{"id":1334,"date":"2018-02-22T04:42:37","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T04:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/?p=1334"},"modified":"2018-02-22T04:42:37","modified_gmt":"2018-02-22T04:42:37","slug":"trump-endorses-guns-for-teachers-to-stop-shootings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/2018\/02\/22\/trump-endorses-guns-for-teachers-to-stop-shootings\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump endorses guns for teachers to stop shootings"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"story-body\">\n<div class=\"story-body__inner\">\n<p>BBC News<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">US President Donald Trump has said arming teachers could prevent school shootings like that which left 17 people dead last week in Florida.<\/p>\n<p>A staff member with a gun could end an attack &#8220;very quickly&#8221;, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Trump floated the proposal as emotional survivors of the 14 February massacre implored him to make sure it never happens again.<\/p>\n<p>The Republican president also backed calls for improved background checks on gun buyers.<\/p>\n<p>Other survivors meanwhile lobbied Florida lawmakers on gun control.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a class=\"story-body__link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-43118865\">Six radical ways to stop US school shootings<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a class=\"story-body__link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-42804741\">Is it time for US teachers to carry guns?<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a class=\"story-body__link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-43140105\">Florida survivor: &#8216;I&#8217;m not an actor&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll be very strong on background checks, very strong emphasis on the mental health of somebody,&#8221; Mr Trump told the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during Wednesday&#8217;s televised event at the White House.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image__img js-image-replace\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/14944\/production\/_100129248_trumpcribsheet.jpg\" alt=\"US President Donald Trump holds his prepared questions as he hosts a listening session with high school students\" width=\"976\" height=\"549\" \/><span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><span class=\"story-image-copyright\">REUTERS<\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Image caption<\/span><span class=\"media-caption__text\">President Trump holds his notes at the listening session. Point five says: &#8220;I hear you&#8221;<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not going to be talk like it&#8217;s been in the past,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>The US president also endorsed a proposal long championed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), a powerful gun lobby group.<\/p>\n<p>He pledged to look &#8220;very strongly&#8221; at calls for educators to be armed with guns.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If you had a teacher who was adept at firearms,&#8221; he said, &#8220;they could very well end the attack very quickly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-with-caption\">\n<div class=\"player-with-placeholder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-placeholder player-with-placeholder__image narrative-video-placeholder\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p05yywy7.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"player-with-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"media-player-wrapper\">\n<div id=\"sticky-player-2\">\n<div class=\"sticky-player__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"sticky-player__player\">\n<figure id=\"media-player-2\" class=\"media-player\">\n<div id=\"smphtml5iframemedia-player-2wrp\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sticky-player__body\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"media-with-caption__caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Media caption<\/span>School shooting survivor&#8217;s tearful plea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;Where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them,&#8221; he said, while acknowledging the plan was controversial, &#8220;they would go for special training and they would be there, and you would no longer have a gun-free zone.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A gun-free zone, to a maniac, because they are all cowards, a gun-free zone is, &#8216;let&#8217;s go in and let&#8217;s attack.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A dozen US states already allow concealed handguns to be carried on college premises, <a class=\"story-body__link-external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.armedcampuses.org\/\">according to the website Armed Campuses<\/a>. The state of Florida does not.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Trump denied during the 2016 election campaign that he was in favour of guns in classrooms.<\/p>\n<div class=\"social-embed\">\n<div class=\"social-embed-post social-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"embed embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"embed-region\" role=\"region\"><a class=\"off-screen jump-link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-43149694#jump-linkhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/734231223002894337\">Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-wrap\">\n<div class=\"embed-report\"><a class=\"embed-report-link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/contact-us\/editorial\">Report<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"jump-linkhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/734231223002894337\" class=\"off-screen\">End of Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">&#8216;I&#8217;m pissed!&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>The US president listened to pleas for gun reform on Wednesday from about 40 students, teachers and families in the executive mansion&#8217;s state dining room.<\/p>\n<p>Some of those at the hour-long event voiced support for Mr Trump&#8217;s idea of arming teachers.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a class=\"story-body__link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/blogs-trending-43142323\">After Florida, some owners give up guns<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a class=\"story-body__link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-41488081\">America&#8217;s gun culture in 10 charts<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But Mark Barden &#8211; whose son Daniel was killed in the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut &#8211; said more guns was not the answer:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Schoolteachers have more than enough responsibilities right now, than to have to have the awesome responsibility of lethal force to take a life,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-with-caption\">\n<div class=\"player-with-placeholder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-placeholder player-with-placeholder__image narrative-video-placeholder\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p05yylqr.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"player-with-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"media-player-wrapper\">\n<div id=\"sticky-player-3\">\n<div class=\"sticky-player__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"sticky-player__player\">\n<figure id=\"media-player-3\" class=\"media-player\">\n<div id=\"smphtml5iframemedia-player-3wrp\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sticky-player__body\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"media-with-caption__caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Media caption<\/span>US students walk out to demand firearms control<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;Nobody wants to see a shoot-out in a school.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Pollack, whose daughter, Meadow, died in last week&#8217;s attack &#8211; the second-deadliest shooting at a US public school &#8211; said: &#8220;We, as a country, failed our children.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m pissed!&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption body-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image__img js-image-replace\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/10301\/production\/_98950366_presentational_grey_line464-nc.jpg\" alt=\"Presentational grey line\" width=\"464\" height=\"2\" \/><\/span><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">&#8216;Where the bullets go both ways&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America correspondent<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That Donald Trump spoke enthusiastically about arming schoolteachers to protect against armed assailants should not come as much of a surprise. Throughout his presidential campaign he endorsed the idea of an armed citizenry as a defence against attacks.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Where the bullets go both ways, not just in one direction, you wouldn&#8217;t have had the kind of carnage that you had,&#8221; then-candidate Trump said regarding the December 2015 San Bernardino and November 2015 Paris attacks.<\/p>\n<p>The president&#8217;s comments on licensing guns in schools &#8211; a topic on which the public is sharply divided and a majority of the group at the White House on Wednesday seemed resistant to &#8211; largely overshadowed an otherwise powerful &#8220;listening session&#8221;.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-with-caption\">\n<div class=\"player-with-placeholder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-placeholder player-with-placeholder__image narrative-video-placeholder\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p05hzzm3.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"player-with-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"media-player-wrapper\">\n<div id=\"sticky-player-4\">\n<div class=\"sticky-player__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"sticky-player__player\">\n<figure id=\"media-player-4\" class=\"media-player\">\n<div id=\"smphtml5iframemedia-player-4wrp\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sticky-player__body\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"media-with-caption__caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Media caption<\/span>What has Donald Trump said about guns and gun control?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The audience represented a diversity of views, and Mr Trump allowed those touched by gun violence to share their stories.<\/p>\n<p>It was reminiscent of the free-ranging meeting the president had with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on immigration in January. Of course, that public display &#8211; where the president pledged to support any legislation backed by Congress &#8211; gave way to hardline demands from the White House and threatened vetoes.<\/p>\n<p>This president has pledged action in response to Parkland. And his actions will speak louder than his words.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption body-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image__img js-image-replace\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/10301\/production\/_98950366_presentational_grey_line464-nc.jpg\" alt=\"Presentational grey line\" width=\"464\" height=\"2\" \/><\/span><\/figure>\n<p>Hundreds of teenagers from the Washington DC suburbs rallied outside the White House before Mr Trump&#8217;s meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, survivors of the shooting poured into the Florida state capital to demand lawmakers restrict sales of assault rifles.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We want gun reform. We want common sense gun laws,&#8221; said Delaney Tarr in Tallahassee.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-with-caption\">\n<div class=\"player-with-placeholder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-placeholder player-with-placeholder__image narrative-video-placeholder\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p05yy1lz.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"player-with-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"media-player-wrapper\">\n<div id=\"sticky-player-5\">\n<div class=\"sticky-player__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"sticky-player__player\">\n<figure id=\"media-player-5\" class=\"media-player\">\n<div id=\"smphtml5iframemedia-player-5wrp\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sticky-player__body\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"media-with-caption__caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Media caption<\/span>Florida shooting survivor mistaken for the gunman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It was the first organised protest of the youth-led anti-gun movement that has swept the US since the attack in Parkland, Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Other students in Chicago, Illinois; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Phoenix, Arizona walked out of classes in solidarity.<\/p>\n<p>Some lawmakers in Florida&#8217;s state legislature said they would consider raising the minimum age to buy assault rifles &#8211; like the one police say was used in last week&#8217;s massacre &#8211; from 18 to 21.<\/p>\n<p>However, the legislators rejected a proposal on Tuesday to even debate banning such weapons.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-with-caption\">\n<div class=\"player-with-placeholder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-placeholder player-with-placeholder__image narrative-video-placeholder\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p05yvwwq.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"player-with-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"media-player-wrapper\">\n<div id=\"sticky-player-6\">\n<div class=\"sticky-player__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"sticky-player__player\">\n<figure id=\"media-player-6\" class=\"media-player\">\n<div id=\"smphtml5iframemedia-player-6wrp\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sticky-player__body\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"media-with-caption__caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Media caption<\/span>Around 100 students made the bus journey of more than seven hours to reach Florida&#8217;s capital<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mr Trump&#8217;s listening session came a day after he directed his administration to take steps to ban gun &#8220;bump stocks&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The accessories &#8211; which enable a rifle to shoot hundreds of rounds a minute &#8211; were used by a gunman who killed 58 concert-goers in Las Vegas last October.<\/p>\n<p>That was the deadliest attack by a lone gunman in US history.<\/p>\n<p>The NRA &#8211; which contributed an estimated $30m (\u00a321m) to help elect Mr Trump &#8211; opposes a total ban on bump stocks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"topic-tags\">\n<div id=\"u23226461629383266\">\n<div class=\"tags-container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BBC News US President Donald Trump has said arming teachers could prevent school shootings like that which left 17 people dead last week in Florida. A staff member with a gun could end an attack &#8220;very quickly&#8221;, he said. Mr Trump floated the proposal as emotional survivors of the 14 February massacre implored him to make sure it never happens&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/2018\/02\/22\/trump-endorses-guns-for-teachers-to-stop-shootings\/\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1334"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1335,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1334\/revisions\/1335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}