Trump’s Genius Idea To Stop School Shootings Is To Give Teachers Guns
Solving the problem of guns in schools by putting more guns in schools.
Donald Trump has suggested a proposal to allow school teachers to carry guns as a way of addressing school shootings. Because putting more guns in schools is certain to solve the problem of guns in schools.
Trump’s latest brainwave came during what was meant to be a “listening session” on gun violence, in which Trump listened to suggestions from survivors and relatives of the victims of last week’s deadly attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
And while he did a bit of that, he also made them all listen to him as he avoided committing to real gun control, by suggesting school shootings could be effectively addressed by giving teachers weapons.
Eliminating gun free school zones and arming teachers is literally insane and based on the NRA business model that the solution to gun violence is to sell more guns.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) February 21, 2018
Speaking about sports coach Aaron Feis, who died shielding students from bullets during last week’s shooting, Trump said that “that coach was very brave, saved a lot of lives, I suspect,” but “if he had a firearm, he wouldn’t have had to run, he would have shot him, and that would have been the end of it.”
He then clarified that “it only works when you have people very adept at using firearms, of which you have many…it would be teachers and coaches”.
arming teachers is the fucking dumbest, darkest reaction possible so of course that’s what we’ll do
— Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) February 21, 2018
a few reasons arming teachers is whack:
-there was an armed guard at parkland. 17 were still killed.
-trained police only hit target 18% of the time in gunfights.
-little to no empirical evidence in favor of the policy. possibly evidence against it.
— Laci Green (@gogreen18) February 21, 2018
So much of Trump's listening session on school shootings has focused on ways to increase security at schools via police, metal detectors, arming teachers. If history has told us anything, it's that this will not necessarily stop shootings, but work to criminalize kids of color.
— Rebecca Klein (@rklein90) February 21, 2018
Meanwhile, shooting survivors and the families of victims made impassioned pleas for the President to consider stronger prevention strategies. Samuel Zeif, an eighteen-year-old student whose texts to his family members during last week’s shooting went viral, described the experience of losing his best friend.
“I don’t understand why I can still go in a store and buy a weapon of war,” he said. “Let’s never let this happen again, please. Please.”
Andrew Pollack, whose daughter died in the shooting, also had strong words for Trump. “It should have been one school shooting and then we should have fixed it,” he said. “I’m pissed because my daughter… I’m not going to see her again. She’s in North Lauderdale, King David cemetery. That’s where I go to see my kid now.”
Trump responded by saying he’d do something about it, that “it’s not going to be talk like it has been in the past”, and promised he would be “very strong on background checks”. But his most concrete suggestion was putting guns in the hands of teachers, and that was a worrying one.
He told the students “I hear you”, but seeing as he needed to write that down to remember to say it, it’s a bit doubtful that he did.
Trump's crib notes during the WH gun violence listening session: "5. I hear you" pic.twitter.com/XRI0X78b5U
— David Mack (@davidmackau) February 21, 2018