Colin Gray, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) said.
According to CNN the Christmas gift timeline is significant because this was after police had talked to the parents about the kid making online threats to do a school shooting.
They knew and they gave him a gun anyway.
Not that the police helped the matter in any way. They excused the guns in the house and told the dad to “keep him away from the video games” like we’re back in the damn 80s again.
They didn’t but the parents still have a duty.
Just to be clear, it’s only the father. The mother didn’t have custody is my understanding.
Devil’s advocate here and please inform me if I’m missing something here, but:
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If agents visited and could do literally nothing about the kid saying these things, then walked away.
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And no actual legal restrictions were placed upon the father or son…
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… How is the father culpable for that which even police could not address?
Doesn’t this mean the law needs changed so that preventative action can occur instead of looking for a scapegoat?
That is: If this was such a red flag on hindsight, then why the fuck wasn’t it a red flag then and why aren’t the police who ultimately did nothing being arrested for homicide?
Speaking as someone who has no problem advocating for a national firearm ban along other measures, this feels like scapegoating without actually addressing the core reasons why this shit happens in the first place.
It was the reddest of flags. Georgia does not have laws that allow them to take action for red flags.
The kid didn’t even beat his wife, which is usually the accepted standard if they did have red flag laws.
There just seems to be some incongruity with the fact that he was completely legally allowed to own a gun and without any evidence of being an accomplice to the actual crime the parent is held culpable for what his son did even after cops “paid him a visit,” which means absolutely nothing… Oh, and the son is being tried as an adult. There are just several disconnects here that I’m not comfortable with.
Like, I’m curious… If he took a steak knife that was bought by his father and left in the kitchen drawer and used that on classmates, would the father still be considered an accomplice? I seriously doubt it.
I want to be pissed off, too. But I want to both have the law actually make sense and get to the root of the fucking problem, too. Maybe we should actually look at why there is rising adolescent suicidal and homicidal ideation…? Arrest the cops for consistency sake? Create the red flag law, or you know, ban the selling or ownership of the gun in the first place that is for all intents unnecessary?
Edit: lots of down-votes but not much in way of a response. Don’t be shy, what do you take issue with?
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Fair points and thanks for the discussion. I had to dig through a couple articles to actually find that it seems that it was indeed illegal for his father to give him that firearm in the state of Georgia unless he adhered to certain exceptions for hunting and what not — which it doesn’t look like that was the case. That certainly changes things.
There’s enough handcuffs to go around. The US isn’t in short supply there.
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I agree with holding the parents accountable. If your dog mauls someone you are liable. The son should also be charged, but he didn’t wind up like this in a vacuum.
And at 14 years old, he sure as shit did not stroll into his local gun store and fill out that form 4473. That was his dad’s gun, which his dad provided unsupervised access to.
Which was not a smart fucking move.
Can we go out on a limb and say the father is even being sort of abusive here? I mean… Here’s a very dangerous thing that can cause people to die. Go have fun.
I get it isn’t that simple but… I have a kid. I also have guns. My kid wants to learn to shoot one day.
There’s a big heavy door, and a lock. No way for my kid to access them without me. No access.
There’s criticizing another’s parenting choices, and then there’s abuse and I am starting to think this is abusive.
But also you’d probably react differently if the police showed up to your house because your kid made threats about shooting people. Like you wouldn’t then go buy them a gun for Christmas, regardless of how well you stored it.
Abuse doesn’t really jump out to me, more like denial.
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Investigators believe that Gray received the AR-style gun used in the shooting as a Christmas present from his father, according to sources.
Fuck this guy.
Jailtime: The shared legacy of the Gray Family.
They’re all guilty of this.
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Don’t use shooter names :(
Bring back the stockade for shit like this.
