Ivanka Trump said she doesn’t know if her father’s proposal to arm teachers would help protect students from school shootings – but deemed the plan worth discussing, according to a report.
“To be honest, I don’t know,” Trump told NBC News in South Korea, where the first daughter and senior White House adviser led the US delegation to the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
“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 for creating safety,” the mother of three said.
When asked if she would advise the president on school safety, she said: “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.”
The president has espoused the idea of teachers packing heat in the wake of the Feb. 14 mass killing in Florida, where 17 people were gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
“Armed Educators (and trusted people who work within a school) love our students and will protect them. Very smart people,” the president tweeted Saturday.
“Must be firearms adept & have annual training. Should get yearly bonus. Shootings will not happen again – a big & very inexpensive deterrent. Up to States.”
He has heavily promoted the idea of putting “gun-adept” educators and staffers carrying concealed guns in the nation’s classrooms, calling for bonuses for educators who volunteer to be armed.
Trump also said he wants to strengthen background checks and raise the minimum age for the purchase of assault-style weapons from 18 to 21 — something the National Rifle Association opposes.
Teachers and law enforcement organizations have largely opposed Trump’s call for arming educators — though teachers already do have guns in some US schools.
In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott expressed his opposition to the plan.
“I disagree with him,” Scott told FOX Broadcast network Sunday. “I believe you’ve got to focus on people that are well-trained law enforcement that are trained to do this.”