Trump calls for 'arming' teachers

United States President Donald Trump on Thursday called on the idea of arming teachers with guns and rifles, in the wake of last week's deadly shooting at a Florida high school.

In a series of tweets, the US President wrote, "....immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions. Highly trained teachers would also serve as a deterrent to the cowards that do this. Far more assets at much less cost than guards. A "gun free" school is a magnet for bad people. ATTACKS WOULD END!"

Trump criticised media reports about his remarks on Wednesday in which he voiced his support for arming "adept" teachers to prevent such incidents in schools, the CNBC reported.

"If a potential 'sicko shooter' knows that a school has a large number of very weapons talented teachers (and others) who will be instantly shooting, the sicko will NEVER attack that school," Trump said in one tweet. "Cowards won't go there...problem solved," he wrote a second tweet.

The two tweets came a day after the US President expressed his openness to arming teachers in high schools to prevent shooting attacks in the future.

"If you had a teacher with who was adept at firearms, they could very well end the attack very quickly. And we're going to be looking at it very strongly, and I think a lot of people are going to be opposed to it, I think a lot of people are going to like it," Trump said during Wednesday's listening session with survivors and family members of victims of school massacres in Connecticut, Colorado and Florida at the White House.

Scores of students from Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School joined other students from other high schools on Wednesday as protests against ending of gun violence gained momentum across the US.

Students from California to Washington D.C. held marches in solidarity with the survivors from the Florida high school. The crowd marched at the state Capitol complex in Tallahassee, with banners and posters and chanting slogans such as "Never again!" and "Shame on you!"

Trump said on Thursday that he pushed lawmakers to "look at the possibility of giving" guns to "adept teachers with military or special training experience."

The US President wrote on the micro-blogging site to explain a shooting scenario, "....History shows that a school shooting lasts, on average, 3 minutes. It takes police & first responders approximately 5 to 8 minutes to get to site of crime. Highly trained, gun adept, teachers/coaches would solve the problem instantly, before police arrive. GREAT DETERRENT!"

Also, he supported the leaders of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the gun interest group that has often comes under intense scrutiny for its efforts to resist tighter gun laws. He wrote that NRA officials "love our Country and will do the right thing."

Trump on Wednesday called for the implementation of strict background checks for gun purchases and also was in favour to raise the age limit of people purchasing guns.

"I will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health. Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks! Congress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue - I hope!," Trump wrote on Twitter.

Trump on Tuesday recommended a ban on 'bump stocks' gun devices. He also directed his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions to make the proposed changes in the country's gun control law.

Last week, 19-year-old Cruz, went on a rampage at the high school in Parkland, Florida and gunned down 17 students and injured 14 others. He allegedly used an AR-15 assault rifle that he had purchased legally.

Cruz was a former student and was expelled from the high school for disciplinary reasons. He has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

After the incident, many lawmakers, gun control advocates and student survivors of the Florida school shooting have urged the Trump administration to implement tougher gun measures.

In most US states, the age limit for purchasing the AR-15 rifle is 18 years, while the age limit for handguns is 21 years.