Shaquille O’Neal wants to put armed police officers in every school to help stop shootings

Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t think a gun ban is the solution to school shootings.

“There’s a lot of those weapons already on the streets,” the one-time Laker and current NBA analyst for TNT said Wednesday on WABC radio’s “Curtis and Cosby” show. “So it’s not like if you say, ‘OK, these weapons are banned,’ people are gonna go, ‘Oh man, let me turn it in.’ That’s definitely not going to happen.”

Instead, O’Neal said, he’s in favor of putting armed police officers on all school campuses.

“I think the quick fix now is the government should give law enforcement more money and you recruit more people, and those guys that are not ready to go on the streets, you put them in front of the schools,” O’Neal said. “You put them in front of the schools, you put them behind the schools, you put them inside the schools.”

He added: “I would like to see police officers in schools — inner cities, private schools.… All schools need to be protected.”

Law enforcement is near and dear to Shaq’s heart. He has been named an honorary or reserve officer by agencies throughout the U.S. and has announced plans to run for sheriff in Georgia in 2020.

Also in the interview, O’Neal said he supports tougher background checks on gun buyers and that he stands behind all the students who are marching to protest gun violence.

“I wish I could join ‘em, but you know, hopefully it sends a message to the powers that be,” he said. “‘Cause we have to stop this.”

charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii