INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — Former President Donald Trump told Breitbart News that he believes if just 5 percent of teachers in schools nationwide were armed that school shootings would be a thing of the past.
Asked during an exclusive interview with Breitbart News backstage after his speech to the annual National Rifle Association (NRA) gathering here earlier this month what is causing the mass shootings in the country, Trump said the nation’s mental health crisis — fueled by drugs that are flowing across the border — is the main culprit.
“More than anything else it’s mental health and a lot of it is caused by drugs — the drugs are flowing in,” Trump told Breitbart News. “We had it down to about a 32-year-low at the border. I heard today they’re 10 times higher than just three years ago. Can you imagine that? But I think more than anything else it’s mental health, by far. And a lot of that mental health is caused by drugs.”
In his speech to the NRA gathering, Trump called for a tax credit to allow teachers who are qualified to get firearms so they can protect vulnerable students at schools nationwide. Trump told Breitbart News that if just 5 percent of the nation’s teachers — many of whom are military or law enforcement veterans familiar with firearms — then school shootings would end.
“So you have teachers that are military vets — and I’m talking about people that know how to handle firearms, because that’s a talent,” Trump said. “Police officers. But you have teachers that are very good with firearms. You don’t need many. I would say 5 percent — that would be a lot. You could never hire that many security guards. They have every bit as much talent in many cases — they’re champion shooters and everything else. If they qualify at a very high level, I would let them take arms in with them. They also have the added asset of loving the students. They love the students. So if they qualify I would have them take arms in with them. In addition, I would have armed security at the front doors et cetera, but you would stop it. If people thought that randomly the teachers have guns, they wouldn’t go into the schools. You let everyone know that a lot of teachers are going to have guns — some people say 15 percent but I would say 5 percent is enough. If some wacko thinks that some of these teachers they’re going to walk into have guns and they’re expert and really know how to use them, you’re not going to have a problem anymore. They’re not going to have to use them.”
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