A National Rifle Association-backed group recommended Tuesday that schools train and arm at least one staff member, but a GOP congressman cautions against turning it into a new federal law.
Rep. Louie Gohmert tells Newsmax that he appreciates the eight recommendations from the group — which also include creating threat assessment teams at schools to detect warning signs of gun violence — but added that rushing to pass them as legislation would be a mistake.
“I think these are good suggestions, but I would be against making them a federal mandate,” the Texas Republican said.
“I’m not big on new gun laws unless they are very, very cautiously and carefully considered,” Gohmert said. “They have to be carefully crafted and considered so that we don’t infringe on people’s rights and freedoms.”
Former Arkansas GOP Rep. Asa Hutchinson — consultant to the National School Shield Initiative, a group funded by the NRA —unveiled the recommendations at a press conference held at the National Press Club on Tuesday.
Hutchinson said that the recommendations are “solutions that will make our kids safer.”
The recommendations, contained in a 225-page study costing $1 million, come a week before the Senate begins debating gun control legislation.
Hutchinson said the recommendations are independent of the NRA and that the gun lobbying group is under no obligation to accept them. The NRA said in a statement that it needs “time to digest the full report.”
Meanwhile, President Obama is scheduled to discuss his gun-control push Wednesday in Denver, and he will travel to Connecticut next week to deliver a speech on the issue at the University of Hartford.
Obama will “ask Americans to join in calling on Congress to pass common-sense measures to reduce gun violence,” a White House official told Politico.
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