As if being a teacher weren't challenging enough, future ex-President Donald Trump doubled-down on his latest plan to destroy America's education system during a meeting with law enforcement officials Thursday, when he proposed that some teachers should be given bonuses to carry firearms in schools.
This echoes statements he made Wednesday, when, in the aftermath of the latest school shooting in Parkland, Fla., Trump told teenage survivors at a White House "listening session" that the answer to bad guys with guns is teachers with guns.
New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman was taking notes during his comments Thursday:
Trump proposes bonuses for armed teachers via pool pic.twitter.com/r1BNhDqfwV
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 22, 2018
No word yet on whether the GOP tax plan's $250 tax deduction for teachers who pay for school supplies will cover guns and ammunition, but the idea could certainly change the demographic of our nation's teachers from those who want to help students to those who want to kill them.
The average first-year teacher in America, by the way, makes $36,141.
The President also took to Twitter this morning, where he expounded upon this terrible idea and then praised the NRA, which, in 2016, spent $11.4 million in campaign ads for Trump.
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
....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
What many people don’t understand, or don’t want to understand, is that Wayne, Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots. They love our Country and will do the right thing. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 22, 2018
While the NRA would like to see a gun in the hand of every sentient (or, in the case of Trump, non-sentient) being on the planet, law enforcement organizations, according to a report from CNN, largely oppose easing restrictions on gun control. In response to a bill that would allow anyone who lives in a state that permits the concealed carrying of firearms to carry a concealed weapon in all other states (including those with stricter gun control regulations), a group of law enforcement leaders said this would "jeopardize public safety across America." The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, as the bill is known, easily passed in the House and is currently making its way through the Senate.
