President Donald Trump, in a Thursday morning barrage of tweets, sought to clarify his controversial suggestion the day before that arming teachers may be an appropriate answer to school shootings like the one that killed 17 last week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The president seemed to double-down on his stance in his tweets on Thursday, arguing that a well-armed classroom would prevent future tragedies like the Florida school shooting.
Saying “a ‘gun free’ school is a magnet for bad people,” Trump argued that “highly trained, gun adept” teachers and coaches would “instantly” solve the problem of an active shooter and would dissuade would-be attackers.
I never said “give teachers guns” like was stated on Fake News @CNN & @NBC. What I said was to look at the possibility of giving “concealed guns to gun adept teachers with military or special training experience – only the best. 20% of teachers, a lot, would now be able to
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018
….immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions. Highly trained teachers would also serve as a deterrent to the cowards that do this. Far more assets at much less cost than guards. A “gun free” school is a magnet for bad people. ATTACKS WOULD END!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018
….History shows that a school shooting lasts, on average, 3 minutes. It takes police & first responders approximately 5 to 8 minutes to get to site of crime. Highly trained, gun adept, teachers/coaches would solve the problem instantly, before police arrive. GREAT DETERRENT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018
….If a potential “sicko shooter” knows that a school has a large number of very weapons talented teachers (and others) who will be instantly shooting, the sicko will NEVER attack that school. Cowards won’t go there…problem solved. Must be offensive, defense alone won’t work!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018
I will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health. Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks! Congress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue – I hope!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018
Trump’s initial suggestion of allowing concealed weapons in schools came during a listening session on school shootings Wednesday and elicited a number of angry responses on social media from teachers and parents.
Trump argues arming educators will act as a deterrent to shooters. Psychologists, though, note that most shooters spend days, sometimes months, planning their rampage, often including lists of who to kill and who not to kill.
Trump’s language in discussing the proposal came with notable wiggle room. He emphasized he was looking at the possibility of giving some teachers weapons, but didn’t say he planned to do so. He did, however, say he planned to raise the age for gun purchases to 21, end the sale of bump stocks, and “strongly push” for “comprehensive background checks with an emphasis on mental health.” On that last point, it’s worth noting that last February, Trump repealed an Obama-era initiative that would have made it harder for people with mental illness to buy a gun.