Buckeye Firearms Foundation allows Cleveland's FOX 8 exclusive access to Ohio teacher firearms training

Editor's Note: Those interested in FASTER (Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response) training still have time to apply for classes this summer! CLICK HERE NOW!

While the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary has faded in the minds of many, Buckeye Firearms Foundation continues to provide training to ensure that it may never happen again.

Recently, the Foundation provided Cleveland's FOX affiliate, WJW, exclusive access to a three-day FASTER (Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response) course, in which school employees learned to confront a potential school shooter and eliminate the threat.

From the report:

School shootings have become a disturbing reality in Northeast Ohio and beyond. Since the Sandy Hook shooting, Ohio school districts are taking new steps to keep kids safe, including intensive training for school staff to carry guns in schools.

Fox 8 News reporter Matt Wright had exclusive access to a three-day FASTER (Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response) course, in which school employees learned to confront a potential school shooter and eliminate the threat. Participants, including a superintendent, teachers, principals and a school bus driver, prepared for a potential school shooting situation in which every decision counts.

...

The course culminates with force-on-force training: a series of drills and scenarios involving gunmen. Scenarios included an angry father confronting a teacher, an active shooter in the gym and a parent pulling a gun in the school office.

Participants use airsoft pistols and switch roles each time. They must decide how to proceed, including giving orders and calling 911. In some cases, they shoot the gunman, while in others they prevent the gunman from taking his own life. A debrief follows, with certified gun instructors critiquing performance.

“I’ve been a full-time police officer for 13 years, SWAT for 12 and I know I cannot respond fast enough, that we need someone in the building that can take care of the threat,” instructor Andrew Blubaugh said.

That is whole goal of the FASTER training program - to make the response as immediate as possible, denying the killer the thing he wants most - time to carry out his plan.

The report explains that the FASTER course starts with classroom training on topics including shooters’ mindsets, gun handling and medical care. The course ends on the shooting range, where participants must pass strict qualifications - qualifications that exceed those a law enforcement officer must undergo.

Again, from the report:

Interest in FASTER and other courses took off following the Sandy Hook shooting.

“I think if people knew how common it was they would be shocked by it,” FASTER Director Jim Irvine said.

Irvine estimates that dozens of Ohio school districts already have armed staff. While the FASTER course is free to school employees, many districts, including those of some course participants, remain reluctant to allow staff to carry guns.

“Armed protection is not controversial. Our president’s kids have them; CEOs have them; Hollywood celebrities have them,” Irvine said. “They pay a lot of money for people to make them safer.”

Irvine argued the course is one of many ways districts can prepare for a gunman, and staff members can often respond faster than police or a school resource officer located in another building on a school’s campus.

Those interested in FASTER (Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response) training still have time to apply for classes this summer! CLICK HERE NOW!

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.