Jay Inslee told the president to reconsider his idea of arming school teachers.
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee (D) on Monday urged President Donald Trump to lay off Twitter and instead listen to Americans and back away from one of his suggestions for dealing with mass shootings.
Trump has suggested that arming 20 percent of the nation’s teachers could help prevent school shootings like the one that occurred earlier this month in Parkland, Florida, that claimed 17 lives. The president also has said that those teachers trained to use firearms could even receive extra pay.
Washington Gov. Inslee to Trump: “I’ve listened to the first grade teachers that don’t want to be pistol-packing first grade teachers… We need to listen and educators should educate… I just suggest we need a little less tweeting here and a little more listening.” (via ABC) pic.twitter.com/o0DKz6UyDX
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) 26 February 2018
Inslee directly challenged Trump as he and other governors met at the White House with the president and several senior administration aides.
“I’ve listened to the biology teachers and they don’t want to [be armed] at any percentage,” the former U.S. House member said. “I’ve listened to the first-grade teachers who don’t want to be pistol-packing first-grade teachers. I’ve listened to law enforcement, who have said they don’t want to train teachers [on firearm use]. … Educators should educate, and they should not be foisted upon this responsibility of packing heat in first-grade classes.”
Inslee ended his remarks by saying, “So I just suggest we need a little less tweeting here, and a little more listening, and I just suggest we take [Trump’s proposal] off the table and move forward.”
Trump responded by noting that “a number of states right now” allow educators to bear arms while in the classroom.
At least eight states allow teachers in some capacity to carry guns on K-12 school campuses. But law enforcement groups and teacher organizations have expressed opposition to the president’s proposal to arm certain teachers, arguing it could lead to accidental loss of life.