NRA releases new “School Shield” recommendations to public

The National Rifle Association released new recommendations as part of its controversial School Shield program on April 2nd, most notably including a suggestion to hire armed guards to serve in every public school.

Asa Hutchinson, the head of the Drug Enforcement Agency and a former Congressman in Arkansas, is leading the school shield program, and reiterated that such guards would have to undergo extensive background checks.

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The new recommendations dropped NRA chief Wayne LaPierre's suggestion to hire retired police officers and other volunteers to serve in schools, instead sticking with interested school employees, wrote the New York Daily News.

School officers would have to undergo extensive training and a full background check to be certified to serve in schools, said Hutchinson, who noted that such a program would likely cost around $800 to $1000 per person.

Hutchinson emphasized that the NRA National School Shield Initiative is fully independent from the NRA — which contributed $1 million to the cause, wrote CBS.

"The NRA has fulfilled its side of the bargain and has given us the level of independence," CBS reported Hutchinson as saying. "These recommendations are the recommendations of task force. This is our event, and the NRA will separately consider and respond to it."

Other proposals in the 225 page report included stronger security plans for schools, and suggestions that schools work closely with both state and federal governments to create stronger safety programs, according to NBC.