arm the teachers!

US President Donald Trump suggested arming teachers to deter mass shootings as he faced broken voices, tears and demands for action at a meeting with survivors of the gun rampage that killed 17 people at a Florida high school.

Trump also promised "very strong" background checks on gun owners during the poignant "listening session" on Wednesday, in which he heard first-hand accounts from bereaved parents and friends, and schoolchildren who narrowly escaped with their own lives.

As he sat with these people, Trump was photographed holding a piece of paper with notes suggesting questions or other things to say to them.

As seen on the photographs, these included "What would you most want me to know about your experience?" and "I hear you." Social media lit up with criticism of Trump's apparent need for help in sounding compassionate to people who are suffering.

Trump's proposal to arm educators received a cool response, too, from a teacher who survived the shooting as well as the local sheriff at a town hall meeting in Florida.