âWe have to harden our schoolsâ: Trump makes arming teachers his top safety goal
"We need to harden our schools  " President Trump  said at a school safety meeting on Feb. 22  saying that gun-free zones are like "going in for the ice cream" for attackers. (Reuters)
"We need to harden our schools  " President Trump  said at a school safety meeting on Feb. 22  saying that gun-free zones are like "going in for the ice cream" for attackers. ( Reuters)
President Trump  aligned  Â­himself  with gun rights advocates on Thursday  signaling that  his  top priority would be arming hundreds of thousands of teachers across the nation in response to last weekâs deadly school shooting in South Florida.
On Twitter and at a White House event   Trump  argued that allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons would deter future shooters and âsolve the problem instantly.â
âWe have to harden our schools  not soften them â  the president  said  asserting that for potential shooters  schools that advertise their status as gun-free zones are âlike going in for the ice cream. Thatâs like  âHere I am  take me.â â
A day after promising a room full of students  teachers and parents that âweâre going to do something about this horrible situation â  Trump  further embraced arming some teachers â a proposal backed by the National Rifle Association  whose leaders he called âGreat American Patriots.â
 Trump  continued to pledge to âtake actionâ Thursday  with aides describing the president as being in a âlistening phaseâ that is Â­expected to result in legislative proposals and suggestions for policy changes at the state level. He met with attorneys general and other state and local leaders Thursday after an emotionally raw meeting Wednesday that included family members of those killed in Parkland.
White House spokesman Raj Shah said  Trump  remains open to a range of actions  but one step long sought by gun-control advocates â a ban on semiautomatic rifles such as the AR-15 used by the shooter in Parkland â is not under active consideration.
The strategy of arming teachers and other school personnel that animated  Trump  on Thursday has many critics  including some law enforcement officers and the countryâs largest teachers lobby. It was also undercut somewhat Thursday by news that the sheriffâs deputy who was on-site and assigned to protect students at Stoneman Douglas took a defensive position outside the school and did not enter the building where the shooter was killing students and teachers.
Besides calling for an influx of concealed weapons at schools   Trump  continued to float the ideas of improving a federal database used for background checks and raising the minimum age for purchasing semiautomatic weapons to 21 from 18.
The latter proposal has drawn opposition from the NRA  a group that spent more than $30 million in support of  Trump âs 2016 presidential bid. On Thursday  the president predicted that the NRA would come on board.
 President Trump  has suggested some gun proposals that aren't exactly in step with the National Rifle Association  but  he  has repeated some of their statements - sometimes word for word. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)
âI donât think Iâll be going up against them. . . . Theyâre good people â said  Trump   who spoke to a top NRA official over the weekend  according to Shah.
 His  assessment came amid an aggressive push by the NRA to blunt an emotionally charged wave of calls for new gun restrictions with speeches and videos that included a claim that news media outlets âlove mass shootingsâ because they boost ratings.
In a statement  Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused the NRA of âspewing pathetic  out of touch ideasâ and challenged  Trump  and other Republicans to âfinally buck the NRA and get something done.â
Later in the day  Schumer accused  Trump  of already giving in to the gun lobby.
"We need to harden our schools   [TGT] said at a school safety meeting on Feb. 22  saying that gun-free zones are like "going in for the ice cream" for attackers. (Reuters)
"We need to harden our schools   [TGT] said at a school safety meeting on Feb. 22  saying that gun-free zones are like "going in for the ice cream" for attackers.  [TGT] 
aligned  Â­himself  with gun rights advocates on Thursday  signaling that   [TGT]   top priority would be arming hundreds of thousands of teachers across the nation in response to last weekâs deadly school shooting in South Florida.
On Twitter and at a White House event    [TGT] argued that allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons would deter future shooters and âsolve the problem instantly.â
âWe have to harden our schools  not soften them â   [TGT] said  asserting that for potential shooters  schools that advertise their status as gun-free zones are âlike going in for the ice cream. Thatâs like  âHere I am  take me.â â
A day after promising a room full of students  teachers and parents that âweâre going to do something about this horrible situation â   [TGT] further embraced arming some teachers â a proposal backed by the National Rifle Association  whose leaders  [TGT]  called âGreat American Patriots.â
 Trump  continued to pledge to âtake actionâ Thursday  with aides describing  [TGT]  as being in a âlistening phaseâ that is Â­expected to result in legislative proposals and suggestions for policy changes at the state level.  [TGT]  met with attorneys general and other state and local leaders Thursday after an emotionally raw meeting Wednesday that included family members of those killed in Parkland.
White House spokesman Raj Shah said   [TGT]   remains open to a range of actions  but one step long sought by gun-control advocates â a ban on semiautomatic rifles such as the AR-15 used by the shooter in Parkland â is not under active consideration.
The strategy of arming teachers and other school personnel that animated   [TGT]   on Thursday has many critics  including some law enforcement officers and the countryâs largest teachers lobby. It was also undercut somewhat Thursday by news that the sheriffâs deputy who was on-site and assigned to protect students at Stoneman Douglas took a defensive position outside the school and did not enter the building where the shooter was killing students and teachers.
Besides calling for an influx of concealed weapons at schools    [TGT] continued to float the ideas of improving a federal database used for background checks and raising the minimum age for purchasing semiautomatic weapons to 21 from 18.
The latter proposal has drawn opposition from the NRA  a group that spent more than $30 million in support of   [TGT]  âs 2016 presidential bid. On Thursday  the president predicted that the NRA would come on board.
  [TGT] has suggested some gun proposals that aren't exactly in step with the National Rifle Association  but   [TGT]   has repeated some of their statements - sometimes word for word. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)
âI donât think Iâll be going up against them. . . . Theyâre good people â said  Trump   who spoke to a top NRA official over the weekend  according to Shah.
 His  assessment came amid an aggressive push by the NRA to blunt an emotionally charged wave of calls for new gun restrictions with speeches and videos that included a claim that news media outlets âlove mass shootingsâ because they boost ratings.
In a statement  Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused the NRA of âspewing pathetic  out of touch ideasâ and challenged  Trump  and other Republicans to âfinally buck the NRA and get something done.â
Later in the day  Schumer accused  Trump  of already giving in to the gun lobby.