After Florida, changes to school security elusive

US President Donald Trump does not want to ban the sales of an entire class of firearms, the White House said on Thursday, despite mounting pressure to put assault weapons such as the one used in last week's deadly school shooting out of civilian reach.

"We don't think the immediate policy response would be to ban an entire class of firearms," White House spokesman Raj Shah said at a daily press briefing. "What we're looking for is solutions that don't ban a class of firearms for all individuals but ban all weapons for certain individuals who are identified as threats to public safety."

Two weeks before a gunman fatally shot 17 people at a Florida high school, Bill Lee, the president of the state's school administrators association, warned that lorida's schools were vulnerable to an attack.

"It's not a matter of if, but when," he wrote in the Orlando Sentinel on Jan 29, urging legislators to boost spending on school security after two school shootings in other states in January.

"Florida is one instance away from becoming the next Kentucky or Texas, and we must do something about it."

Following last week's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Lee has renewed calls for more funding for matters ranging from mental health counseling to emergency lockdown systems.

State lawmakers, facing pressure from angry students, have signaled they will boost security funding after failing to do so for years.

"I wish the words had not been so prophetic," Lee said in an interview on Wednesday.

Florida's Safe Schools program provides millions of dollars to more than 70 school districts for safety and security. Since 2002-03, however, funding for the program has dropped 25 percent.

The current budget includes $64.4 million for an eighth straight year, according to state figures. Before the shooting, Governor Rick Scott had proposed adding $10 million.

Some parents have expressed anger that security measures at Stoneman Douglas were not more robust.

"Who do they have on campus? I think there's only one security person," said Elana Cohn, 45, who has a child at the school. "That's for a school with 3,200 students."

Lastweek's massacre highlighted the limits of school security measures, both physical, such as fencing and officers, and preventative.

Reuters