Trump claims he would have run in unarmed
DONALD Trump has claimed he would have run into the Florida school assaulted by a gunman on February 14, even if he was not armed.
As students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School prepare to return this week after an attack that left 17 pupils and teachers dead, the US President told the nation’s governors: “You don’t know until you test it, but I really believe I’d have run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon.”
Mr Trump also criticised several deputies who failed to immediately enter the school after arriving at the scene, telling the governors the law enforcement officers “weren’t exactly Medal of Honor winners”.
“The way they performed was really a disgrace,” the President said.
Inspired by the students from the school that was attacked, campaigners have been calling on Mr Trump and Republicans to act swiftly to regulate and control access to guns.
Powerful gun rights lobbying group the National Rifle Association, which spent $US30 million ($A38 million) helping get Mr Trump elected in 2016, has said there should be no new legislation that bans weapons, not even assault rifles or the bump stock devices that can allow someone to fire a semi-automatic weapon as if it were fully automatic.
Mr Trump has said he is willing to push for more effective background checks and to raise the age requirement to buy a rifle to 21, and that arming some teachers with concealed weapons would help reduce shootings.
“If you had a teacher who was adept with the firearm, they could end the attack very quickly,” the President said after meeting with students, teachers and elected officials at the White House last week.
While Mr Trump’s suggestion has received some support, many teachers, teaching union and senior police officials have said the idea is impractical and could backfire.
However, the President has not backed away from his suggestion – or from his criticism of school protection officer Scot Peterson, who resigned after it was revealed he waited outside the school buildings with his handgun as Nikolas Cruz set about killing his former classmates and injuring many others.