Prosecutors in the recent Michigan school shooting by a 15-year-old student that left four dead also have filed manslaughter charges against the shooter’s parents, whose gun he used. This should become standard practice for school shooting cases when the young shooters are only armed because of their parents’ carelessness.
The uniquely modern, uniquely American phenomenon of mass school shootings is undoubtedly tied to the proliferation of guns and the loosening of gun restrictions that has happened throughout the U.S. in the past few decades. Tragedies like the one that played out in Michigan on Tuesday would have been unthinkable in America a few generations ago. It’s still unthinkable today in most of the advanced world — which, unlike the U.S., generally enforces reasonable national gun policies.
Among the few firearms restrictions still in place everywhere in America today is the requirement that most minors cannot legally have access to most guns. The youth age limit varies by state, and there are exceptions regarding hunting in the presence of adults. But generally, the premise that guns don’t belong in the hands of kids is among the few points of universal agreement today.
