Kansas Governor Laura Kelly on Wednesday vetoed a measure that could have earmarked up to $5 million for gun detection systems in schools, while expressing concern that only one particular company could benefit.
Kelly’s veto of the line item leaves $5 million in place for school safety grants, but removes specific language that she said would have essentially turned the program into a “no-bid” contract by eliminating “nearly all potential competition.”
The company that would benefit from this is ZeroEyes, a company founded by military veterans after the fatal shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
ZeroEyes uses surveillance cameras and artificial intelligence to spot people with guns and alert local school administrators and law officials. Although other companies also offer gun monitoring systems, the Kansas legislation included a long list of specific criteria that ZeroEyes’ competitors do not currently meet.
The veto would require firearms detection software to be patented, “designated as a qualified anti-terrorism technology,” in accordance with certain security industry standards, already in use in at least 30 states, and capable of “detecting three broad firearm classifications.” including at least 300 subclassifications” and “at least 2,000 permutations”.
While new weapon detection systems are commendable, “we should not hinder districts by limiting these funding options to services provided by one company,” Kelly said in a statement.
She said schools should be free to use state funds for other security measures, including updated communications systems or more security staff.
ZeroEyes has promoted its technology in several states. Firearm detection laws passed last year in Michigan and Utah also required software to be classified as anti-terrorism technology under a 2002 federal law that gives companies protection from liability.
Similar language is included in legislation passed last week in Missouri and earlier this year in Iowa, although the Iowa measure was amended so that the anti-terrorism designation would not be required from companies until July 1, 2025. That gives ZeroEyes’ competitors time to also receive the federal designation.
ZeroEyes already has several customers in Kansas and will continue to expand there despite the veto, said Kieran Carroll, the company’s chief strategy officer.
“We’re obviously disappointed with the outcome here,” Carroll said. “We felt this was largely based on standards” that “have been largely successful with other states.”
The “anti-terrorism technology” designation, which ZeroEyes emphasizes, was also included in firearms detection bills proposed this year in Louisiana, Colorado and Wisconsin. It was subsequently removed by amendments in Colorado and Wisconsin, although neither of these bills has received final approval.
The Kansas veto should serve as an example to governors and lawmakers elsewhere “that schools need a choice in their security programs,” said Mark Franken, vice president of marketing for Omnilert, a ZeroEyes competitor.
“Kelly made the right decision to veto single-source firearms detection provisions to protect schools and preserve competition,” Franken said.