Police arrested a 13-year-old student for bringing a loaded gun to Jackson Middle School.The eighth-grader brought the gun to campus on Thursday and showed a friend, police said.
The friend told his parents and the friend’s mother reported what she heard to school administrators on Friday, according to police.
The gun, which belonged to the student’s uncle, was found in the boy’s locker during a search on Friday, a school spokesman said.
The boy told a police officer that he brought the gun to school so he could defend a friend who was supposed to get in a fight, police said.
The student will be attending alternative campuses for the next 180 days and will not be returning to Jackson Middle School, said Sam Buchmeyer, school district spokesman.
The student faces a charge of bringing a weapon into a prohibited place, said Det. John Brimmer, police spokesman.
It was not clear on Tuesday whether the student was still being detained in a juvenile facility or whether he had been released to his parents, according to authorities.
I say arrest the uncle, arrest the father and maybe the whole family. The charge should be child abuse. We're not talking about a 13-year-old gang member from Baltimore. We're talking about a typical kid in Texas whose upbringing has led him to this: when there's a problem you borrow uncle's gun as the solution. What if legitimate gun owners start taking responsibility for the faulty message they transmit to their kids, guns are the answer, meet violence or the threat thereof with greater and swifter violence.
This boy is a good example. He's absorbed the lesson well. His friend was scheduled for a fist-fight, so he brings a gun along. Something's very wrong with that, and I don't think he's completely to blame.
What's your opinion? I don't deny the boy should be punished in some way for having taken the gun to school, but do you think this is a case of shared responsibility? Do you think the uncle and other family members share in this?
Please leave a comment.
We're not talking about a 13-year-old gang member from Baltimore. We're talking about a typical kid in Texas whose upbringing has led him to this: when there's a problem you borrow uncle's gun as the solution.
ReplyDeleteNice reading into the story. Because gang members only live in Baltimore, everyone knows there are no gangs in Texas. Besides, there is nothing typical about a 13 year old bringing a gun to school anymore (oddly enough, 40-50 years ago, this would be normal, and they wouldn't bring low powered handguns, they had their high powered "sniper" rifles). Besides, why stop with just arresting the family. Why not the school officials? After all, this kid spent 8 hours a day five days a week in school and those officials weren't able to raise him right. And the family doctor, because he didn't pry enough into the family's life to know that this troubled teen was packing heat. Might as well arrest the government officials who demanded that school be a no weapons zone, but then didn't provide any means of enforcing the law (metal detectors, strip searches, etc.). You might as well arrest me too, since I lived in Texas once, so obviously it is my fault.
Before you blow your top why don't you find out some facts (which the story is very light on).
1) Was this a gang member (afterall, his friend was "scheduled" for a fist fight and since he brought the gun to defend his friend, it sounds like it might have turned into a rumble/gang war)?
2) Did his uncle give him the gun (i.e. was the uncle a gang member that supplied the gun to him to help him out or was the uncle clueless about the whole thing)?
3) Do gun owners send the message to their kids that "guns are the answer" or is this a message that is perpetrated by the gang/rap/hollywood culture?
So, do the parents/uncle/family share in this. Only if they are the ones that were supplying the gun to the kid (I know in some states it is illegal for kids under 14 to have possession of a handgun even under the supervision of a parent).
MikeB,
ReplyDeleteYou might want to get your facts straight before you talk about things.
It's a minor quibble but it will improve your credibility IMMENSELY.
The name of the town is Grand Prairie.
Not Prairie Springs.
It says so in the Headline for the Article.
It says so in the first line of the article.
I know for a fact that the Startlegram got it right because it is my home town. I went to High School that is right next to Jackson Middle School. My younger brother went there.
Get your facts start.
By the way, you might want to learn a little more about the town before you start running your mouth off, such as if they have a gang problem (they do).
Reputo handled the other comments I was going to make.
Thanks a lot Bob. Error noted and corrected.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, this points to a societal issue. 50 years ago, kids would bring their guns to go hunting after school. They still had fist fights, but no one thought it would be acceptable to use any of those rifles around. Unfortunately, you can't legislate attitudes like this.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we need more movies, TV shows, and games that focus on the after effects of guns rather than glamorizing them. Show shooters facing criminal charges and doing time. Show the pain and suffering as one of his targets goes through recovery and rehabilitation. Visit the funeral of others. Not just some 007 blasting away at adversaries with no repercussions.
As for arresting everyone in sight...I think you're a little overzealous there without more facts. Arrest the father? Was he involved somehow? Or was the 'crime' you'd have him arrested for simply not knowing that his child stopped by his wife's brother's house on the way to school?
Fortunately, in this country you're presumed innocent until guilty. I hope they DO figure out who was to blame for this and DO arrest and charge them. But I'm also glad that you're not in any position of actual power, because (according to the theory that any discussion around long enough will resort to Nazi references), you're 'Arrest everyone who might be involved' attitude is quite Gestapo-worthy.
MikeB,
ReplyDeleteThanks for correcting such an obvious error.
Now will you address Reputo's points or are you going to ignore anything that disagrees with what you say?
cj said, "As for arresting everyone in sight...I think you're a little overzealous there without more facts."
ReplyDeleteI hope you realize that I was exaggerating in order to emphasize the point that I blame the parents. I think this applies to criminals even in their 20s and 30s also, but when we're talking teenagers it's especially apparent.
So Criminals in their 20's and 30s are not responsible for their own actions?
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell is wrong with you MikeB?