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“A 14-year-old boy killed two fellow students and two teachers and wounded nine others in a shooting at a Georgia high school [last] Wednesday… The suspect, who had been interviewed by law enforcement last year over online threats about committing a school shooting, was taken into custody shortly after the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.” Reuters
“Georgia state officials on Thursday arrested the father of the 14-year-old… saying the father knowingly allowed his son to have the murder weapon. Colin Gray, 54, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said… Colt Gray, 14, has been charged with four counts of felony murder and would be tried as an adult, officials said.” Reuters
The left calls for additional gun control, arguing that it would reduce shooting deaths.
“If you’re cheering on the charges brought against Colin Gray, the father of our nation’s latest school shooting suspect, it’s worth asking yourself how, exactly, he broke the law… The Grays live in Georgia, where giving your son an AR-15-style rifle is not, in itself, a crime. (The laws appear to be stricter about handguns.) Nor does Georgia have a law requiring Mr. Gray to safely lock away his guns…
“I think giving your minor son a gun should be illegal. But that doesn’t make it so… These prosecutions set a murky legal precedent for questionable parenting while camouflaging the abject failure of the federal and state governments to adequately regulate gun safety and stop mass shootings. Going after the parents in the absence of adequate gun laws is, in truth, a kind of scapegoating — displaying a head on a stake to satisfy the rage of a desperate crowd… The anger is righteous. But we can’t prosecute our way out of this mess.”
Megan K. Stack, New York Times
“When the Giffords Law Center awarded Georgia an ‘F’ grade for its slapdash gun policies, the state’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, responded on social media: ‘I’ll wear this ‘F’ as a badge of honor. Our 2nd Amendment is sacred, and I’ll never back down from defending Georgians’ constitutional rights.’ His defense is a success: The firearm death rate in Georgia is almost 4 times higher than in New York…
“Much first-level gun-violence prevention is the equivalent of low-hanging policy fruit. Universal background checks. Safe-storage laws. Red-flag laws to enable authorities to remove firearms from certifiably dangerous individuals. No permitless carry. But to many in the clutches of nihilism, even minor safeguards to protect human life appear excessive.”
Francis Wilkinson, Bloomberg
“Given that a Republican president was the first to ban bump stocks, and the regulation was relatively uncontroversial at the time, it’s not impossible to believe that Congress could make it happen. Similarly, Vice President Kamala Harris has urged states to adopt red flag laws, and former President Donald Trump also previously expressed support for these laws, despite the concern from gun rights advocates. Support from leaders of both major parties belies the notion that gun regulations that could counter mass shootings are completely off the table…
“And though experts say passing those laws would have an impact, they are not the only thing that can be done. Family members and law enforcement in states that already have red flag laws can try to get the courts to intervene if they’re worried about someone with guns…
“Individual community members, especially in the workplace and at school, can pay attention when someone seems to be leaking intentions of a mass shooting and report that behavior to the authorities. The media can do their best not to elevate the profiles of mass shooters, which has been shown to inspire a copycat effect.”
Marin Cogan, Vox
The right calls for increased security measures in schools, and focuses on the shooter’s troubled family life.
The right calls for increased security measures in schools, and focuses on the shooter’s troubled family life.
“States including Pennsylvania, Texas and Michigan have funded security upgrades for school buildings… When the Georgia shooter returned to his algebra class with a gun, he was unable to enter because the door had locked automatically and a fellow student refused to open it. The shooter turned his bullets on students that were more easily accessible. Staff also used ID cards with emergency buttons that alerted police to an active threat at the school…
“It’s a tragedy that such security steps are needed, but the deeper causes of school shootings such as community and family dissolution will require a cultural renaissance. Social media’s bad effects also need to be countered. But in the near term, increased security and law enforcement are essential, and tragically so is holding parents responsible when their children kill with guns that shouldn’t be in their possession.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
“[The father, Colin Gray, gave his son the gun] seven months after law enforcement visited their home to question Colt about threats to shoot up a school… Then there is the mother, Marcee Gray, 43. She reportedly has a lengthy rap sheet including charges of ‘drug and domestic violence arrests.’ Neighbors reported that she regularly locked the children outside of the house at night, leaving them there screaming to be let in for hours. Child Protective Services had visited the home many times…
“I have significant reservations about some of the ‘red flag’ laws being passed around the country today. But there need to be limits for everything in a civil society. It sounds as if the Grays' house was a toxic, dangerous environment and potential problems had been brewing for some time before the wheels came off entirely on Wednesday. This may have been one of those rare cases where law enforcement should have stepped in.”
Jazz Shaw, Hot Air
“[In an interview GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance] said, ‘I don't like that this is a fact of life. But if you are a psycho, and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets. And we have got to bolster security, so if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children, they're not able.’ From this utterly sensible and sensitive position, the Associated Press somehow wound up with an X Post headlined, ‘JD Vance says school shootings are a ‘fact of life,’ calls for better security.’”
David Marcus, Fox News
“After a huge backlash, [AP] deleted the original tweet and put up a more balanced one, but only after it got millions of views and provided the Harris campaign the opportunity to smear Vance. Which, of course, was the point. You are naive to the point of being a toddler if you believe that this was not intentional or if you don't think they do this sort of thing all the time. Headlines are where impressions are made.”
David Strom, Hot Air
See the winners of The Post’s 25th annual Travel photo contest.
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