Kris Kobach speaks to reporters at a news conference on Oct. 1, 2025, in Topeka, Kansas. He released the details Monday of a new grant program for K-12 public schools interested in using AI-powered firearm detection software to prevent potential acts of gun violence. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — Kansas schools that opt to use a gun detection software program supported by the attorney general could receive a cut of $10 million from the state.
Attorney General Kris Kobach promoted an artificial intelligence-driven, unconcealed firearm detection and situational awareness software that can be applied to existing security cameras. He announced Monday that his office is accepting applications to integrate the program into K-12 public schools.
AI gun detection software purports to halt and prevent gun violence. Its implementation in schools has grown in popularity as technology has advanced and school shootings and mass shootings have increased in frequency.
The attorney general uses a product from the Pennsylvania-based company ZeroEyes, which sent lobbyists to the Kansas Legislature in 2024 to push for a contract with schools. The technology can analyze more than 36,000 images per second from security camera video feeds, according to the company’s website.
If the software identifies a gun in school, images are immediately shared with the ZeroEyes Operations Center, an in-house hub staffed 24/7 by military and law enforcement veterans, according to ZeroEyes. The company claims security teams and law enforcement can be notified of a threat as quickly as three to five seconds from the point the software detects a firearm. Operation center staff review software images and determine whether a threat is valid. They can then send alerts equipped with information such as a description, gun type and last known location.
The chief strategy officer for ZeroEyes, Kieran Carroll, said in 2024 that installing the software in 1,300 school buildings in Kansas and enabling 24-hour surveillance of two dozen cameras per school would cost the state $8.5 million annually. That same year, Gov. Laura Kelly line-item vetoed a budget measure that allocated $5 million to a program that favored ZeroEyes. The governor called it “a no-bid contract,” criticizing the lack of consideration for other companies.
A $10 million earmark made it through the Legislature in 2025, and in November, the Legislature’s special budget committee said the state was considering three bidders for a gun-detection software contract. ZeroEyes beat out companies based in Wichita and Springfield, Missouri.
Funding will be dispersed equally across Kansas’ four congressional districts, and grants are available on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
