Ivanka Trump says arming teachers "needs to be discussed"
After her father suggested arming teachers as a means to prevent future mass shootings in schools like the one in Parkland, Florida, Ivanka Trump says the president's more controversial proposal is one worth considering. In an interview with NBC News conducted in South Korea, Trump was asked if, as a mother herself, would she be comfortable with the idea of teachers having guns in the classroom.
"To be honest, I don't know," Trump said. "Obviously, there would have to be an incredibly high standard for who would be able to bear arms in our school. But I think there is no one solution to creating safety."
In the wake of the most recent deadly shooting, Mr. Trump has signaled he would be open to supporting bipartisan legislation on more stringent background checks and raising the age limit of those who can purchase high-capacity weapons. He has also called on the Justice Department to explore regulations that would ban "bump stock" devices, which drastically increase a weapon's rate of fire.
But it was during White House listening sessions where he embraced proposals to arm teachers in classrooms, adding that educators who were trained in being "adept at guns" could receive a bonus for their training efforts.
"We have to harden our schools, not soften them up. A gun-free zone to a killer or somebody that wants to be a killer, that's like going in for the ice cream. Like here I am -- take me," Mr. Trump said. "Shooters won't walk into a school if 20 percent of people have guns."
Mr. Trump's daughter said such a proposal wasn't necessarily a bad idea.
"I think that having a teacher who is armed who cares deeply about her students or his students and who is capable and qualified to bear arms is not a bad idea, but it is an idea that needs to be discussed," she said.
