Yet another shooting thread

[Elixir]

ridiculously lax laws that allow these things to be everywhere.

Well yeah. We can’t very well put lax laws in jail though, can we? It’s just unfortunate. We simply have to live with it. It’s not too bad as long as you’re not real attached to your family and friends.

 

[Gospel]

Criminals in countries with strict gun laws likely have the same desire to obtain guns as those in the U.S., but the critical difference lies in access. In countries with stringent gun control, the availability of firearms is significantly restricted, making it far more difficult for criminals to get their hands on them. In contrast, the U.S. has an abundant supply of legal firearms, which can end up in criminal possession through theft or illegal sales from individuals or businesses that initially obtained them legally.

The majority of firearms in criminal possession originate from legal sources, often through straw purchases, negligent or unscrupulous dealers, and theft from lawful channels.

Your legal firearms is the fucking problem!

 

[ZiprHead]

Georgia school shooting suspect struggled with mental health, aunt says

The 14-year-old arrested after a mass shooting at Georgia’s Apalachee High School had been “begging for months” for mental health help before he allegedly carried out a deadly attack Wednesday, according to an aunt of the suspect.

He “was begging for help from everybody around him,” the aunt, Annie Brown, told The Washington Post. “The adults around him failed him.”

Brown, who lives in Central Florida, declined to elaborate on the teen’s mental health challenges but said she tried from afar to get him help. She said his struggles were exacerbated by a difficult home life. He and his family had “previous contacts” with the local child services department, Chris Hosey, the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said at a news conference Wednesday night.

Brown said that in January, she helped her nephew enroll at Haymon-Morris Middle School in Barrow County so he could finish eighth grade following a period of absenteeism. He had just started ninth grade at Apalachee High this school year, she said.

 

[Gospel]

The U.S. is grappling with a significant mental health crisis, and our gun laws only exacerbate the problem by making firearms easily accessible. This dangerous combination enables individuals struggling with mental health issues to obtain guns. Yet, some reduce the issue to just mental health, ignoring the fact that the victims, like children killed in mass shootings, didn't have a mental health problem- their problem was a fucking gun.

 

[southernhybrid]

I want to know where the kid got that type of gun and if his parents kept their guns locked up after last year’s threat.

 

[Gospel]

Georgia does not have any laws requiring firearms to be securely locked when stored in private homes.

Edit: To my knowledge they don't even have laws in place to encourage parents to secure them from child access.

 

[Gospel]

I'm going to say two scary words. Federal mandate.

 

[southernhybrid]

I just read in the AJC that the boy’s mother had a criminal history going back for 17 years and was given a 5 year prison sentence. Damn Messed up family.

 

[southernhybrid]

Georgia does not have any laws requiring firearms to be securely locked when stored in private homes.

Edit: To my knowledge they don't even have laws in place to encourage parents to secure them from child access.

I know that.

 

[Gospel]

The young Black males often portrayed on social media for their involvement in gun culture typically gain access to firearms that were initially legally owned. There is a obvious disconnect between those who criticize violence in Black communities and the reality of the role loose gun laws play in it.

 

[TomC]

I want to know where the kid got that type of gun and if his parents kept their guns locked up after last year’s threat.

Unless I'm missing something,
Which is all too possible given the unreliability of the first reports on such events,

It looks to me like the shooter probably shouldn't be charged as an adult but the parents should be.
Tom

 

[Elixir]

the shooter probably shouldn't be charged as an adult but the parents should be.

My first thought.

 

[southernhybrid]

I also just

I want to know where the kid got that type of gun and if his parents kept their guns locked up after last year’s threat.

Unless I'm missing something,
Which is all too possible given the unreliability of the first reports on such events,

It looks to me like the shooter probably shouldn't be charged as an adult but the parents should be.
Tom

in Georgia there is no age limit to gun access sadly. I agree that a 14 year old shouldn’t be charged as an adult. The boy’s aunt said the kid has been begging for mental healt help for months. She lives out of state but tried to give him some support. This is an extremely dysfunctional family to say the least. Obviously some people should not have kids. His parents were in the midst of getting a divorce too. The mother usually got probation for her many crimes or time served. Some of her crimes involved violence. This came out in the AJC this afternoon.

 

[Gospel]

Where I’m from, bad parenting is not uncommon, and unfortunately, neither is the easy access to firearms in those households.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I want to know where the kid got that type of gun and if his parents kept their guns locked up after last year’s threat.

Unless I'm missing something,
Which is all too possible given the unreliability of the first reports on such events,

It looks to me like the shooter probably shouldn't be charged as an adult but the parents should be.
Tom

Source of gun is currently unknown or unreported.

 

[TomC]

I want to know where the kid got that type of gun and if his parents kept their guns locked up after last year’s threat.

Unless I'm missing something,
Which is all too possible given the unreliability of the first reports on such events,

It looks to me like the shooter probably shouldn't be charged as an adult but the parents should be.
Tom

Source of gun is currently unknown or unreported.

He's a minor.
His parents should be indicted, as far as I can tell.

They are the adults and they need to explain how things got this way or face the consequences.
Tom

 

[southernhybrid]

I want to know where the kid got that type of gun and if his parents kept their guns locked up after last year’s threat.

Unless I'm missing something,
Which is all too possible given the unreliability of the first reports on such events,

It looks to me like the shooter probably shouldn't be charged as an adult but the parents should be.
Tom

Source of gun is currently unknown or unreported.

He's a minor.
His parents should be indicted, as far as I can tell.

They are the adults and they need to explain how things got this way or face the consequences.
Tom

I'm not saying they shouldn't, but I'm not sure based on what I just read about Georgia gun laws, that they will be prosecuted.

it's not clear if the laws will prevent the parents from being prosecuted, but the gun laws in Ga. are insane and much worse since Kemp made obtaining gun legally even easier. I just read that the kid's dad did own a gun like the one used in the shooting, so maybe I can find some more information to post soon. ( busy afternoon, sorry about not updating all of this mess ) Read the entire article. It's not behind a paywall.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/...e_code=1.IU4.4wCf.IyG5mYteE-E-&smid=url-share

When Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law in 2022 that allowed most Georgia residents to carry a firearm without a concealed carry permit, he celebrated the expansion of gun rights in the state.

The law “makes sure that law abiding Georgians — including our daughters and your family, too — can protect themselves without having to ask permission from state government,” he said at the time.

Republicans in control of state government have steadily loosened restrictions on firearm ownership in recent years. The state does not have universal background checks for gun purchases, safe storage laws or a so-called red-flag law — measures that have been instituted elsewhere in the nation in response to gun violence.

It remains unclear how the 14-year-old suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting obtained the weapon, which the police have described as an AR-platform-style weapon.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I want to know where the kid got that type of gun and if his parents kept their guns locked up after last year’s threat.

Unless I'm missing something,
Which is all too possible given the unreliability of the first reports on such events,

It looks to me like the shooter probably shouldn't be charged as an adult but the parents should be.
Tom

Source of gun is currently unknown or unreported.

He's a minor.
His parents should be indicted, as far as I can tell.

If you've got a source that indicates the weapon is from home, it'd be great for you to share it.

They are the adults and they need to explain how things got this way or face the consequences.
Tom

What does "got this way" mean?

 

[southernhybrid]

This one is behind a pay wall, but I'll quote from it.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/09/05/us/georgia-school-shooting

New details emerged Thursday as investigators continued to examine the life of a 14-year-old student accused of opening fire in his Georgia high school. Documentation obtained by The New York Times shows that, in 2022, the boy’s father owned the type of military-style rifle that officials say was used in the deadly attack.

Police also found recent evidence that the suspect was interested in mass shootings, particularly the 2018 massacre at a high school in Parkland, Fla., according to two law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. The teen is now accused of killing two students and two teachers — the deadliest school shooting in Georgia history.

There were also questions about potentially missed opportunities to prevent the attack. Sheriff’s officers had interviewed the teenager more than a year ago about online school shooting threats, but found no definitive evidence that the boy had posted the messages, according to an investigative report obtained by The Times.

His father told an investigator at the time that he was teaching the teen about hunting to get him away from video games. “He knows the seriousness of weapons and what they can do, and how to use them and not use them,” the father told a Jackson County investigator in May 2023, according to a transcript obtained by The Times.

Here’s what else to know:

• The victims: Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14-year-old students, were killed in the hail of gunfire, along with Christina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall, who were teachers, state officials said. The nine other people in hospitals with injuries were all expected to survive. Read more about the victims.
• The suspect: Officials said the suspect, identified as Colt Gray, 14, would be charged with murder and prosecuted as an adult. The shooter had used an “AR-platform-style weapon,” officials said. Records from a 2022 eviction obtained by The Times show that the suspect’s father owned a black AR-15. It was later returned to him.
• The investigation: Police found evidence of the suspect’s interest in mass shootings during a search of his room on Wednesday, according to the two law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. The 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida that drew his particular interest left 17 people dead.
• Previous encounter: When interviewed by sheriff’s officers last year, Mr. Gray his son did not have “unfettered” access to his guns, according to the investigative report obtained by The Times. But the authorities alerted local schools, officials said. Read more details about the prior investigation.

 

[southernhybrid]

So, according to the article in my last post, the father owned the type of gun used, but it's not yet determined if that was the gun the boy used. It probably is, as while it is legal for a kid to have access to a gun at any age, it's not legal for a kid that age to buy a gun. Our gun laws in Georgia are among the most fucked up thanks to Brian Kemp and the Republican Party. I guess there was no good guy with a gun to stop the messed up kid with a gun.

Btw, there was a shooting by an 11 year old, who will also be charged as an adult. He shot an 82 year old man and the man's daughter. It was in a different state, I think. I will see if I can find it.