In the aftermath of last week’s deadly school shooting in Florida, hundreds of teachers and administrators have expressed interest in carrying a firearm to defend themselves and their students, according to one county sheriff from Ohio.
Sheriff Richard Jones of Butler County, Ohio, published an open call on his Twitter page offering free concealed-carry classes to “any employee of any school” in his county. The sheriff, who last came under fire for his comments about immigrants, offered the class to 50 candidates, but then opened it up to more after what he described to Newsweek as a deluge of positive responses.
“We have reached our limit. We had to cut it off at 300,” he told Newsweek on Wednesday. “But the responses have been incredible."
Jones, who was voted sheriff in 2004 and was a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump during the 2016 election, said he has long supported arming school faculty. He described it as a "last resort" and a "reality" that people need to face. The classes will start on Monday and run through the week, with potential weekend dates, as well.
In the aftermath of last week’s deadly school shooting in Florida, hundreds of teachers and administrators have expressed interest in carrying a firearm to defend themselves and their students, according to one county sheriff from Ohio.
Sheriff Richard Jones of Butler County, Ohio, published an open call on his Twitter page offering free concealed-carry classes to “any employee of any school” in his county. The sheriff, who last came under fire for his comments about immigrants, offered the class to 50 candidates, but then opened it up to more after what he described to Newsweek as a deluge of positive responses
“We have reached our limit. We had to cut it off at 300,” he told
Newsweek on Wednesday. “But the responses have been incredible."
Jones, who was voted sheriff in 2004 and was a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump during the 2016 election, said he has long supported arming school faculty. He described it as a "last resort" and a "reality" that people need to face. The classes will start on Monday and run through the week, with potential weekend dates, as well. "Even if you hate guns in school, you need to know they are there," Jones said. "You need to know how they sound, how to respond. And we're going to give [school faculty] the tools they need to understand this."
Jones added that people cannot depend on legislation or legislators for their safety, opining that harsh gun laws won't prevent criminals or mentally ill people from owning guns.
"It's up to us," he said. "We can't expect the government to do much of anything other than fight over who won the last election."
