BOSTON (AP/WHDH) — Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R-Mass.) and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Tommy Chang say more guns in the classroom isn’t the answer to school shootings.
Baker made the comment Thursday after President Donald Trump suggested in a tweet that “highly trained teachers would act as a deterrent to the cowards that do this” and later suggested they receive bonuses for the added responsibility.
Baker said the nation should instead follow some of the gun laws already adopted in Massachusetts, including an assault weapons ban and a law giving police chiefs greater power to deny gun licenses.
In a statement, Chang said, “The mere thought that teachers should be armed in order to ward off violence is utterly illogical and will only result in making our students and teachers less safe.”
Massachusetts has also banned “bump stock” devices like the kind used in last year’s mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed at least 58 people and injured hundreds more. The devices allow semi-automatic rifles to mimic the rapid fire of machine guns.
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