Former Florida Attorney General (and occasional Fox News guest host) Pam Bondi offered a solution to the epidemic of gun violence in schools — arming teachers.
During an appearance with Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Thursday evening, Bondi advocated for the idea and suggested that educators could function much like air marshals.
“I’ve always supported this since Parkland,” Bondi said, referring to the February 2018 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead. “Florida is such a huge state, Laura, and we have so many rural counties and police can’t get there right away. They can’t in so many of our counties,” she told the host.
“I think [teachers] should be treated like air marshals,” she added. “You don’t know who they are, the staff will know who they are and they’re there if they’re needed.”
The idea is more than just theoretical. Earlier this week, Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis signed a law that would allow Florida counties to arm teachers as a protective measure after undergoing training. The law will take effect in October.
“You’re never going to take guns out of the hands of bad people and we have to protect our kids,” Bondi said, offering a defense of the new measure.
In addition to being a frequent presence on Fox News opinion show’s like Ingraham’s, Bondi has also occasionally sat in the host’s chair herself during the network’s panel show “The Five.”
Over the last two decades, American schools have been racked by gun violence. In 2018, a study from the U.S. Naval Post Graduate School documented 94 gun violence incidents in schools — more than double the number in 2017.
Despite those undeniable increases, Americans remain divided about how to address the problem. Liberals have argued that more restrictive gun control measures are necessary to keep guns out of the hands of children, while Conservatives have insisted that more guns (whether in the hands of teachers or armed guard) is the only way to solve the problem.