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Marino planning to reintroduce COPS program

U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, R-Cogan Station, plans to introduce legislation to better protect students from school shootings and terrorism.

The bill would reauthorize the COPS in Schools program to provide funding to hire school resource officers for primary and secondary schools.

“My legislation requires the funding authorized by the Cops in Schools program be used to hire military veterans and retired police officers, who, through their training either in the military or while on a police force, have the skills necessary to provide effective security for schools,” he said. “With tens of thousands of our nation’s veterans unemployed, there is a great opportunity for Congress to protect America’s school children while providing quality jobs for our veterans as school resource officers.”

The school shooting last month in Parkland, Florida, Marino noted, makes it necessary to take seriously the security of the nation’s children.

Retired law enforcement and military officials, he said, are trained to make the split second decisions to best counter violent attacks.

Marino also would like to see metal detectors in schools.

“Mostly, we need those trained, experienced people,” Marino said.

Funding for the COPS program, he said, was available at one time, and that may well make it easier to reauthorize the dollars.

School resource officers are located in some schools, but Marino’s legislation would open up federal dollars for hiring them.

He noted the savings costs with using retired police and military personnel, most of whom already draw pensions and health care benefits. In addition, their services likely would not be required during the summer months.

Marino said he is ambivalent about banning assault weapons.

“I think we should outlaw the bump stocks,” he said.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive defines a bump stock as an attachment allowing a semi-automatic rifle to mimic a fully automatic weapon’s “cyclic firing rate to mimic nearly continuous automatic fire.”

Marino said he is not in favor of arming teachers in schools, while adding he is a firm believer in the Second Amendment, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.”

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