More than 40 school districts in Ohio have allowed teachers who have conceal-carry permits to carry guns in class.
Parents, in several cases, have urged school boards to adopt policies on this following the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, Fox News reported.
Joe Eaton, director of FASTERsaveslives.org, an organisation affiliated with the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, said at least 40 school districts have decided to let teachers carry guns in schools.
"The sad thing is that time in these situations is the most important factor and waiting for outside help is just not a viable solution anymore," he said.
FASTER, according to its website, stands for Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response.
"The program offers a carefully-structured curriculum offering over 26 hours of hands-on training over a three-day class that exceeds the requirements of the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy. The purpose is not to replace police and EMT, but to allow teachers, administrators, and other personnel on-site to stop school violence rapidly and render medical aid immediately," the website description read.
Teachers who trained were taught gun safety, paramedic skills and how to react to active shooter situations, reported WKRC in Cincinnati.
Teachers and administrators are trained by local cops and paramedics at the Tactical Defense Institute in West Union in Adams County.
"Safety of our kids should not be a controversial issue. This is not about guns," said Jim Irvine of FASTERsaveslives.org and the Buckeye Firearms Foundation. "For nearly 60 years, not one student has died from a fire. That is due to a redundant, overlapping approach to safety."
He added, "We should be copying that same method for incidents of violence in our schools. You need something that is effective. Show us another method and we would invest in it."
Chad Baus of the Buckeye Firearms Foundation said the most important element in a situation is time.
"The single most important factor in active killer death toll is time. The longer killers have their way in so-called 'no-guns' zones, the more people die. The sooner they are stopped, the fewer people die. It is really that simple," he said.
The school district in Sidney, Ohio adopted the gun policy in the wake of the Connecticut shooting where a gunman killed 20 children and six staff members.
"It made us as a school district look at the system we had in place to keep our children safe," Superintendent John Scheu said. "We quickly learned that we didn't have anything in place. We decided to be pro-active."
He added, "We learned that we may not stop a shooter from getting into the building. If they want to, they will find a way, but if they enter, we can stop them in seconds."
