In the Illinois case, Robert Crimo Jr. pleaded guilty to seven counts of misdemeanor reckless conduct for sponsoring his son’s gun ownership application, allowing him access to the firearms he used in last year’s massacre in Highland Park. Mr. Crimo signed the forms despite allegedly knowing that his son had threatened a mass shooting and previously attempted suicide. When police visited their house three years earlier, Mr. Crimo told them this son’s knives belonged to him. If he hadn’t lied, Illinois State Police say that might have triggered a red-flag law. Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said he hopes this case “laid down a beacon” for prosecutors elsewhere to follow after future mass shootings.
In Newport News, Va., the child who shot teacher Abigail Zwerner will not be charged because of his age. But 26-year-old Deja Taylor has pleaded guilty in state court to felony child neglect and in federal court to lying on a background check about her marijuana use while purchasing the handgun her son used. The boy told investigators he took the 9mm Taurus from her purse. Prosecutors said the gun was not secured with a trigger lock and was regularly stored on the dresser.
The biggest test yet of this emerging legal strategy is happening in Michigan. Two years ago, Ethan Crumbley killed four and wounded seven others at Oxford High School. His parents will soon go on trial, separately, on charges of involuntary manslaughter. This would be the first time a parent has been convicted of a homicide offense in connection with their child’s mass shooting.
James Crumbley allegedly took his son to buy a handgun as an early Christmas gift. On Nov. 29, a teacher saw Ethan searching on his cellphone for information about ammunition. The school called Jennifer Crumbley, but the mother didn’t call back. Instead, she texted her son: “LOL I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught.” A teacher later noticed Ethan had drawn a sketch of a gun, a shooting victim and a laughing emoji on a math worksheet. His parents were called in for an emergency meeting and told that he needed to see a mental health counselor, but they allegedly resisted, said they needed to go to work and left him at school. When news of the shooting spread that afternoon, Jennifer texted her son: “Ethan, don’t do it.” It was too late.
To prevail, prosecutors must prove that their “gross negligence caused the death of another.” Both adults pleaded not guilty, but Michigan’s Court of Appeals ruled this spring that there’s sufficient evidence to take the case to trial, and the state Supreme Court denied an appeal.
A Post review in 2018 of 145 school shootings committed by juveniles in the two decades after the Columbine massacre found that the weapon’s source had been publicly identified in 105 cases. The guns used were taken from their own homes or those of relatives or friends 80 percent of the time. But the adult owners of the weapons faced criminal charges in just four cases.
Federal law does not criminalize leaving an unattended gun accessible to a minor, but states are moving to fill the void. This spring, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed legislation requiring gun owners to keep unloaded firearms in a locked storage box or container when it is “reasonably known that a minor is or is likely to be present.” According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, D.C. and 26 states, including Maryland and Virginia, now have some kind of child access prevention or safe storage law, though they vary widely.
An estimated 4.6 million children live in homes with loaded and unlocked guns. Gunshot wounds remain the leading cause of childhood death. Better securing guns is one of the easiest ways to reduce violence.
In a country with a proud hunting tradition, there’s nothing wrong with teenagers learning how to properly handle guns. Moreover, adults shouldn’t be imprisoned merely for being bad parents or struggling to raise children with mental health issues. But recklessly enabling kids to commit mass shootings should make adults accessories to the crime.
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