While in South Korea representing the U.S. delegation to the Olympics Sunday, White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump suggested to NBC News that she isn’t entirely sold on arming teachers, but said it’s a topic that “needs to be discussed.”
“To be honest, I don’t know,” she said, responding to a question about whether training teachers to carry concealed weapons would make students safer. “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 to creating safety.”
Ivanka Trump then dodged a question about whether she advises her father on this topic and rather said it wasn’t necessarily a “bad idea” to arm “qualified” school staff.
“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,” she said.
In response to shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 people dead, President Donald Trump has seized on the idea of arming 10 to 40 percent of teachers and school staff members who are “adept” at using weapons or who have a military background. During a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, he claimed that teachers “love” their students more than security guards do, and would likely be more willing to use a weapon to defend them.
Surveillance footage revealed last week that during the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14, an armed security guard and several deputies waited outside the school or took cover after the shooting started. One guard later resigned.
In addition to suggesting that some teachers should be armed, President Trump has also proposed increasing the age limit from 18 to 21-years-old for purchasing a rifle, which the National Rifle Association opposes.
He’s also said he wants background checks for gun purchases to undergo comprehensive reform, so factors like a person’s mental health history are included in the check.
Watch a clip of the NBC News interview with Ivanka Trump below:
