JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson vetoed funding Friday for a school safety initiative that would have used video surveillance software to detect guns, becoming the second governor in as many months to balk at implementing the technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Republican governor’s rejection of the proposed $2.5 million grant program for public schools was one of 173 line-item vetoes he announced while signing a roughly $50 billion state budget for the fiscal year that starts Monday. The veto of the gun-detection grants came after Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, struck down a $5 million appropriation for a similar program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The budget bills in both states were supported by ZeroEyes, a technology firm founded by military veterans after the fatal shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School<\/a> in Florida. ZeroEyes uses surveillance cameras and artificial intelligence to spot people with guns and alert school administrators and law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though other companies also offer gun surveillance systems, the Kansas legislation included a lengthy list of specific criteria that ZeroEyes\u2019 competitors don\u2019t currently meet. The Missouri budget bill was less specific but still included several criteria met by ZeroEyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a letter to lawmakers explaining his veto, Parson said \u201cthis appropriation appears to describe a specific vendor\u2019s platform\u201d and noted that the Department of Public Safety must follow state purchasing laws \u201crather than contracting with a particular vendor.\u201d Parson also said he was vetoing the measure because of a general need to cut spending, among other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A spokesperson for ZeroEyes said no one was available for comment Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several other states, including Iowa, Michigan and Utah, already have enacted laws funding firearms detection technology in schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After numerous high-profile shootings<\/a>, school security has become a multibillion-dollar industry. Various states also have provided funding to equip staff with mobile panic buttons and to digitally map school buildings<\/a> to aid quicker responses by police, firefighters and emergency medical crews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All told, Parson said, he made about $1 billion of line-item vetoes to the budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One veto was for a $497 million transfer for renovations to the Capitol, saying it wasn’t needed yet because detailed plans aren’t in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another rejected $150 million out of a total $727 earmarked for the improvement and expansion of Interstate 44, which runs west from St. Louis to the Oklahoma border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parson also trimmed back $6 million set aside for future National Guard missions to the southern U.S. border. Missouri troops deployed to the border in Texas have since returned, Parson said. He left $2 million in the budget for potential future missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also axed were numerous smaller items that Parson called \u201cunnecessary pet projects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n