US allocates over $70m to counter school shootings

The US has approved the allocation of more than $70 million in grant funding to bolster security in schools to counter mass shootings, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.

The funds aim to "bolster school security, educate and train students and faculty as well as support law enforcement officers and first responders who arrive on the scene of a school violence incident", according to the statement.

"President Trump and his administration will ensure the safety of every American school," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Tuesday.

On February 14, a shootout at a school in Parkland, Florida, left 17 dead, while another on May 18 claimed 10 lives in a Texas school.

The statement also said that the department was investing over $1 million to "examine factors that contribute to mass violence, identify any patterns in mass shootings, analyze psychological and social life histories of mass shooters and community-level predictors of mass violence and will examine firearm purchasing patterns of known mass shooters in order to create a risk prediction tool".

The White House had earlier proposed to counter mass shootings in schools by arming school teachers, against the backdrop of spiralling demand for reforming gun laws in the country.

--IANS

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