Sen. Ted Cruz on Thursday offered qualified support to calls for arming teachers in the wake of last week’s Florida school shooting, saying it shouldn’t be compulsory but that it would serve to make schools safer.

“I think it makes perfect sense that if teachers want to exercise their right to keep and bear arms, that it will only make schools safer,” the Texas Republican said at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

“I don’t think you should make teachers do that, but if a teacher is comfortable and wants to be prepared to defend himself or herself, that’s a good thing,” he said.

Mr. Cruz said another way to combat gun violence is for law enforcement officials to target violent criminals and put them in jail.

“The left’s answer is always, always always strip the Second Amendment rights from law-abiding citizens,” he said. “You want to see crime take off? Disarm the law-abiding citizens.”

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.