President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that teachers who previously served as “distinguished” military service members should be able to carry weapons at schools in the event of a shooting.
The president’s statement comes less than a week after the deadly mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and its affiliated school in Minneapolis.
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“We have great teachers that love our children,” Trump said in the Oval Office during a Space Force-related announcement. “If you took a small percentage of those teachers that were in the military, that were distinguished in the military, that were in the National Guard … and you let them carry, that’s something that a lot of people like. I sort of liked it.”
His answer was in response to Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy, who asked whether the president would consider sending armed National Guard members to schools nationwide.
Trump stipulated that the idea “would have to be studied” before implementation and that not every teacher can carry firearms in school, only those who are already trained and most qualified.
In Minneapolis on Wednesday, a now-deceased shooter identified as Robin Westman, 23, killed two Catholic students and injured nearly two dozen other people, most of whom were children. The number of victims injured now totals 21, up from 17 in the initial count.
The shooting occurred at Annunciation Catholic Church, where congregants were attending an all-school Mass in the morning during their first week of school. The gunman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The attack has since prompted Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) to call for a special session in Minnesota’s legislature to consider strengthening the state’s gun laws. Walz, who denounced last week’s gun violence along with other Democrats, said he intended to propose a “very comprehensive” bill related to gun control.
Trump acknowledged the United States has a “big problem” with school shootings and suggested the proposition of armed veterans-turned-teachers as a possible solution to deter such violence.