Trump Education pick: States should decide on allowing guns in schools

by Lisa Hagen - 01/17/17 8:43 PM ET

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) clashed with President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Education secretary Tuesday over whether guns should be allowed in schools.

At her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing, Betsy DeVos declined to answer the question directly and said it should be left to states to make that decision.

“I think that’s best left to locales and states to decide,” DeVos said.

{mosads}Murphy cut her off, adding, “You can’t say definitively today that guns shouldn’t be in schools?”

Murphy, who’s a vocal gun control advocate, represented his home state in the upper chamber when 20 children and six adults were killed during the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn.

DeVos referred back to a story from Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) earlier in the hearing about a school in his home state.

“I think probably there I would imagine that there’s probably a gun in the school to protect from potential grizzlies,” she said.

Murphy followed up with another question about whether DeVos would support Trump’s proposal to ban gun-free zones in schools.

During a campaign rally last year, Trump called for the elimination of gun-free zones and said he would sign that on his first day in office. But he later appeared to soften that position, clarifying that he doesn’t want firearms in all classrooms, but with the exception of some trained teachers.

“I will support what the president-elect does, but senator, if the question is around gun violence, and results of that, please know that my heart bleeds and is broken for those families that have lost any individual due to gun violence,” DeVos responded.

Murphy appeared to get emotional and said that he looks forward to having DeVos visit Connecticut and talk about “the role of guns in schools.”

Tags Chris Murphy Donald Trump Mike Enzi