As President Donald Trump calls for teachers with special training to carry firearms in schools to guard against another mass shooting, the proposal is being rejected by New York's statewide teachers union.

"The simple answer is no," said NYSUT President Andy Pallotta. "Arming teachers in schools seems misguided at best. How would it appear? You're teaching in front of a classroom and you have a holster with a gun in it. How does that make it a beautiful learning environment? I can't understand that."

The shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida has renewed and heightened a national debate over gun control. Some are now calling for armed guards in schools, even as a sheriff's deputy stationed at the school resigned after it was revealed he took cover and did not respond to the shots being fired.

"I think each community would have to make a decision whether they would or wouldn't want that to be part of their school environment," Pallotta said. "Having more security in a school, we support that. We also know it didn't work for the students, teachers and staff in Florida."

Supporters of gun rights in New York say there should be someone stationed at schools to protect students and teachers.

"If you really want to protect the kids, protect the kids. Put some type of armed professional in the school to prevent this from happening," said Tom King of the Rifle and Pistol Association.

But King says he's not pushing for armed teachers. Instead, he wants to see bolstered security, including metal detectors.

"I'm not advocating for teachers to have guns. I'm advocating for someone in the schools to protect the kids," King said. "If a teacher wants to train for this or go for some type of special training to prepare for this, that's fine. But that's not what I'm advocating for."

Governor Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, has called the proposal to arm teachers ludicrous. This week, Cuomo announced a multi-state coalition of northeast Democratic governors to crackdown on illegal weapons flowing into their states.

"The problem is, I can't protect the people of my state with just state laws, because the guns come in from over the border," Cuomo said.

Republican state lawmakers have called for more funding to add armed office in schools, an idea Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said in a statement he opposes.