AFT on Donald Trump’s Call to End Gun-Free School Zones

WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on Donald Trump’s call to end gun-free school zones:
 
“Reality is more chilling than fiction in this election year, where you have the irony of Donald Trump accepting the National Rifle Association’s endorsement as the White House is on lockdown because of a nearby shooting incident. There’s a word for the presumptive Republican nominee who evidently makes sure his own properties are gun-free while calling for an end to gun-free school zones: hypocrite. Perhaps Trump is more interested in pandering to the NRA and fomenting fear, repeating the straw man and false canard that Democrats are trying to strip away people’s Second Amendment rights. Rather than dealing with the real issues—like the national epidemic of gun violence, in which nearly 300 people are shot every day in America—Trump wants to allow guns on school property. As the Sandy Hook community would remind us, this is not a solution; this is an invitation for further violence. One would have hoped that any nominee for the president of the United States would at least understand that.”