{"id":59684,"date":"2018-02-27T05:14:56","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T05:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=59684"},"modified":"2018-02-27T05:14:56","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T05:14:56","slug":"trump-says-he-would-have-rushed-in-unarmed-to-stop-school-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/trump-says-he-would-have-rushed-in-unarmed-to-stop-school-shooting.html","title":{"rendered":"Trump Says He Would Have Rushed in Unarmed to Stop School Shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trump Says He Would Have Rushed in Unarmed to Stop School Shooting<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

President Trump asserted Monday that he would have rushed in to save the students and teachers of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School from a gunman with an assault weapon, even if he was unarmed at the time of the massacre.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking to a meeting of the country\u2019s governors at the White House, Mr. Trump conceded that \u201cyou don\u2019t know until you test it.\u201d But he said he believed he would have exhibited bravery \u201ceven if I didn\u2019t have a weapon, and I think most of the people in this room would have done that, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The president\u2019s remarks came during an hourlong televised conversation with the governors in the State Dining Room, during which Mr. Trump continued to grapple publicly with how best to respond to the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., discussing such things as arming teachers and reopening mental institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Mr. Trump skipped from one possible solution to another, he mused about the \u201cold days,\u201d when potential criminals could be locked in mental hospitals, and he vowed to ban \u201cbump stocks,\u201d an accessory that can make a semiautomatic weapon fire rapidly, more like an automatic rifle. But he dropped any mention of raising the age required to purchase a rifle to 21 from 18, something he said last week he supported, despite opposition from the National Rifle Association.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the president continued his dayslong verbal assault on Florida sheriff\u2019s deputies, calling their reported failure to respond to the Parkland school massacre, which killed 17 staff members and students, \u201cdisgusting\u201d and \u201ca disgrace.\u201d He said the deputies \u201cweren\u2019t exactly Medal of Honor winners, all right.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A lawyer for Deputy Scot Peterson of the Broward County Sheriff\u2019s Office said Monday in a statement that Mr. Peterson did not run into the school when the shooting began because he thought the shots were coming from the outside. Mr. Peterson retired Thursday after Sheriff Scott Israel branded him \u201ca coward\u201d for failing to run into the building to try to save students.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump echoed that sentiment, saying that the performance of Mr. Peterson and three other deputies whose actions have been questioned \u201cwas, frankly, disgusting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Later, he added that \u201cthe way they performed was really a disgrace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As lawmakers returned to Washington after a weeklong break, the president used the White House forum on Monday to insist that politicians do something quickly to ensure that shootings like the one in Florida will never happen again.<\/span><\/p>\n

The politics of guns for Republicans continue to be difficult.<\/span><\/p>\n

Georgia\u2019s lieutenant governor, Casey Cagle, a conservative Republican, said on Monday that he would block any tax break for his state\u2019s largest employer, Delta Air Lines, if the company does not reinstate discounts for N.R.A. members that it suspended after the shooting. And Mr. Trump \u2014 who said he had lunch Sunday with N.R.A. leaders \u2014 publicly clashed with Washington State\u2019s Democratic governor about the benefits of giving guns to some teachers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump said again that he supports a bill to strengthen the system of background checks made during some gun purchases. That legislation is sponsored by Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate who said on Monday that he would move forward with his background-check bill as early as this week.<\/span><\/p>\n

A lawyer for Deputy Scot Peterson of the Broward County Sheriff\u2019s Office said Monday in a statement that Mr. Peterson did not run into the school when the shooting began because he thought the shots were coming from the outside. Mr. Peterson retired Thursday after Sheriff Scott Israel branded him \u201ca coward\u201d for failing to run into the building to try to save students.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump echoed that sentiment, saying that the performance of Mr. Peterson and three other deputies whose actions have been questioned \u201cwas, frankly, disgusting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Later, he added that \u201cthe way they performed was really a disgrace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As lawmakers returned to Washington after a weeklong break, the president used the White House forum on Monday to insist that politicians do something quickly to ensure that shootings like the one in Florida will never happen again.<\/span><\/p>\n

The politics of guns for Republicans continue to be difficult.<\/span><\/p>\n

Georgia\u2019s lieutenant governor, Casey Cagle, a conservative Republican, said on Monday that he would block any tax break for his state\u2019s largest employer, Delta Air Lines, if the company does not reinstate discounts for N.R.A. members that it suspended after the shooting. And Mr. Trump \u2014 who said he had lunch Sunday with N.R.A. leaders \u2014 publicly clashed with Washington State\u2019s Democratic governor about the benefits of giving guns to some teachers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump said again that he supports a bill to strengthen the system of background checks made during some gun purchases. That legislation is sponsored by Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate who said on Monday that he would move forward with his background-check bill as early as this week.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the two top Republicans in Congress \u2014 Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader \u2014 have largely been silent on the broader debate about possible changes to gun laws after the Florida shooting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump tried to take the lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to have action. We don\u2019t have any action,\u201d Mr. Trump complained. \u201cA week goes by, \u2018Let\u2019s keep talking.\u2019 Another week goes by, we keep talking. Two months go by \u2014 all of the sudden, everybody is off to the next subject. Then, when it happens again, everybody is angry and, \u2018Let\u2019s start talking again.\u2019 We got to stop.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump said that was his message during his lunch on Sunday with Wayne LaPierre, the head of the N.R.A., and Chris W. Cox, the group\u2019s top lobbyist. He called the pair \u201cgreat patriots\u201d and \u201cgreat people\u201d who want to \u201cdo something\u201d quickly to prevent more school shootings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry about the N.R.A. They\u2019re on our side,\u201d the president told the governors. \u201cYou guys \u2014 half of you are so afraid of the N.R.A. There\u2019s nothing to be afraid of. And you know what? If they\u2019re not with you, we have to fight them every once in a while. That\u2019s O.K.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But even as he chided his predecessors in Washington for their delays and inaction, Mr. Trump\u2019s own preferred solutions remained elusive Monday as he continued what administration officials described as a \u201clistening\u201d phase of the response.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still listening and making and determining the best steps forward,\u201d Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, told reporters after the president\u2019s session with the governors on Monday morning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump lamented a period in history when he said mentally unstable people who had not yet committed a crime could be committed to a mental hospital if it were clear they were acting like a \u201cboiler ready to explode.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou could nab somebody like this,\u201d Mr. Trump said of the Florida shooting suspect, Nikolas Cruz, citing the scores of warning signs that Mr. Cruz was troubled. \u201cYou can\u2019t arrest him, I guess, because he hasn\u2019t done anything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But he said too many of the governors in the room had closed the mental hospitals that might have been a solution to that problem, often because of how expensive they were.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no halfway. We have nothing between a prison and leaving him at his house, which we can\u2019t do anymore,\u201d Mr. Trump told the governors. \u201cSo I think you folks have to start thinking about that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington State appeared to annoy Mr. Trump during a testy exchange about the president\u2019s proposal to protect students by allowing trained teachers to carry concealed weapons in schools.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt would just be a very small group of people that are very gun adept,\u201d Mr. Trump told the governor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Inslee responded that giving guns to any number of teachers, coaches or administrators in the schools would be wrong, and he urged the president to abandon the idea.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve listened to the first-grade teachers that don\u2019t want to be pistol-packing first-grade teachers,\u201d Mr. Inslee said as the president frowned and folded his arms across his chest. \u201cI just suggest we need a little less tweeting here and a little more listening. And let\u2019s just take that off the table and move forward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump did not acknowledge the criticism and moved quickly to remarks from Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, a Republican.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a separate meeting with the spouses of the governors, the first lady, Melania Trump, gave brief remarks that also touched on the shooting at the Florida high school. She praised the students from the school who have been demanding action from politicians.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have been heartened to see children across this country using their voices to speak out and try to create change,\u201d Mrs. Trump said. \u201cThey\u2019re our future and they deserve a voice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Sanders said later that the president also supported the students who had been protesting, even though he opposes the ban on assault weapons that many of them have been calling for.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the reason why he had a number of them here at the White House just last week,\u201d Ms. Sanders said. \u201cIt is one that is very important and should be listened to. We want to continue that dialogue as well as continue the conversations with state, local and federal officials.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The governors came away impressed by Mr. Trump\u2019s resolve to address the issue, according to Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada, a Republican and chairman of the National Governors Association.<\/span><\/p>\n

Noting that he leads the state that last year endured the deadliest mass shooting in American history, Mr. Sandoval added that the governors shared the urgency. \u201cThere\u2019s a consensus that something needs to be done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But there was no consensus about Mr. Trump\u2019s idea of arming trained teachers or other school personnel. \u201cI have three kids,\u201d said Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, a Democrat and the vice chairman of the association. \u201cI don\u2019t want my teachers armed. I don\u2019t think most Americans do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-school-shooter-florida.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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