Fox News host says armed guards at schools and shops would stop mass shootings

Retired soldiers should man buildings with guns in exchange for income tax breaks, broadcaster suggests

Fox News Channel anchor Sean Hannity poses for photographs on the set of his show (Mike Segar/Reuters)

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.

“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.

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”.

The Washington Post