Murphy responds to DeVos on arming teachers to prevent gun violence

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday rebutted Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s suggestion to arm teachers in order to prevent future school shootings. 

DeVos said in an interview Thursday that states could consider training and arming teachers as a way to stop school shootings. She made the comment while discussing a shooting at a high school in Florida on Wednesday that left 17 people dead. 

Asked on ABC’s “This Week” about his thoughts on DeVos’s statement, Murphy said there is no evidence to support arming people for self-defense against gunmen.

“There’s zero evidence, empirical or anecdotal, that more guns leads to less gun crime,” Murphy said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” following a Wednesday floor speech berating the Senate for inaction on gun control. “In fact, if you have a gun in your house, you are more likely to be shot by that gun than you are to use it on a perpetrator.”  {mosads}

Host Martha Raddatz pointed out that the armed guard on the high school campus never got the chance to respond to the teen gunman. 

“It’s a wonderful story for the gun lobby to tell that if you just load up schools with weapons you’ll be safer,” Murphy continued. “All of the evidence suggests that homes and communities that have more weapons have more gun crimes, not less.” 

The senator’s comments come after his floor speech in response to the mass shooting, when he said such shootings are “a consequence of our inaction” on guns, and a unique problem endemic to the U.S. 

Murphy is a prominent voice in the push for more gun control, and has introduced legislation that would expand background checks for would-be gun purchasers.