Earlier this month, 14 year old Colt Gray took a deadly AR-15 style rifle which his father had reportedly gifted him for Christmas, and shot dead 4 people in his school in the US state of Georgia, including two teachers and two students. The deadly attack was the 45th school shooting in the United States this year alone.
While Colt Gray was arrested and will be tried as an adult for the murders, the case has made even bigger headlines because his father, Colin Gray, has also been charged with second-degree murder among other charges.
Authorities say he knowingly allowed his son to have a weapon. He faces up to 180 years in prison if convicted on all the counts. The charges against the father of the shooter has ignited a huge debate about where parental responsibility lies but it is not the first case where parents have been held responsible for a crime committed by their child in America.
In the state of Michigan, James and Jennifer Crumbley were found guilty earlier this year, of involuntary manslaughter and sent to 10 years in jail after their son Ethan, also 14 years old, shot dead 4 of his classmates in 2021.
Pandemic of gun violence
It was the first time that parents were held criminally responsible for a school massacre shooting in the US. Their son had drawn gun and blood on a paper and written “the thoughts won’t stop, help me. My life is useless”.
He later used a gun — his father had just bought — to kill his classmates. The charges against Colin Gray in Georgia are far more severe. And frankly, it’s about time. America has been dealing with a pandemic of gun violence for years now.
Official data shows that this year alone, there have been nearly 400 mass shootings in the US (where 4 or more people have been killed) and over the last few years, these have been on the rise. With the country deeply divided over gun ownership which is protected by the second amendment (the right to bear arms), widespread access to firearms is still a huge problem.
A poll done by Gallup found that 57 per cent of Americans want stricter gun laws while 32 per cent said they should remain the same. The laws on gun ownership also vary from state to state. For example, in California there is a ban on owning assault weapons but states like Virginia and Minnesota have no ban in place.
In Texas, a new law passed in 2021 allows people to carry a handgun without a licence or any training. The NRA or the National Rifle Association is still a powerful gun lobby which pushes back against stricter regulation every time it is spoken about.
An important step
According to a BBC report, the death rate from guns in America is 11.4 times higher than 28 other high income countries while some experts are worried that the move to penalise parents of child shooters could be misused and that a deeper problem should not come under the ambit of criminal law, the fact is America needs to take some tough steps to try and curb gun violence.
In the Georgia case, it is astounding that Colin Gray saw it fit to gift his son a deadly weapon only months after the boy had been questioned by police over online threats to commit a school shooting. Prosecuting parents for the shootings by their child is not the only solution but it could go a long way in making it harder for kids to access weapons.
The move should encourage parents to be far more careful and ensure that they hide the guns away in a secure location. It goes without saying that the larger problem with guns in America requires much stricter background checks, and tougher conditions to get licences.
Michigan has a new law which requires guns to be locked up when minors are present. Prosecuting parents is only one but an important step.
