Former President Trump called for increased school safety mechanisms at the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association in Houston, Texas on Friday, mechanisms held by Robb d’Uvalde Elementary School, the site of a mass shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead earlier this week. .
Why It’s Important: The Uvalde tragedy and the mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, which left 10 dead on May 14, have intensified the debate over gun control legislation and the renewed scrutiny of arms advocacy organizations such as the NRA, gun manufacturers, and lawmakers who keep close by. links to the arms lobby.
- Trump on Wednesday decided to keep his “long-term commitment” to the convention despite the shooting.
- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) canceled his in-person appearance at the event, but still offered “pre-recorded video comments,” while Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick (R) suspended his speech in a breakfast held by the NRA on Friday.
What they’re saying: Trump said it was time to “harden” schools across the country, specifically calling for doors to be closed from the inside and hiring security guards.
- “What we need now is a top-down security review in schools across our country,” Trump said.
- “Each building should have a single point of entry. There should be a strong exterior fence, metal detectors and the use of new technologies to ensure that no unauthorized person can ever enter the school. with a weapon “.
- “In addition, the doors of the classrooms must be hardened so that they can be locked from the inside and locked to intruders from the outside. And above all, from today, every school in America he should have a police officer or an armed guard on duty at all times. “
- The former president also called for the disarmament of teachers and the end of unarmed school zones.
- “Surely we can all agree that our school should not be the softest target. Our schools should be the single most difficult goal in our country,” Trump said.
Robb Elementary School had both doors locked from the inside and a security guard hired at the time of the shooting.
- It was not known if the school used metal detectors, although the UValde Consolidated Independent School District had its own police force, closed all its schools, threatened assessment teams on all campuses, and used software. Threat reports and social media monitoring at the time of the event. attack, reports NBC News.
Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Homeland Security, said Friday that the school officer was not on campus when he first reported the shooting near the school, but immediately went to the school. place of events.
- After arriving at the scene, the security guard passed the shooter and instead confronted a teacher, McCraw said.
- McCraw said the shooter entered the school through a door that had previously been opened by a teacher.
- Classrooms where the shooter entered and shot at students and teachers also had doors that closed from the inside.
- Border Patrol tactical agents who broke down the door to kill the suspect after being in school for about 80 minutes did so after receiving keys from a janitor to open one of the doors, McCraw said. .
The big picture: The convention, which began on Friday and runs through Sunday, is the NRA’s first since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- Leaders and members of the country’s two largest teachers’ unions traveled to Houston on Friday to protest the NRA convention and defend new gun safety legislation.
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