Texas school children to have DNA recorded following Uvalde mass shooting

School children in Texas have begun receiving DNA kits, following a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in the town of Uvalde in May.

The schools want children to record their DNA and fingerprints, so they can be identified in the event of a mass-shooting event, or if they become lost.

The tests are free, and not explicitly linked to shootings. They are being issued under a "child identification programme" passed into state law back in 2021, following a mass shooting in Santa Fe in which ten people died.

On the envelope enclosing the tests, text reads: “Over 800,000 children are missing every year - that’s one every 40 seconds."

However after the Uvalde shooting relatives of victims had to queue up to provide DNA samples so that the bodies of children could be correctly identified. Many had suffered catastrophic injuries as a result of the atrocity.

21 people were killed by 18-year-old Salvador Ramos when he opened fire at the school five months ago. A further 18 were injured, before the gunman was killed by police.

Brett Cross, who has campaigned for change after his 10-year-old son was killed at Robb Elementary, tweeted: "Yeah! Awesome! Let’s identify kids after they’ve been murdered instead of fixing issues that could ultimately prevent them from being murdered."

There have been calls for certain firearms to be banned from being sold to under-21s.

As Americans prepare to head to the polls for November mid-term elections, Texas Governor Gregg Abbot said in a debate: "We want to end school shootings. But we cannot do that by making false promises."

Following the distribution of DNA kits his opponent Brett O'Rourke tweeted: "More school shootings in our state than any other."

"Inaction won't change this. We must win and take common sense steps to reduce gun violence."