Two different juries in Michigan convicted the parents of a school shooter. James and Jennifer Crumbley were both found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison. Their son Ethan murdered four other students and wounded several others and a teacher at Oxford High School in Oxford, Michigan.
James purchased the firearm for his son on Black Friday, four days before the shooting. The next day, Jennifer took her son to the firing range for target practice. “Mom & son day testing out his new Xmas present,” she wrote afterward on social media. The parents failed to properly secure the firearm, as James Crumbley hid it in their bedroom but did not use any locking device, the prosecution argued.
In addition, the trials focused on a pivotal meeting between school employees, Ethan and his parents on the morning of the shooting. Ethan had been called into the school office after he made disturbing writings on a math worksheet, including the phrases “blood everywhere” and “my life is useless” and drawings of a gun and bullet.
The school employees recommended the parents immediately take him out of class and get him mental health treatment, but they declined to do so, saying they had work. The Crumbleys also did not mention to the school the recent gun purchase. Afterward, Ethan was sent back to class. About two hours later, he took the gun out of his backpack and opened fire at the school.
This was apparently the first time that parents have been held accountable for their child’s crimes.
Do you approve? I do.
Do you think other parents might be more responsible in the future? I wish so but I doubt it. I recall that the mother of the Sandy Hook murderer bought him an AR-15, took him to target practice to teach him how to use it. He was mentally ill. She was the first one he killed on the day of the massacre. He shot her in the face while she was still in bed. He then went to Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 26 people, including 20 children, ages 6 and 7, and six staff members.
Nonetheless, parent accountability for the crimes of their minor children is a step forward. In a sane country, access to deadly weapons would be restricted. In most of this country, there are no limits on buying and carrying guns, thanks to the Republican Party and the Supreme Court, the NRA and the Federalist Society.
Human life is cheap in a fun-loving society.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
#2 below – parents are responsible
# 3, #4 and DEFINITELY #5 below - school has responsibility, as well
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Missouri,
Agreed. Why did no one search the backpack of this young man? Why didn’t the school insist that he be sent one, regardless of parental inconvenience. Now they will be inconvenienced for 15 years. And four families have lost children.
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By providing the weapon that the underage minor uses in shooting up his school, the parents are, responsible, even if they weren’t the ones, firing into the, school, and, parents should be charged with, AT LEAST, manslaughter.
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They were. And convicted. And going to prison.
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https://www.npr.org/2022/02/04/1078430544/waffle-house-shooter-found-guilty-on-4-counts-of-murder
in Nashville in 2018, a guy shot up a Waffle House with a rifle. The above tells of his trial. He was in possession of the firearm despite the red flag law in Illinois where his father failed to take his unstable mental condition into account, returning his confiscated weapon.
We are all responsible to help care for the mentally incompetent. Only a few people I have ever met are actually capable of owning great power conferred on them by the possession of firearms, cars, tractors, and large sums of money.
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The state just indicted the assistant principal at the Virginia school where a first grader shot his teacher.
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If not for the birth of Ethan, he wouldn’t exist to kill. If not for the birth of Ron Cohen, the 2004 CEO of SIGARMS, that saved the company from failure, by adding AR-15 style rifles to their product line, a SIG Sauer 9MM wouldn’t exist. If not for the birth of parents, that are powerless to control the thoughts and actions of others, the outcome could be different. If not for the birth of people, that can ignore the concepts expressed by Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, the crisis will continue.
“This case is not a statement about guns. It’s not a statement about parental responsibility. It’s not a case about kids doing kid things,”
“And we will not be able to address it until we start treating it like a public health crisis,” McDonald said. “And yes, access to guns is a critical piece of that. But it’s not the only piece.” KM
Putting a fence around an apple tree won’t change the fruit. In most cases the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree..
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If parents are going to have guns in the home, they should be required to keep them in a lock box or safe under a penalty of law. With rights responsibilities should follow. No sane parent should buy a gun for a young person with a history of mental or substance abuse problems.
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in Utah, there is no longer a mandatory school attendance law. Parents can (and do) excuse their child for any (or no) reason. As a result, 31% of my current students have missed at least 10% times f this semester. There is no accountability. What happens when all of these students are adults 9? Parents HAVE to be responsible.
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It’s gotten so bad in the U.S. that 7 other countries have issued warnings. This is a gun-happy country that doesn’t care how many people or children die.
These countries have issued travel advisories for their citizens towards the United States
UPDATED MAY 01, 2023
Travel Noire revealed why New Zealand, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Venezuela and Uruguay encourage their citizens to stay diligent when visiting America.
NEW ZEALAND New Zealand’s current travel advisory level for the U.S. is a 2 out of 4, meaning travelers are advised to exercise increased caution. Travel Noire states that, “New Zealand’s government attributes the rating to the threat of terrorism. The U.S. remains a target of terrorist interest from both international terror groups and domestic-based extremists.” New Zealand warns that individuals or groups may target the U.S. through terroristic acts in areas where tourists frequent.
CANADA The Canadian government mentions the high rate of firearm possession in the U.S. and that it is “legal in many states for citizens to openly carry firearms in public.” Due to increased mass shootings, Canada advises tourists to “familiarize themselves with how to respond to an active shooter situation.” Canada’s travel advisories also detail and warn residents about possible criminal incidents at the U.S.-Mexico border.
AUSTRALIA Australia’s travel warning has the U.S. classified at a level 1, instructing travelers to exercise standard safety precautions. However, like Canada, Australia does warn citizens that violent and gun-related crimes are more common in the U.S. The country also lists the possibility of an impending terrorist attack.
UNITED KINGDOM The U.K. government advises its residents to stay vigilant when traveling to the States. They list possible occurrences of mass shootings and terrorist attacks, but claim those are rare occurrences with tourists. They suggest individuals read the guidance on responding to an active shooter.
FRANCE The United States is considered one of the safest countries in the world, according to France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They do point out certain urban cities that pose potential threats, such as carjacking, theft and walking alone at night. “The ministry provides a breakdown of potential threats in neighborhoods in major U.S. cities, such as Boston, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.”
VENEZUELA & URUGUAY South American countries, Venezuela and Uruguay, have had travel warnings issued against the U.S. since 2019. The “proliferation of acts of violence and indiscriminate hate crimes,” was the reason that Venezuela recommended citizens postpone travel to the U.S. Uruguay’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged travelers to take extreme precautions against the same hate crimes and increased firearm violence.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/detour/article274840151.html#storylink=cpy
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