Students from Passaic
High School hold photos of some of the 17 victims killed at a Florida high school last month as they participate in a walkout to protest gun violence in Passaic, New Jersey. They were part of a nationwide school walkout that called for stricter gun laws following the massacre.
Washington, March 15: The US House of Representatives approved spending more money on metal detectors, locks and other school security measures on Wednesday, but took no steps to tighten gun control laws a month after a Florida high school shooting that killed 17 people.
While students marched nationwide for change on one of America’s most vexing social issues, lawmakers voted 407- 10 for legislation to spend $ 50 million to $ 75 million per year from 2019 through 2028 on school security and safety training.
No parallel measure was pending in the Senate, where a somewhat more ambitious bill was being debated, but prospects for meaningful gun control reforms in Congress remained remote in the face of stiff resistance from gun industry lobbyists. “This bill, on its own, is not the kind of meaningful congressional action needed to address this crisis of gun violence,” Representative Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, said in a statement.
“This must be a first step and it must be followed by a serious effort to pass legislation that expands background checks and bans military- style assault weapons,” he said.
It was not yet clear when the Senate would take up the House bill, which would not become law without Senate approval.
President Donald Trump applauded the House bill, the White House said, though it falls far short of broader gun control legislation he talked about shortly after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The measure would not allow any of the funding to be used for arming teachers or other school personnel. The White House said the bill would be improved.