Apalachee School Shooting
On September 4th, 2024 a mass school shooting occurred at Apalachee High School. Eleven people were shot and four people (2 teachers and 2 students) were killed. To date, we are just about a month out from this tragedy and the final analysis is not complete, but I think it is important to read the synopsis of the event HERE. The perception shared in the media and the Wikipedia link indicates that “hunting”, “bad parenting” and “lax gun laws” are to blame for this incident. In fact, shortly after the incident the father was arrested for buying an “assault rifle” for his son, It may be easy to blame the father because despite the red flags from the FBI interview, he still bought a gun for his son. That may be shocking to many in the United States, but how many fathers here in the south have bought their kids a new hunting gun as a present? While the overwhelming majority of kids who have access to firearms will never commit a crime of this nature, it may be time to rethink our approach to firearms safety.
As a Gen Xer and a child of the 70’s I can remember my dad keeping a handgun hid under his pillow or in the nightstand beside the bed. It was also common for us to ride around in cars without seatbelts or car seats. Today, it is not only against the law, but responsible parents make sure their kids are buckled up now. Today, there are so many good quick access safes available in the marketplace, that there really isn’t any excuse. I have multiple quick access safes in my home and I can put my hands on a firearm faster than those who attempt to hide a gun in a closet or nightstand. If you have older kids in the home that are trained on how to use a firearm, then they can also learn how to get into the quick access safe. If at some point you become concerned about how your child is acting, you can simply change the access codes until you are sure there are no issues.
This is the second time that parents have been held accountable for the actions of their kids when it came to a mass shooting, but I don’t think this will be the last. I expect these type of parental prosecutions will grow exponentially as a means to demonize gun owners and attack our right to keep and bear arms. Safe firearms storage is a small price to pay to potentially protect the kids in our community and help ensure we protect the future of our 2nd amendment.
