Gahanna schools, police urge safe gun storage
GAHANNA, Ohio (WCMH) – The top administrator with Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools (GJPS) and the chief of the Gahanna Division of Police (GDP) are teaming up to remind the community to properly store their guns.
GDP Chief Jeff Spence and Dr. Tracey Deagle, superintendent of GJPS, recently appeared in a video together. The topic was safe storage.
"These can be very complicated conversations, but we shouldn't shy away from them because they’re just that important. So we will continue to lean in and have these complicated conversations to keep people safe," Deagle said in an interview with NBC4.
The video encouraged folks to use gun locks or lock boxes. Chief Spence said correct storage has become even more important recently with the number of car break ins happening across central Ohio.
“I think we’re just seeing in general where so many tragedies could be averted, so many critical incidents can be avoided if responsible gun owners are truly responsible," Spence said.
In the video, Spence also talked about how toy or look alike guns are not allowed at school. It also reminded parents to check their students' bags from time to time. Earlier this school year, there was an incident where, according to GJPS, a student unknowingly brought a gun from home into school.
"It definitely underscored by having this incident occur right in our community, it underscored what we’re seeing nationally with the importance of securing firearms," Deagle said. "Already we were filming videos, having conversations, working a lot on school safety however definitely this drove the next conversation."
The school board at a February meeting also took action related to safe storage. Deagle said the district will continue to work with police on the topic and the student handbook will be getting some additions.
“In the student handbook it's going to look like giving hard data to how many unsecured firearms are potentially in our nation and what the securing of firearms could mean to families and then asking that parents acknowledge that this is of great importance to our community," she said.
The additional information about securing firearms will be in next academic year's handbook, according to Deagle.