Washington (CNN) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he doesn't think that there's much the federal government can do to ensure school safety "other than appropriate funds," according to a report by The Lexington Herald-Leader.

In discussing school violence in a speaking engagement with community leaders on Tuesday in Danville, Kentucky, McConnell pushed for more school security as opposed to more gun control legislation, the report said.

"You would think, given how much it takes to get on an American plane or given how much it takes to get into courthouses, that this might be something that we could achieve, but I don't think we could do that from Washington, I think it's basically a local decision," said the Kentucky Republican, who is a staunch Second Amendment advocate.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, McConnell -- who has previously said more can be done at the state and local levels -- said at the event that he thinks school security is the most likely way that schools can stop shootings from occurring.

"It's a darn shame that's where we are but this epidemic is something that's got all of our attention," McConnell said of recent school shootings. "And I know it's got the attention of every school superintendent in the country."

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