President Trump said Thursday that CNN and NBC reported “fake news” when they aired segments saying he wanted to give teachers guns to protect students.
“I never said ‘give teachers guns’ like was stated on Fake News @CNN & @NBC,” Trump 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.”
Under his plan, about 20 percent of teachers would be able to “immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions,” Trump wrote. “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!”
I never said “give teachers guns” like was stated on Fake News @CNN & @NBC. 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
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018
….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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018
At his Wednesday meeting with shooting survivors, Trump made it clear he was open to discussing the idea.
“It’s certainly a point that we will discuss, concealed carry for teachers and for people of that type of talent, let’s say we had 20 percent of your teaching force, because that’s pretty much the number,” he said.
In two later tweets, Trump stressed that the idea would only work if it involves “gun adept” teachers and high school staff, and said qualified people with guns in schools could help stop situations in which a shooter arrives. He said these events usually last three minutes, which is less time than it takes for first responders to arrive on the scene.
Trump said a “sicko shooter” would never attack a school they knew was protected by “a large number of very weapons talented teachers (and others) who will be instantly shooting.”
….History shows that a school shooting lasts, on average, 3 minutes. It takes police & first responders approximately 5 to 8 minutes to get to site of crime. Highly trained, gun adept, teachers/coaches would solve the problem instantly, before police arrive. GREAT DETERRENT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018
….If a potential “sicko shooter” 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. Cowards won’t go there…problem solved. Must be offensive, defense alone won’t work!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018
