White House says Scott Israel's future "should be left up to local officials"
Following President Trump's critical remarks about the Broward County police officers at the Parkland school shooting, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was asked whether Mr. Trump thought Sheriff Scott Israel and officer Scot Peterson should be fired.
"The president feels in terms of his employment, that should be left up to local officials to make that determination," Sanders said during Monday's White House briefing.
There are reports that during the shooting that killed 17 students, three Broward County Sheriff's deputies, although armed, did not enter the school.
Sanders was asked to explain Mr. Trump's comment that he would have run into the school, un-armed, had he been on the scene.
"I think he was just stating that as a leader, he would have stepped in and hopefully been able to help," she told reporters.
On bump stocks, or the devices making semi-automatic rifles fire automatically, Sanders said that if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and DOJ cannot find a way to ban them, then the Trump administration "...would support a legislative solution to complete that."
On the Mr. Trump's interest in arming teachers, and daughter Ivanka Trump's remarks on the idea, Sanders said a final determination on the subject has not been made. She did, however, emphasize that the administration does not want to arm all teachers.
"Look, we're not advocating for the arming of every single teacher in the school, there are teachers and other school personnel who have experienced pre-existing training and have a desire to be part of this," she said.
After the president revealed he had lunch with NRA executives over the weekend, Sanders confirmed that lunch was on Sunday, calling it a "productive conversation."
Because Mr. Trump did not mention raising the minimum purchasing age in his extensive remarks this morning, Sanders was asked whether the NRA had persuaded him to drop the idea.
"I don't think it's at all a downgrade," she said. "I think we're talking specifically about implementation and what this process would look like. What specific pieces of legislation would look like - we haven't seen those yet. But the president is still generally supportive of the concept."
CBS News' Brian Gottlieb contributed to this report.
