of the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, said Wednesday. "We threw it up on a map and (applicants) cover the whole state. I wouldn't be surprised if we had somebody from each of our 88 counties."

The Buckeye Firearms Foundation, a nonprofit educational organization that predominantly serves Ohio, reportedly received requests from more than a dozen states regarding its free training offer. Separate gun and defense-related groups in Utah and North Carolina offered similar free training for teachers recently, and also received hundreds of responses.

The idea of whether arming school staff members as a possible solution to school violence is still hotly debated.

"Policy-makers should re-examine the expanded availability of weapons in public places, not add schools to the list," said Ohio Education Association President Patricia Frost-Brooks. "Instead of arming educators, they can enhance school safety with more counselors, better mental health services and partnering with local police to deter violence in schools."

Roughly 70 percent of the applicants were teachers, and there also were administrators, office staff members and guidance counselors.

"There are men and women, from public and private schools, big schools, small schools, the lunch lady, bus driver – the common thread is that they all care about safety," Irvine said. "These people really care about our kids more than the average person realizes. I guess we always knew about that, but it really comes through in their comments."

The foundation agreed to fund the first class of 24, including tuition, ammunition and lodging, at a cost of about $1,000 per participant, via private and corporate donations. Irvine said, after that, there will be a need for sponsors.

"We need to put together some serious funding," he said. "We want to focus on getting one class done excellent first, then review and get feedback from students in class."

...Irvine responded to concerns about teachers being armed or the dangers of increasing the amount of guns in schools, saying the aim is to increase training to people who are already in place to keep kids safe.

"Some people say guns aren't the solution, but when you call 911 you're calling people with guns to make you safe," he said. "The idea here is not guns; the idea is safety and security. Anything we can do to lower that body count. That's what we're after."

Irvine said the curriculum and guidelines of the firearms training program offered to teachers, which is slated to be conducted by the Tactical Defense Institute in West Union starting this spring, is still being developed and will be specific to the school environment.

He said the class would include how to deal with active shooters, barricade techniques, as well as medical training to treat those injured.

"People die from gunshots; from bleeding to death," he said. "In these situations, people can't get into the building until its cleared. The time line just doesn't work. They'll be taught to bandage and about tourniquets — if you went to school more than 10 years ago, the world of tourniquets has changed."

He said those who have concealed carry permits and teachers already must pass background checks, but there will be additional background checks for participants in this class. They also may need to pass the same test given to law enforcement personnel — some of whom have applied for this class, as well.

Irvine said the bottom line is giving teachers more tools and training.

"Guns are not a solution to every problem, but they can be a tool," he said.

January 2, 2013
Dayton Daily News - Response 'overwhelming' to armed teacher program

A free program to train teachers and school administrators on how to use firearms has gotten an overwhelming response.

Jim Irvine, president of the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, reports that more than 650 educators in Ohio have expressed interest in the Armed Teacher Training Program.

Irvine's organization decided to offer the program following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Ct., where 20 children and six educators were killed.

Irvine said he knew the training would be popular.

"We're up over 650 people just from Ohio. It's really been an overwhelming response," he said.

Ohio law allows school staff members to carry firearms as long as the school board approves it.

The Buckeye Firearms Foundation is a non-profit educational organization based in Ohio and staffed by volunteers.

Irvine said the idea is to provide educators more advanced training than is required for a concealed carry permit.
The program is still being developed and the first class has not been scheduled.

For more information, visit www.BuckeyeFirearms.org.

January 2, 2013
WJR 700 AM (Detroit)

January 2, 2013
WXIX (FOX Cincinnati) - Ohio firearms group provides training to teachers, staff

DELAWARE, OH (FOX19) - The Buckeye Firearms Foundation will be providing free firearms training to teachers and school administrative staff. This announcement following the devastating shooting that left 27 dead at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT in December.

As of Wednesday, the Armed Teacher Training Program has attracted more than 600 applicants from several states including Ohio, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and West Virginia.

"We knew this would be popular, but the response has exceeded out expectations," said Jim Irvine, Chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Foundation. "People doubted if we would fill the first class. That happened in hours. This is something many in our schools have been asking about for a long time."

While the state of Ohio generally prohibits firearms at school, the law includes a provision that allows teachers and staff to carry firearms if approved by the school board.

The Armed Teacher Training Program is completely voluntary.

"No one will be forced to be armed if they choose not to. The strategy is the same as ordinary concealed carry. No one will ever know who is or is not armed. Those who seek to do harm in schools should be met with armed resistance, even before law enforcement shows up. Over time, schools will no longer be considered easy, risk-free targets."

More than a third of the program's applicants are women.

While 70% of the applicants are teachers, applicants also include administrators, office staff and guidance councilors. More than half of the applicants work in high schools.

Graduates of the Armed Teacher Training Program will have to pass the same test as law enforcement.

The Buckeye Firearm Foundation is a non-profit organization and is funded entirely by private and corporate donations.

The Foundation along with Tactical Defense Institute are currently developing the curriculum and guidelines for the program.

The first class is expected to be in the Spring of 2013.