Donald Trump appears to have backtracked on his suggestion that teachers should have guns to prevent mass shootings.
The President tweeted on Thursday: "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 immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions.
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) 22 February 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) 22 February 2018
"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!"
The President's tweets come a day after he held a "listening session" following America's latest mass shooting in Florida.
Nikolas Cruz opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day, killing 17 people.
Survivors of the massacre urged the President to bring in stricter gun control.
Mr Trump said at the session on Wednesday: "If the coach had a firearm in his locker when he ran at this guy – the coach was very brave and saved a lot of lives I suspect – but if he had a firearm he wouldn't have had to run, he would have shot and that would have been the end of it."
He added this "would only be obviously for people who are very adept at handling a firearm" and that they "would go for special training".
….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) 22 February 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) 22 February 2018
But on Thursday, despite saying "I never said 'give teachers guns'", he appeared to reinforce precisely that message, tweeting: "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!"
He added he would be "strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health", and that he intended to have the age raised to 21 and end the sale of bump stocks.
:: President's cheat sheet: 'I hear you'
Students from the school, along with the parents of children killed in shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary and Columbine High School, delivered powerful speeches at Wednesday's session and pleaded for a change in laws controlling assault weapons.
One parent who spoke at the emotional hour-long session was Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed in the shooting. At one point, he yelled at Mr Trump: "Fix it!"
Describing how he now has to visit his daughter in a cemetery, he said: "It's not about gun laws right now. We need our children safe."
Student Sam Zeif told how he texted his mother and two brothers during the shooting to say he would not see them again, before realising his 13-year-old sibling was in the classroom above him, where teacher Scott Beigel died shielding students from bullets.
The 18-year-old said: "I don't understand why I can still go in a store and buy a weapon of war, an AR. Let's never let this happen again please, please."
Lorenzo Prado explained how he feared for his life after being held at gunpoint by six SWAT team members when he was mistaken for the gunman.
Similar clothes, hair colour and facial structure to Cruz led him to be "tossed to the ground and handcuffed" before his real identity was discovered.
The mother of a six-year-old Sandy Hook victim, Nicole Hockley, urged the President to use his time in office to stop school shootings happening.
Talking about her late son Dylan, she said: "Every parent who sends their child to school should know without any question they're going to be coming home that day.
"How many more deaths as a country can we take? How many more teenagers and six and seven-year-olds can we allow to die? Don't let that happen anymore on your watch."
Darrell Scott, whose daughter Rachel was killed in the 1999 Columbine shooting, described how she was shot, while her brother had a gun pointed at him as he lay covered with blood from his slain friends.
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His son's life was only saved when the two killers were distracted by an emergency alarm going off.
At the same time in Tallahassee, Florida, thousands of students marched into the State Capitol, calling for changes to gun laws, a ban on assault-type weapons and improved care for the mentally ill.
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Sky News
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