Trump doubles down on arming some teachers defends NRA
Donald J. Trump
In morning tweets and later in a âlistening sessionâ at the White House   Trump  claimed the strategy of arming teachers would be far less costly than hiring guards.  He  said âgun-freeâ school zones make it like âgoing in for ice creamâ for school shooters and said on Twitter that with  his  strategy  âATTACKS WOULD END!â
 His  remarks amplified a strategy  Trump  pushed during a first âlistening sessionâ Wednesday at the White House  which included relatives of some of the 17 people killed by a gunman last week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida. Thursday's session included law enforcement officers and other officials.
[ âFix itâ: Students and parents tell  Trump   he  needs to address gun violence at schools ]
âHighly trained  gun adept  teachers/coaches would solve the problem instantly  before police arrive â  Trump  said in one morning tweet.
During the âlistening sessionâ a couple of hours later   Trump  said  he  wants âmy schools protected just like I want my banks protected.â
In his tweets   Trump  claimed his strategy had been mischaracterized by some news outlets and is more nuanced than reported. He said he envisioned only about 20 percent of teachers having concealed weapons and said they would have âmilitary or special training experience.â
âIf a potential âsicko shooterâ 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 â  Trump  said. âCowards wonât go there ... problem solved. Must be offensive  defense alone wonât work!â
In a later tweet   Trump  praised NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and executive director Chris W. Cox  whose organization has advocated not overreacting to last week's shooting.
âWhat many people donât understand  or donât want to understand  is that Wayne  Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots â  Trump  wrote. âThey love our Country and will do the right thing.â
âMAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!â  Trump  added.
In the aftermath of the shooting   Trump  has publicly and privately floated actions that would be at odds with the positions of the NRA  one of  his  biggest supporters in the 2016 campaign.
In a separate tweet Thursday   Trump  appeared to highlight one of those conflicts: raising the age for purchasing assault rifles from 18 to 21.
âI will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health. Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks!â  Trump  said in the tweet. âCongress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue â I hope!â
 Trump  said during Friday's listening session that  he  thought the NRA would support raising the age to 21.
âI don't think I'll be going up against them. ... They're good people â said  Trump   who also praised the organization more broadly. âThe NRA is ready to do things. People like to blame them.â
Instead  Pence pointed to  Trump 's call for members of Congress to âstrengthen background checksâ and for the Justice Department to expedite new regulations for âbump stocks â devices that can convert a legal semiautomatic weapon into one that fires like a fully automatic one.
In morning tweets and later in a âlistening sessionâ at the White House   Trump  claimed the strategy of arming teachers would be far less costly than hiring guards.  He  said âgun-freeâ school zones make it like âgoing in for ice creamâ for school shooters and said on Twitter that with  his  strategy  âATTACKS WOULD END!â
 His  remarks amplified a strategy  Trump  pushed during a first âlistening sessionâ Wednesday at the White House  which included relatives of some of the 17 people killed by a gunman last week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida. Thursday's session included law enforcement officers and other officials.
[ âFix itâ: Students and parents tell  Trump   he  needs to address gun violence at schools ]
âHighly trained  gun adept  teachers/coaches would solve the problem instantly  before police arrive â  Trump  said in one morning tweet.
During the âlistening sessionâ a couple of hours later   Trump  said  he  wants âmy schools protected just like I want my banks protected.â
In his tweets   Trump  claimed his strategy had been mischaracterized by some news outlets and is more nuanced than reported. He said he envisioned only about 20 percent of teachers having concealed weapons and said they would have âmilitary or special training experience.â
âIf a potential âsicko shooterâ 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 â  Trump  said. âCowards wonât go there ... problem solved. Must be offensive  defense alone wonât work!â
In a later tweet   Trump  praised NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and executive director Chris W. Cox  whose organization has advocated not overreacting to last week's shooting.
âWhat many people donât understand  or donât want to understand  is that Wayne  Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots â  Trump  wrote. âThey love our Country and will do the right thing.â
âMAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!â  Trump  added.
In the aftermath of the shooting   Trump  has publicly and privately floated actions that would be at odds with the positions of the NRA  one of  his  biggest supporters in the 2016 campaign.
In a separate tweet Thursday   Trump  appeared to highlight one of those conflicts: raising the age for purchasing assault rifles from 18 to 21.
âI will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health. Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks!â  Trump  said in the tweet. âCongress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue â I hope!â
 Trump  said during Friday's listening session that  he  thought the NRA would support raising the age to 21.
âI don't think I'll be going up against them. ... They're good people â said  Trump   who also praised the organization more broadly. âThe NRA is ready to do things. People like to blame them.â
Instead  Pence pointed to  Trump 's call for members of Congress to âstrengthen background checksâ and for the Justice Department to expedite new regulations for âbump stocks â devices that can convert a legal semiautomatic weapon into one that fires like a fully automatic one.