The Republican DeWine signed the bill into law Monday and ordered the Ohio School Safety Center to require a maximum of 24 hours of initial training and eight hours of annual training. Mike DeWine discusses a law that gives school districts the option of arming trained school employees, on Monday, June 13, 2022, in Columbus, Ohio. Frank Hoagland of Mingo Junction in eastern Ohio.ĪP Ohio Gov. Thomas Hall of Madison Township in Butler County and State Sen. Whaley's group included former Cincinnati police assistant chief Richard Biehl, who retired last year after 13 years as Dayton's police chief Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey and Dion Green, a survivor of the Oregon District massacre whose father was one of the nine people killed.įor his announcement and press conference, DeWine was flanked by his lieutenant governor, Jon Husted and the two state legislators primarily responsible for the bill allowing the arming of school teachers - State Rep. So, if you are Whaley, you hold a Zoom press conference a few hours after DeWine's event on signing the bill to allow teachers to pack heat and you surround yourself with people who are as outraged as you are about DeWine's record on guns. And, of course, the permit-less concealed carry law, which went into effect Monday and was opposed by the Ohio FOP, who were concerned people who had concealed weapons during traffic stops did not have to tell police officers that unless asked. So far, DeWine has signed a number of bills which have enraged those who believe strongly in gun control, including the Stand Your Ground legislation, which eliminates the requirement to retreat in the face of a violent threat. Not surprising, given that DeWine has been running for one office or another in Ohio 15 times since 1976 - which happens to be the year Whaley was born. The only public poll, a Columbus Dispatch/Suffolk University Poll conducted May 22-24, showed DeWine with a 15 percentage point lead. There is no question that Whaley is a decided underdog in this race. Whaley watched as DeWine returned to Dayton a few weeks later to unveil a package of gun reforms - a package he quickly abandoned once there was opposition from the Republican majority in the Ohio General Assembly and from the gun lobby, which wields enormous power in the Ohio Statehouse. You don't forget something like the vigil the people of Dayton held near the Oregon district the next day, where Whaley was joined by DeWine and you watched as the governor's remarks were drowned out by people in the crowd chanting, Do something! Do something! A gunman killed nine people and wounded 26 others in just 32 seconds before Dayton police officers shot him dead. You would be too, if you had to do what Whaley did to bring her mourning city together in the wake of an August 2019 mass shooting in the city's Oregon entertainment district. It is an issue the former Dayton mayor is very passionate about.
The subject of gun violence and what to do about it is probably the best issue Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nan Whaley has going for her. It is a record that will satisfy his conservative Republican base, but likely enrage Democratic voters in the state's urban areas and shake them out of their slumber long enough to make sure they vote this fall. But that is what happened.įor good or ill, Mike DeWine is going to have to deal with questions about his record on guns for the next five months leading up to the November election. That may not have been his intent in calling a press conference to talk about signing a bill making it possible for teachers to be armed in Ohio schools, on the same day permit-less concealed carry of firearms went into effect. Mike DeWine put the issue of gun violence front and center in his campaign for re-election.
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