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Ohio Board OKs Final Rules For School Barricade Devices

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Update 2:00 p.m.

An Ohio building standards board has approved final rules allowing schools to deploy portable barricade devices in the event of an active shooter.

The devices gained popularity after the Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook Elementary School massacres and a 2012 shooting in the Cleveland suburb of Chardon that killed three students.

Some devices slide under doors; others attach to door handles. The Board of Building Standards approved the rules Friday.

Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio are among states that have updated their fire or building codes to allow the devices.

Skeptics say the devices are complicated to install under stress and could lead to dangerous unintended consequences, including blocking authorities from an attacker inside a classroom.


REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (AP) – An Ohio building standards board is ready to approval final rules allowing schools to deploy portable barricade devices in the event of an active shooter.

The devices gained popularity after the Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook Elementary School massacres and a 2012 shooting in the Cleveland suburb of Chardon that killed three students.

Some devices slide under doors; others attach to door handles. The Board of Building Standards planned a Friday hearing.

Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio are among states that have updated their fire or building codes to allow the devices.

Skeptics say the devices are complicated to install under stress and could lead to dangerous unintended consequences, including blocking authorities from an attacker inside a classroom.