NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill spoke out Friday against President Trump’s proposal to arm teachers with guns — saying that protecting students from active shooters should be the job of law enforcement.
“As far as arming every teacher … it’s not a good idea,” O’Neill said at a press conference. “Let teachers teach. Having a gun, it’s a big responsibility. You have issues of safeguarding the weapons, you have issues of training. This is what law enforcement does, and you should leave it to law enforcement to protect the children of New York City.”
O’Neill was responding to Trump’s suggestion that school systems should pay teachers more to pack heat so they can take down active shooters in the wake of the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla.
On Thursday, former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton also came out against Trump’s proposal, calling it “the height of lunacy.”