‘ Gun- free’ schools draw bad people: Trump
■ Survivors, parents call on US President for long- term solution to menace
Washington, Feb. 22: A “gun free” school is nothing but a “magnet” for mass shooters, President Donald Trump said Thursday, doubling down on a proposal to train and arm some teachers to keep US schools safe.
“Highly trained, gun adept, teachers/ coaches would solve the problem instantly, before police arrive. GREAT DETERRENT!” Mr Trump tweeted.
At a White House meeting late Wednesday with survivors of a shooting rampage at a Florida high school that killed 17 people, Mr Trump suggested arming a select group of
I never said ‘ give teachers guns’... What I said was to look at the possibility of giving concealed guns to gun adept teachers with military or special training experience...
— Donald Trump, US President
teachers to deter mass shootings.
“I never said ‘ give teachers guns’ like was stated on Fake News @ CNN &@ NBC,” he tweeted.
“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 ... 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!”
At the Wednesday meeting, billed as a “listening session,” Mr Trump also promised “very strong” background checks on gun owners. “I will be strongly pushing comprehensive background checks with an emphasis on Mental Health,” Mr Trump tweeted Thursday.
“Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks! Congress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue — I hope!”
Currently under federal law anyone 18 or over can buy a gun from a private, unlicensed seller, although a handful of states have set the minimum age at 21.
Washington, Feb. 22: Under pressure to act, President Donald Trump on Thursday vowed to find a long- term solution to stop growing gun violence in America and floated the idea of arming teachers to prevent a repeat of the recent Florida school shooting that killed 17 people, mostly students.
Trump responded to a number of emotional stories from the survivors and parents of victims from the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14 by pledging to act on school shootings “two minutes” after a listening session.
The event, hosted in the White House’s State Dining Room, brought Trump face- to- face with angry students and parents who have demanded firmer action on gun violence. “We want to learn everything we can learn. Starting about two minutes after this meeting, we’re going to work. This is a long- term situation that we have to solve. We’ll solve it together,” Trump said.
A. Pollack, whose daughter died in the school shooting said that it is time for the country to come together. “We as a country failed our children. This shouldn’t happen,” he said. “I can’t get on a plane with a bottle of water, but we leave it, some animal could walk into a school and shoot our children. It’s just not right, and we need to come together as a country and work on what’s important, and that’s protecting our children in the schools. That’s the only thing that matters right now,” Pollack said.
Trump listened to all of the participants.
One of the participants suggested having people in the school — teachers, administrators, who have volunteered to have a firearm safely locked in the classroom, and are given training throughout the year. “There are plenty of teachers that are already licensed to carry firearms. Have them raise their hands to volunteer for the training, and when something like this starts, the first responders are already on campus,” he said. Trump appeared to be favourable to the idea.
“If the coach had a firearm in his locker... if he had a firearm, he wouldn't have had to run. He would have shot, and that would have been the end of it. And this would only be, obviously, for people that are very adept at handling a gun. It is called concealed carry, where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them,” said the president.
Trump said that the background checks are going to be very strong.
“We need that. And then, after we do that, when we see this trouble, we have to nab them,” he said. —
— Agenices Washington, Feb. 22: The Slovenian parents of first lady Melania Trump have become legal permanent residents of the United States, according to the lawyer representing them. However, the move has raised questions if they will live in America by the very process which US President Donald Trump has sought to end and strongly criticised.
Viktor and Amalija Knavs are living in the US with green cards and have been frequently spotted in Washington since their son- in- law assumed the presidency.
The Knavs’ immigration attorney, Michael Wildes, said that as of February, the couple are living in the US on green cards — a status that allows them to live and work in the US indefinitely and paves the way for citizenship.
“I can confirm they are green card holders and legal permanent residents of the US,” he said.
Wildes did not explain how they got those green cards, raising the prospect they were sponsored based on what Trump has called “chain migration.”
The Washington Post first reported the Knavs’ immigration.
Some animal could walk into a school and shoot our children. It's just not right, and we need to come together as a country and protect our children in schools. — A. Pollack, A slain girl’s father