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| NRA's Wayne LaPierre echoes Trump's plan to arm teachers | NRA's Wayne LaPierre echoes Trump's plan to arm teachers |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The head of the National Rifle Association (NRA) has backed President Donald Trump's call to arm teachers trained to carry concealed guns. | |
| Wayne LaPierre made the remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) following a school shooting that left 17 people dead. | Wayne LaPierre made the remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) following a school shooting that left 17 people dead. |
| "We must immediately harden our schools," he said. | "We must immediately harden our schools," he said. |
| Mr Trump had suggested arming teachers during a listening session on Wednesday and tweeted about it before the speech. | Mr Trump had suggested arming teachers during a listening session on Wednesday and tweeted about it before the speech. |
| Mr Trump also said on Thursday he would push for national background checks for persons with mental health issues, which Mr LaPierre later echoed at the conference. | Mr Trump also said on Thursday he would push for national background checks for persons with mental health issues, which Mr LaPierre later echoed at the conference. |
| "No one on the prohibited persons list should ever have access to a firearm. No killer. No felon. No drug dealer. And anyone adjudicated as mentally incompetent or dangerous to society should be prevented from getting a gun," Mr LaPierre said. | |
| The annual conference comes a week after alleged gunman Nikolas Cruz opened fire on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. | |
| Survivors of the deadly shooting have renewed calls for stricter gun laws, prompting the activist movement #NeverAgain. | |
| Mr LaPierre blamed the FBI for failing to follow up on a tip about Mr Cruz before the 14 February attack as well as "European-style socialists" in the US who are calling for more gun control. | |
| "They hate the NRA. They hate the second amendment. They hate individual freedom," he said. | |
| He added that as "gun-free zones", schools are easy targets for shooters, suggesting that they would be better equipped if teachers were armed. | |
| "Evil walks among us and God help us if we don't harden our schools and protect our kids," Mr LaPierre said. | |
| Reshaping the new gun debate | |
| Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington | |
| On the first day of CPAC, the NRA had an uninterrupted hour to offer its response to Parkland - and respond it did. In a one-two punch, Dana Loesch and Wayne LaPierre launched a blistering attack again the mainstream media, the FBI and pro-gun-control Democratic politicians. | |
| The media "love mass shootings" because of the ratings, Ms Loesch said. The FBI rank-and-file should rise up against a "corrupt" senior staff that has failed to stop mass shooters, Mr LaPierre railed. Democrats, he said, "hate individual freedom". | |
| The rhetoric may be an effort to reshape a firearm debate that, over the past week, has shifting toward calls for bans on so-called assault weapons and the emergence of Parkland students seeking action on gun-control. | |
| The NRA would prefer this to be a conversation about media bias, "European socialist" Democrats and an FBI that has lately become a conservative bogeyman. | |
| When it comes to policy proposals, turning schools into "hard targets" with armed teachers and airtight security is the preferred option. | |
| The NRA has a vast political war chest and a president who views it as a loyal ally. It has been down this road before - after Columbine, Newtown and other school shootings. The NRA's work is just beginning. | |
| With growing pressure to tackle gun control, Mr Trump hosted families of victims and survivors of mass shootings at the White House on Wednesday. | |
| "If you had a teacher who was adept at firearms," he said, "they could very well end the attack very quickly." | |
| Shortly before Mr LaPierre spoke, the president tweeted his support for the NRA. |