Ivanka Trump said on Sunday that her father’s proposal of placing firearms in the hands of highly trained teachers is an option worth debating.
During an interview with NBC News in Peyongchang, South Korea, Trump was asked if she would be comfortable knowing that a teacher educating one of her three children was in possession of a gun 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.’
The President’s eldest daughter was asked if she would be advising the commander-in-chief on highly charged gun issues
The President’s eldest daughter was then asked if she would be advising the commander-in-chief on the issue, which he proposed earlier this week via Twitter.
‘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,’ Trump added.
The 36-year-old White House is currently overseas leading the U.S. presidential delegation to the closing ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games.
President Trump made the suggestion in the wake of a deadly school shooting earlier this month in Parkland, Florida, where 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz stormed his former high school and killed 17 people with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.
The president proposed a controversial bill on Wednesday to provide as many as 20 percent of teachers with concealed and carry permits after meeting with students from Marjory Stoneman High School.
He beefed up his proposal saying educators who chose to have weapons in their classroom would receive a ‘yearly bonus’.
The 36-year-old White House is currently overseas leading the U.S. presidential delegation to the closing ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Feb. 25, 2018
Neither Trump nor the White House has said who would pay to train them, but the decision would be ‘up to states’.
He doubled down on the proposal on Saturday, stating in a tweet: ‘Armed Educators (and trusted people who work within a school) lover our students and will protect them.
‘Very smart people. Must be firearms adept & have annual training. Should get yearly bonus.
‘Shootings will not happen again – a big & very inexpensive deterrent. Up to States.’
Trump explained in his tweet the use of teachers would be a ‘very inexpensive deterrent’ compared to the cost of extra security guards.
But only the most ‘adept’ teachers would be allowed to wield weapons. He insisted every educator would be required to have annual training.
Trump’s initial proposal on Wednesday to arm 20 percent of teachers was criticized as excessive – that’s roughly 650,000 of the nation’s educators – but the president insisted in a tweet that it would be a ‘GREAT DETERRENT’ to potential shooters.
Mourners bring flowers as they pay tribute at a memorial for the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Sunday Feb 25, 2018
President Donald Trump, joined by student Carson Abt, right, and Julia Cordover, the student body president at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla (Pictured: February 21, 2018)