DAYTON — For anyone that may be training to get a gun before you ever get your hands on the real things, you might use something like a training pistol to get comfortable as you learn how to be safe when you do finally get your hands on a gun.
Scott Cronin, Training Manager for Miami Armory said, “When you’re taking a basic pistol safety course, we’re not preparing you for gun fights. This is how to own a gun responsibly. This is how to understand how to use it but there’s a whole world you’ve got to crawl before you can walk before you can run.”
>> RELATED: Controversial bill allowing adults, school staff to carry guns heads to governor’s desk
In the basic pistol safety course that Cronin teachers, it takes eight hours – six in the classroom and two hours on the range.
House Bill 99 would require school employees that do carry a gun to have up to 24 hours of initial training. It would also require eight hours of requalification training every year.
Training must include how to stop an active shooter and how to deescalate a violent situation.
Under the plan, school districts would have the ability to require more training than what the state requires.
“I don’t think anyone things we should just let anyone have a gun in schools. There’s absolutely a level of training that we should be striving and holding people to high standards if they’re going to be carrying guns to defense our children,” Cronin said.
If a school board decides to allow people to carry guns, it must notify parents in the district the same way it would use for any other notification within the district.
>> Tulsa shooting: Suspect targeted doctor, 4 victims identified
For districts that allow adults to carry guns Cronin said the training in place and what would be needed goes well beyond what a conceal carry course would cover.
“There are some great programs that are already in place. The trainings involved a high degree of skill and marksmanship. You also have to incorporate a lot of tactics. You have to incorporate a lot of mindsets. You have to incorporate a lot of decision-making under compressed and stressful situations,” Cronin said.
People that News Center 7 talked to who train people on firearms all say that they are big proponents of more training and continuing education to make sure that people are as knowledgeable and safe as possible especially in potentially stressful situations.
The curriculum of the initial and requalification instruction and training required under shall include instruction all of the following:
- Mitigation techniques
- Communications capabilities and coordination and collaboration techniques
- Neutralization of potential threats and active shooters
- Accountability
- Reunification
- Psychology of critical incidents
- De-escalation techniques
- Crisis intervention
- Trauma and first aid care
- The history and pattern of school shootings
- Tactics of responding to critical incidents in schools
- At least four hours of training in scenario-based or simulated training exercises
- Completion of tactical live firearms training
- Realistic urban training