Chris Reykdal does not want to see kindergarten teachers walking around with guns.

Sen. Fortunato wants to arm teachers

The Washington state superintendent of public instruction says arming teachers will only increase the risk of school shootings.

President Donald Trump showed his support for arming teachers and school staff this week. He suggested schools could arm 20 percent of teachers to stop “maniacs.” Only teachers and staff “very adept at handling a gun” would conceal carry a gun at school, he said. Trump also floated the idea of bonuses for teachers with gun training.

On Friday, Trump doubled down on the idea of arming teachers during the Conservative Political Action Conference. He said an armed teacher would have “shot the hell” out of the man who killed 17 people in a Florida school last week.

Chris Reykdal says not true.

“The risk is so enormous for the small probability that a kindergarten teacher will hunt down some young person with an AR-15 and take them down with a shot [similar to law enforcement],” he said.

Chris Reykdal argues that by just having guns in schools, it will increase the number of gun deaths. When you increase gun density, he argues, you increase the homicide rate.

“There’s just no evidence that arming folks en masse creates less homicide and fewer fatalities,” he said.

Reykdal says increasing funding for mental health, for example, is a better next step. The current school funding model allows for one school psychologist for every 150 schools.

He’s also not as resistant to the idea of active shooter drills as President Trump is. School and district staff around the state prepare for all kinds of disasters. Training, he said, is a better than handing out weapons.

Listen to the entire conversation here.