2A/EDUCATION/GUNS/MILITARY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump has held up veterans as the ideal armed teachers who could ward off school shooters. But the reality is very few of today’s educators served in the military, and those who did may reject the idea of carrying a gun to class.
Even with the influx of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans entering the workforce, just 2.1 percent of U.S. teachers in 2016 were veterans, according to federal data. In 1960, during the post-World War II era when Trump was a teen, 59 percent of male teachers had military service.
While some veterans among the nation’s teaching corps back Trump’s idea and see it as a calling to use their skills, others interviewed by POLITICO said they are adamantly opposed — even if they have the weapons familiarity that comes with military service. They said they worry about accidental discharges and that their skills are no longer fresh…
Still, military veterans are highly desirable teaching candidates. A federal program called Troops to Teachers since 1993 has worked to help veterans navigate leaving the military and entering teaching.
Several veterans who work in schools say they worry about perpetrating an accidental discharge or friendly fire incident that could hurt a child, the associated legal liability, and a potential change in the way they relate to their students if they carry a gun.”
-Kimberly Hefling and Tucker Doherty, “Trump sees veterans as the perfect armed teachers, but they’re divided,” Politico, Mar. 1, 2018 05:54pm