Influential right-wing broadcaster Sean Hannity has suggested that mass shootings could be prevented if schools and shopping centres were surrounded with armed former police officers and retired military personnel.

The Fox News host said they if they volunteered for 15 hours a week, they could pay no state or federal income taxes.

“They should be on every floor of every school,” he said. “We could do that with stores. We could do that in malls. We can do that pretty much anywhere the public is.”

After dismissing the politicians and celebrities who spoke out in favour of gun reform as people looking to “score cheap, intellectually dishonest political points”, Hannity urged his audience to seek out “real solutions" that "don't infringe on the rights of hundreds of millions of Americans”.

His plan was quickly criticised on social media.

Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Show all 21 1 /21 Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Several officers (top left and right) firing at Connor Betts (bottom left), who they identified as the gunman, seconds after he began killing people outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Betts killed nine people including his sister, and injured 26 others. He was also shot dead at the scene by the responding officers Dayton Police Department/AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 rifle with a 100-round double drum magazine which Connor Betts used Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Surveillance footage of people beginning to flee from the sound of gunshots fired by Connor Betts Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Police officers move towards Connor Betts Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The vehicle which Connor Betts traveled to the scene in Dayton Police Department/EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Bodies are removed from the scene of a mass shooting in Dayton AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The city's mayor, Nan Whaley, said the shooter was wearing body armour and used a ".223 high-capacity" gun during the assault. “In less than one minute, Dayton first responders neutralized the shooter.” AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The FBI is assisting with the investigation Derek Myers/AFP/Getty Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar It was the second mass shooting in the US in less than 24 hours AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Witnesses comfort one another at the scene AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Police tape drapes over a chair near a pile of shoes. The shooting took place in the popular bar and nightlife area, Oregon district Dayton Daily News via AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Dayton police look for evidence Dayton Daily News via AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Shoes piled outside the scene AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Residents comfort each other as they await word on whether they know any of the victims AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Authorities retrieve evidence markers AP Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Evidence markers lay on the ground near a hotdog stand Reuters Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Evidence markers rest on the ground after a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, U.S. August 4, 2019. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston BRYAN WOOLSTON Reuters Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar People fill the streets during a vigil EPA Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Mourners gather to recognise the victims Getty Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Mourners leave flowers and candles at the entrance of Ned Peppers bar Getty

“That is the definition of a police state,” one Twitter user wrote.

Others brought up the dangerous and disproportionate consequences of heavy policing.

“Sean Hannity has obviously never been to schools attended by predominantly Black and Latinx children,” another user wrote. “Just makes it more likely that children will get cuffed and arrested for being children.”

Referring to the dystopian near-future world of Alfonso Cuarón's 2006 film, another user wrote: “Hannity's vision of future schools is a scene right out of Children of Men.”

It is not the first time Hannity has flirted with the idea of paramilitary forces being deployed to quell gin violence.

After 17 people were gunned down at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Florida city of Parkland, he denounced Democratic politicians, entertainers and artists who supported gun regulations.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

He then presented his plan, which he called “not political”, for a security presence at every school capable of carrying out “comprehensive threat assessment”.

He acknowledged that Marjory Stoneman already possessed a school resource deputy, who never encountered alleged gunman Nikolas Cruz during his attack. The 19-year-old has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

Hannity went on to suggest more guards were needed to protect the student population.

At the time, he did set out how much this proposal would cost, but argued that children's safety was worth footing the bill.

He added that “local FBI would be happy to help”.