Armed, ‘trained’ teachers
Trump stands behind proposal to harden schools’ defenses.
WASHINGTON – President Trump offered a full-throated defense Thursday for his proposal to arm some teachers and staff in the wake of last week’s school shooting in Florida despite opposition from law enforcement groups and teachers’ unions that warned that more guns would make schools more dangerous.
One day after an emotional session with survivors of the high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., Trump praised the National Rifle Association and insisted in a series of tweets that “highly trained” teachers and coaches should be allowed to carry weapons at schools.
Trump suggested that staff trained to carry arms could get “a little bit of a bonus” for making their schools safer.
NRA chief Wayne LaPierre endorsed Trump’s call to “harden our schools” but did not specify whether the teachers should have guns.
Teachers Olivia Bertels and Brittany Wheaton launched an Instagram campaign in opposition to the notion armed teachers could stop mass shootings.
Bertels, who teaches middle school English in Kansas, knew someone close to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
She told USA TODAY that she and Wheaton started #ArmMeWith to combat the “absurd notion being espoused by largely NRA-funded politicians” that arming teachers will keep schools safe.
“Arm me with the resources and funding needed to help students experiencing mental health issues, not guns,” the #ArmMeWith movement urges.
“The vast majority of school personnel are uninterested in carrying a weapon into a building full of hundreds or thousands of children each day,” Bertels said.
The National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers and the teachers union in Florida’s Broward County responded with a hard “no” to the idea of arming teachers.
“Arm me with the resources and funding needed to help students experiencing mental health issues, not guns.” #ArmMeWith movement