It's Always About The Gun: Pt. 32,456
A 6-year-old shooting his teacher is the most American of tragedies ... it's also easily preventable.
I’m Michael A. Cohen, and this is Truth and Consequences: A no-holds-barred look at the absurdities, hypocrisies, and surreality of American politics. If you were sent this email or are a free subscriber and would like to subscribe, you can sign up here.
Last week, a 6-year-old first grader brought a loaded handgun to school and shot his teacher in the hand and chest. The teacher was seriously wounded but is expected to survive (you can read about her courageous effort to protect her students before seeking help for her injuries).
The overwhelming response to this latest American gun outrage has been one of bewilderment that such an event could occur. But there’s been another, more traditional reaction.
Police say a 6-year-old student shot his teacher at a Virginia elementary school on Friday, and authorities face a difficult and uncomfortable question: How should they prosecute a crime committed by a first-grader? (bold added)
The investigation is ongoing into the shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va., but police have not wavered in their determination that the attack was deliberate.
"She was providing instruction. He displayed a firearm. He pointed it, and he fired one round," Steve Drew, the city's police chief, said in a Monday press conference. "This shooting was not accidental. It was intentional." (bold added)
I don’t even know where to begin with this, but there is something unbearably depressing in believing (or even thinking about ways) that a 6-year-old should be prosecuted. It’s even more astonishing that anyone could think a 6-year-old could form criminal intent. Indeed, children that young are not prosecuted under a legal doctrine known as the "infancy defense," which holds that young children lack the intellectual capacity to be judged competent. As the father of two children who were once six years old, my response is, “no shit.”
But as is often the case when tragic incidents like this occur, we downplay the singular factor that makes gun violence so ubiquitous in American society — the gun.
Protect Thy Child
To be sure, this is a horrible tragedy on a host of levels. First and quite obviously, for the teacher who was wounded. Second, for her students who have experienced a profoundly traumatic event. But it is also a tragedy for the child who shot her. He, too, is a victim. Indeed, one thing the Newport News police get right about this incident is that it’s not an accident. A parent failed this 6-year-old by allowing him to get access to a loaded firearm. If a child were to accidentally drink poison because a parent left it in a place where they could get their hands on it, no one would think to blame the child. The parents would be held responsible. This situation is no different.
This 6-year-olds’ parents are supposed to protect him — and failed to do so in such a way that endangered their child and others. If there is anyone who should be charged with a crime here, it’s the parents. But that will not be so easy.
In Virginia, it is a misdemeanor to "recklessly leave a loaded, unsecured firearm" where it could cause injury to a child under the age of 14. The victim here is 25, so the law's applicability is unclear. Virginia has increased the penalty for allowing children to access a loaded firearm from a Class 3 misdemeanor to a Class 1 misdemeanor (though it is still not a felony). However, according to the Giffords Law Center, “Virginia has no laws that require unattended firearms to be stored in a certain way. Virginia also does not require a locking device to accompany the sale of a firearm, and no state statutes require firearm owners to affirmatively lock their weapons.” This is a true national crisis and states are not doing nearly enough to address the issue. Indeed, in Virginia, gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children. This is also true nationwide, as gun violence is now the number one cause of death for kids between the age of 1 and 19.
Today, an estimated 4.6 million children live in homes with at least one loaded and unsecured handgun. Yet, only 23 states and the District of Columbia have laws requiring adults to secure firearms and prevent children from accessing them. Of course, as we’ve seen repeatedly, unsecured firearms are often the way that children secure weapons for school shootings, including children in elementary school. Indeed, as the Washington Post reported today, the incident in Virginia is not the first time that a child as young as six has brought a loaded weapon to school and fired it.
There are relatively straightforward legislative solutions to this issue. For example, stronger firearm storage laws that require gun owners with children in their home to secure weapons in a gun safe or use gun safety locks. Also, tougher child access prevention laws that would provide for severe criminal liability if a minor gets access to a gun. Parents need to be held criminally responsible when a child gets access to a gun. These incidents are never accidents. They are examples of criminal neglect. And these laws work. According to one study by the gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, “households that locked both firearms and ammunition were associated with a 78 percent lower risk of self-inflicted firearm injuries and an 85 percent lower risk of unintentional firearm injuries among children and teens, compared to those that locked neither.” Millions have been spent warning Americans about the dangers of smoking. Why not a public education campaign to warn about the hazards of keeping an unsecured and loaded weapon in a home with children?
I am not naive enough to believe that America can ever eradicate gun violence, but what reason is there not to do everything we can to protect children, especially when we know the ways to do it? This should be the low-hanging fruit of gun control regulation. Of course, we all know the answer. Indeed, it speaks volumes about the hold that the cult of gun ownership and the second amendment has over American society that anybody would consider these legislative solutions controversial. It says even more that when tragedies like the one in Virginia happens we look for solutions other than the obvious one — greater regulations on gun ownership. As long as we treat these incidents like accidents and think more about punishing children than deterring future tragedies, they are going to keep happening.
A Couple of TV and Film Recommendations
Over the holiday break, I caught up on some TV watching, and I have a few recommendations. I loved the first season of “Slow Horses,” but the second one left me cold … and confused. Too little Gary Oldman and too much of a plot that didn’t make a lick of sense. It wasn’t bad TV and the season was only six episodes long, but I’m not sure it’s worth your time. A friend recommended Apple TV’s “Bad Sisters,” and I loved it. Claes Bang has one of the all-time great “world-class prick” roles, and Sharon Horgan of “Catastrophe” is always worth watching. But what made this show outstanding — aside from the awesome Irish accents — was the humor and unbreakable familial bonds between the five sisters who plot Bang’s demise. Don’t worry; I’m not giving anything away. We find out he’s dead in the show’s opening scene. It’s how he met his timely end (and all the ways he doesn’t) that keeps your attention.
I recently started watching the Italian crime drama “Gomorrah,” and while it’s a gut punch of a show, it’s absolutely riveting and also serves as a compelling reminder that crime does not pay. It’s not for the faint of heart, but so far, I’ve found it completely engrossing … and I’m learning some Italian along the way. Finally, my oldest daughter is really into mysteries and thrillers, so I’ve been trying to think of some good ones we can watch together (she loves Hitchcock, especially “Rear Window”). So the other night, I re-watched “The Day of the Jackal,” and man is that a great film (the original, not the remake). I still have to decide if it’s appropriate for an 11-year-old, but for the rest of you, it’s a taut, well-constructed, beautifully paced, and edge-of-your-seat thriller. It’s 70s cinema at its finest!
What’s Going On
We have a new George Santos lie: he claimed he led Baruch College, which he didn’t attend, to a league championship in volleyball.
Also, the Republican officials in Long Island, New York, called on Santos to resign. He said he won’t … but we’ll see how long that declaration lasts.
I was not close friends with Blake Hounshell. We interacted over the years. He edited a few of my pieces and once generously sent me a list of Pittsburgh eating recommendations when I took a trip there. But the outpouring of love and appreciation since his tragic suicide this week speaks volumes about who he was as a person. He will be deeply missed. Read Garrett Graff’s beautiful obituary.
Maybe Jon Tester will win reelection in 2024.
Perennially ranked as the best restaurant in the world, Copenhagen’s Noma is closing its doors at the end of 2024. I was lucky enough to eat there about 15 years ago, and it was easily one of the best meals of my life.
Musical Interlude