In a first, the state has purchased shoot houses designed for indoor gun training to help school staff ‘respond to active shooter’

Ohio appears to be the first state to purchase shoot houses – mobile homes designed for indoor firearms training – to better prepare public school staff “to respond to an active shooter”.

The Ohio Controlling Board, which helps oversee changes to the state budget, approved public safety officials’ request for $78,028 last month to purchase two shoot houses to help train public school employees that are allowed to carry firearms at work.

“Currently, we have movable canvas walls that can be configured to simulate responding to an active shooter in a school, like walking down a hallway, but there are limits,” said Jay Carey, a spokesperson for the Ohio department of public safety. “The more realistic we can make the training, the better prepared armed school staff will be to respond to an active shooter.”