JEFFERSON CITY — Instead of enacting tougher firearms laws, Missouri’s Republican-led House is considering a plan to offer grants to schools to purchase a gun detection system being used in other states.
As part of the House’s proposed spending plan, which was unveiled Thursday, the Missouri Department of Public Safety would be given $2.5 million to provide school districts with software driven by artificial intelligence that is supposed to identify guns being carried near or into schools.
Budget documents do not identify the company that would get such a contract, but a Pennsylvania firm named ZeroEyes hired lobbyists in January to pitch their product to state lawmakers.
Other states have contracted with the firm as part of a nationwide response to school shootings like the October 2022 mass shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in ºüÀêÊÓƵ that killed two and injured seven.
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According to the company, the ZeroEyes software “analyzes over 36,000 images per second from school video feeds.
“If a suspected firearm is detected, the image is forwarded to the , where a trained specialist confirms whether a firearm is present,†the company website says.
If the specialist determines that the threat is valid, they dispatch alerts and other actionable intelligence, including visual description, gun type and last known location, to local law enforcement and the school security team.
In addition, the company said, “Our AI is trained to only detect guns and is incapable of facial recognition, voice recording, or other invasive measures.â€
The introduction of AI into the school safety arsenal comes as GOP lawmakers and Republican Gov. Mike Parson have been reluctant to address gun safety with more laws, instead favoring ideas about additional policing, tougher prosecutors and stricter penalties for various crimes.
The school shooting in ºüÀêÊÓƵ spurred calls for a red flag gun law that would allow police to temporarily remove firearms from people who are experiencing a mental health crisis.
But, opposition to applying any limits on the ownership of firearms by Republicans doomed the proposal and put the focus on hardening schools against attackers.
The state, for example, has helped school districts pay for an app designed to send out alerts during active shooter events in an attempt to help students and school staff find secure locations.
The app has cost the state an estimated $3.4 million.
In addition, Parson has pushed for more than $50 million to help schools fortify their campuses to make it harder for a shooter to penetrate.
Rep. Brenda Shields, R-St. Joseph, is sponsoring a package of school safety initiatives that includes requirements for door locks, active shooter training and bleeding control kits.
A fiscal analysis of , which awaits debate in the full House, shows the cost of anti-intruder door locks, bullet-resistant window film and concealment material for doors with windows and sidelights would cost an estimated $6.2 million.