No Guns In Classrooms, Says NC’s Education Superintendent

CHARLOTTE, NC — As President Donald Trump continues to support the National Rifle Association’s push to arm teachers in the classroom, Gov. Roy Cooper and North Carolina’s top education official both said they were against the idea.

“We already ask so much of our educators,” NC State Superintendent Mark Johnson said Monday in a public statement. “I do not believe we should ask them to take on another massive responsibility of having firearms in the classrooms.

“I support the expansion of funding for School Resource Officers,” he said. “Firearms on school grounds should be in the hands of these trained, uniformed law-enforcement professionals who courageously choose a career protecting citizens from violent threats.”

“I agree. Our teachers having to carry guns is a very bad idea,” Cooper said on his twitter account.

SEE ALSO: Charlotte Vet Shot In Combat Says Arming Teachers 'Asinine'

The public statements come as gun rights’ enthusiasts, from Trump to local legislators across the country, are calling for hardening schools and adding firearms to teaching responsibilities to increase school security. During a Feb. 26 meeting with state governors in Washington, D.C., Trump doubled down, saying, “Don’t worry about the NRA. They’re on our side,” NPR reported.

The day after the Feb. 14 shooting in Florida, North Carolina state Rep. Larry Pittman from Cabarrus County told his fellow lawmakers that he wanted to train teachers so they could have guns in the classroom. "We have to get over this useless hysteria about guns and allow school personnel to have a chance to defend their lives and those of their students," Pittman said at a Joint Legislative Emergency Management Oversight Committee meeting, the News & Observer reported.

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