Even the slightest measures
Parents who give their children guns may find themselves in hot water if those children use the guns to shoot their classmates.
The father of a Michigan school shooter who killed four students has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter. The trial heard James Crumbley, 47, ignored his 15-year-old son Ethan’s mental health needs, buying him the gun he used in the November 2021 attack. He and his wife – who was convicted on the same charges – now both face a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Here’s a thought – don’t give guns to children.
Earlier this week in her closing arguments to the jury of six men and six women, prosecutor Karen McDonald called the attack “preventable and foreseeable”. She added that James Crumbley’s actions had been “rare and egregious”.
He did not take even the slightest measures to ensure his son was not a threat after giving him a semi-automatic pistol as a gift just days before the shooting, said the prosecutor.
Why do that? Why give a kid a semi-automatic pistol? Why not a bike or a leather jacket or even – dare I say it? – a book?
I found the mother’s conviction troubling since as far as I can tell her offence was one of omission. Apparently she failed to take some undefined steps to prevent the shooting, which looks a lot like being convicted of being a bad mother. (The only indication she had that something specifically was wrong was what the school told her which, admittedly, she didn’t seem to take seriously.) Frankly, I don’t think parenting should be an issue here at all. If you hand a gun to someone you know to be disturbed you share the blame irrespective of your relationship to them.
I read People of the Lie decades ago, and still remember the story about the young man who was brought to the author to help resolve his mental health issues, who told the author that his father had given him a rifle as a Christmas present…but not just a rifle – the actual rifle his older brother had used to commit suicide.
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/People-of-the-Lie/M-Scott-Peck/9780684848594
This is crazy. I’m Texan, born in Dallas and the son of a storied Texan family. Even in that family, I was never allowed access to firearms without adult supervision at ALL TIMES (and they remained locked up when not in use), and I was constantly reminded of the obligation to be safe. You don’t give a gun to a kid. You just don’t.
James Garnett, same for me in Oklahoma. My dad kept his guns locked up, unloaded, and locked the ammunition in a different cabinet. He took us out shooting and taught us gun safety, but we were not allowed to handle a gun on our own. Probably a good idea, considering the first thing my brother did when old enough to decide for himself was to shoot himself in the hand by accident.