Agree or disagree? Is the father partly responsible for “allowing him to possess a weapon”?
In May 2023, the FBI alerted local police to online threats about a school shooting, associated with an email address linked to the suspect.
A sheriff’s deputy went to interview the boy, who was 13 at the time.
His father told police he had guns in the house, but his son did not have unsupervised access to them, the FBI said in a statement on Wednesday.
Yes, I know there is another tread on this school shooting already, but I was thinking about this as a separate topic. To what extent should parents be responsible for their kids? I can see this becoming the norm and raises a bunch of questions.
I think we should keep this thread independently from actual shooting event.
We still don’t know all details about the firearm. How it was purchased, where it was stored and how the shooter got access to it.
In my opinion Father is liable for his son’s actions if the firearm was purchased by him and kept at home with an easy, uncontrolled access.
Parents should be responsible for their youngsters untill those are ready for independent life.
There are many States that parents are held responsible if a minor gets a hold of a firearm and uses it unlawfully . I agree with them I grew up with firearms and hunting but my parents had to unlock mine to use. If the father bought it for the kid and the kid had access to it he is at fault also.
If the FBI visited my home because of something that indicated my child had made threats of this kind, you’re damn right we’d have a long talk and my weapons would be absolutely inaccessible to him. We’re not talking you typical family situation here. The father knew something triggered the visit, and he should have taken this minimal action of keeping his weapons locked up just for his own peace of mind. Yes, all our kids are good kids, but if you think something is up, drinking, drugs, or in this case the unthinkable, it’s your responsibility to act, and failure to act brings consequences.
Parenting is a huge responsibility. I was a single-parent for over four years and never worked harder in my life to set the standards for my kid when other parents were banging on me for being tough. Never spanked or yelled. But, I held him to the rules. Break the rules, you lose privileges. Every time, not just once in a while. He put himself through college (I didn’t pay a dime) and graduated with a master’s degree. He was a competitive athlete, completed eight years of honorable service in the armed forces, and is now in his thirties and highly successful, with high self-discipline, a Biblical worldview, and high moral and ethical values.
I had my own .22 rifle when I was 9 (still have it) that my father gave me, that his father gave him. I used to squirrel hunt with it (sights are dead on) and shoot blackbirds with it on my grandfather’s farm. I guess times change though, which is sad.
It was an AR-15, and the father bought it for his son.
1,000 times YES! Absolutely! I can’t say this strongly enough.
How can you raise children without knowing their state of mind?
As a dad it is my responsibility to know the state of my kids’ minds. I have mental illness in my family. I had an uncle take his own life. You better believe I am close enough to know my kids’ state of mind. And if I had any concerns I’d be 100% in their space getting the low down on what is going on between their ears! And I’d 100% be sure the guns were not accessible.
This breakdown of what should be open relationships between parents and kids is a part of the violence problem we have in our country.
From what news I watched/read today, law enforcement talked to this kid’s dad a year ago. The dad admitted (they have it recorded, I believe) that his son was volatile. And the dad bought him an AR-15 for Christmas.
I cannot imagine this dad’s grief.
But I also cannot imagine what this dad was thinking.
Similarities… 
It’s quite possible that this dad was not thinking. He just gave in to his kid because it was easier than dealing with his child and the child’s issues… I see this kind of lazy “parenting” every day. It leads to selfish, entitled, violent kids/teens/adults.
Here’s what gets to me: the dad tells the cops, “please instill in him.”
Whoa!! Back the truck up.
Dad: that’s your job to instill in him!!
I’ve seen this so many times where the parents ask someone else to teach their kids something rather than doing it themselves.
In that other thread I posted on this and my feelings are essentially the same. But in this specific instance I think Dad should be included. Mainly because for whatever reason, this raised to a point that the FBI and the Police thought it was bad enough to send out officers to check these threats out. That is a completely different level of responsibility at that point. So again I am ok with it.
I know someone who had a daughter, who her friend group said she was in danger of becoming bulimic due to things she was saying. The girl in question was tiny. In the bottom 5% for size and weight for her age group. This person immediately got the daughter involved in a Dr. supervised weight program, therapy, and professional help in nutrition and exercise. From then on the parent(s) followed a plan of “trust but verify” to ensure the well being of their daughter.
I would like to think any firearm owner would do the same thing with their child if they had the Police come to their home and say their child had made threats specific enough to have risen to the level of gathering the attention of the FBI. I know I would have been far more engaged. So buying your child an AR-15 after your son had come to the attention of the FBI for making online threats about shooting up their school. Yeah. I personally would have never given my child a firearm. As far as my own firearms, they would be in my safe and I would remove the bolt carriers to make sure they couldn’t be used in any manner except under the strictest of supervision, if at all. The only accessible firearm at that point would be the one I carry on me. It would be a PITA but in good conscience that would be what I would do
I worked hard to instill many things into my kids head. I reasoned and explained many things to them, and I seemed to always get a blank look returned. Now my brother steps in and says the same dang thing and my kids came to me and said, Uncle told me this and it is amazing! I wanted to say something to the matter like you pea brain knucklehead, I already told you that! I believe if a dad wants to install anything for your kids, get someone that will be better at getting through to them. Have them take a gun safety course with someone. Find yourselves a mentor that they will get a secondary view from other than yourselves. Think of it as supporting what you say by having someone else saying the same thing, that way it reinforces that.
Or like some say, it takes a community to build a community because without a community there is no community! WAIT, STOP, DANG IT! I listened to Harris too much!
The significance of a community is due to a community being significant. We should strive to be a significant because a community of significance is a significant community.
WTH i have become fluent in Kameltoe. I feel 10 IQ points dumber.
Thank you everyone, I will be here all week. Don’t forget dos centavos for @Don102.
@Don102 don’t forget 10% for the @bigguy
P.S. I am the @bigguy because I am King Ding-a-ling. Using a completely arbitrary set of rules I made up…
Wow, I am really getting the hang of this Democracy stuff the way the DNC wants it.
I am definitely in support of a parent teaching their children about firearms, taking them to the range, hunting, etc. Also cool with buying kids a rifle (like a 10/22) to shoot at the range or hunting. The parent is obviously still the legal owner of the firearm. But minors should not have access to firearms without their parents knowledge/ consent. If a 14 year old is able to take a rifle to school without the parents knowledge, the parent is, at least, grossly negligent. Gun safes aren’t that expensive.
My ex wrote a bad check when I was in the Marine Corps. I received an article 15 and reduction in rank because of it because I was responsible for her. So, if your kids do something stupid or bad then of course a parent is responsible for their doings, just have your child miss, skip and avoid school and see what the state will do because you did not make sure they were in school.
Yes … Agree. Since Oxford, if not before, the courts have affirmed the culpability of parents for their children’s actions. This is/was further compounded by “stellar” parenting and a broken home. Wholesome values need to prevail.
For as much as we have the “27 Club”, a “Crumbley Club” could started