On Wednesday, President Trump heard emotional
stories and pleas from people affected by school shootings to procure higher
levels of school safety. Trump brought up the idea of arming teachers and
school staff. His idea was met with support from many of those in
attendance.
Some quotes recorded from Trump's
meeting were, "If you had a teacher who was adept with the firearm,
they could end the attack very quickly," he said, saying that schools
could potentially arm up to 20% of their teachers to stop "maniacs"
who might try and attack them. "This would be obviously only for
people who were very adept at handling a gun, and it would be, it's called
concealed carry, where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them. They'd go
for special training and they would be there and you would no longer have a
gun-free zone" and "Gun-free zone to a maniac -- because they're all
cowards -- a gun-free zone is 'let's go in and let's attack because bullets
aren't coming back at us.' "
Trump offered some solutions,
suggesting more mental institutions and hospitals in addition to the idea of
handing weapons to teachers. That to me doesn't sound like enough. Adding
mental institutions only helps if there are people around that will be willing
to help those children in need.
One boy said, "I'm not
here to debate, but I lost my sister. And like Mr. President said, if you could
find 20% of maybe retired law enforcement officers, or a teacher who could go
through discreet training to carry a firearm around his waist, it could've been
a very different situation," Hunter Pollack, one of Meadow Pollack's
brothers. "We need more security, we need more firearms on campus, we need
better background checks, and we need to study more on mental
health."
But, like me, others didn't agree
with that route. Nicole Hockley, mother of a six-year-old who was killed
in the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, told Trump she would rather
"arm" teachers with ways to prevent shootings in the first place
rather than with a firearm.
We need prevention, not more
guns. We need ways to help these violent people before it gets to the point of
school shootings. there are ways to fix this without adding
more weapons to the equation. Many still seemed to support the President's
idea though. Andrew Pollack, a father of one of the 17 victims who died in
last week's Florida shooting, said he was speaking Wednesday because his
daughter couldn't. "We as a country failed our children," he
said. "This shouldn't happen."
He asked how it's possible that
America could protect its airports, embassies and even concerts, but not its
schools. "How many schools, how many children have to get shot? It
stops here with this administration and me. I'm not going to sleep until it is
fixed. And Mr. President, we'll fix it. Because I'm going to fix it. I'm not
going to rest," he said. Pollack, becoming more upset, said "I'm
pissed. It was my daughter I am not going to see again. She is not here. She is
not here. She is in North Lauderdale at whatever it is, King David Cemetery,
that is where I go to see my kid now."
Any action Trump will take on
guns would be a matter of pleasing both parties. His political base of
Republican voters largely approves of less gun control actions and the
President has obviously enjoyed the support of the NRA.
Trump hasn’t always been
affiliated with the NRA. "I generally oppose gun control, but I support
the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to
purchase a gun," he wrote in his 2000 book, "The America We Deserve."
"With today's Internet technology, we should be able to tell within 72
hours if a potential gun owner has a record."
Though he refuted those
statements during the campaign, polls show Americans placing blame on Trump and
Congress for not doing more on guns. A new Washington Post/ABC News poll
released Tuesday found that 62% of respondents said Trump is not doing
enough to prevent mass shootings and 77% say Congress is doing an inadequate
job on the issue.
Trump guaranteed on Wednesday
that his administration would investigate gun purchase ages, as well as the
"mental health aspect."
"We're fighting hard for you
and we will not stop... I just grieve for you, I feel so -- to me, there could
be nothing worse than what you've gone through." He went on saying,
"Thank you for pouring out your hearts because the world is watching and
we're going to come up with a solution."
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