Trump, gun lobby chief push armed citizens as solution to shootings

Trump had earlier proposed raising from 18 to 21 the minimum age to buy more guns than at present — like the assault-style rifle used by 19-year-old Florida shooter Nikolas Cruz — and making it more difficult for the mentally ill to own firearms.

Currently under federal law, anyone 18 or over can buy a gun from a private, unlicensed seller, although a handful of states have set the minimum age at 21.

Those measures, which may struggle to pass the Republican-controlled Congress, could have put him at odds with the NRA, which donated to and endorsed his campaign.

“I really think the NRA wants to do what’s right,” Trump said. “I mean, they’re very close to me, I’m very close to them, they’re very, very great people. They love this country. They’re patriots.”

Trump insisted he was not advocating arming every American teacher, but only those with “military or special training” — suggesting that would be around 20 percent.

That would mean weapons for around 700,000 educators, a potentially massive business opportunity for gun manufacturers.

“A gun-free zone to a killer or somebody who wants to be a killer, that’s like going in for the ice cream,” he said. “That’s like, ‘Here I am, take me.'”

Teachers’ unions were quick to condemn his proposal, with the American Federation of Teachers claiming Trump was in favor of an “arms race” that would “turn schools into militarized fortresses.”

– ‘Toxic lunacy’ –

“Anyone who wants guns in schools has no understanding of what goes on inside them — or worse, doesn’t care,” the union’s president Randi Weingarten said.

Summing up the opposition of many lawmakers, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal called the idea of arming teachers “toxic lunacy — an NRA-backed distraction from common sense action.

“Arming teachers is inane and insane — a sure path to reckless and panicky shooting, gun theft, and other deadly dangers. A non-starter in the Senate.”

The US Congress has long been deadlocked on the gun debate, accomplishing nothing despite a spate of mass shootings and polls showing that Americans support stricter gun laws by a two-to-one margin.

According to a Gallup tracking poll, 60 percent of Americans now favor tougher gun sale laws.