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Access to guns by minors is one issue that's a problem. Minors need close adult supervision when around, using, target practicing, or hunting with any firearm. They just do. It doesn't matter that back in 1960 kids could be trusted with guns.
In 2022 they cannot and should not be.
Parents tend to be less hands-on with teens. There are many more influences in a minor's life than 50 years ago. Things have evolved and are different.
Keeping kids safe is a parent's most important responsibility. Keeping everyone safer by securely locking up any and all weapons and ammunition, using the best tools, safes, technology, whatever so that no minor (nor anyone else for that matter) can get their hands on said weapons or ammunition is vital. Not allowing any minor to own or possess any firearm is a smart thing to do, no matter what anyone may argue.
I can agree with everything you said except the bolded. Parents in the 60's 70's and 80's were clueless about what we did all day. They weren't involved in our homework, or education, they didn't even know where in town we were. We ran all over the place and in those days at the age of 16 you could go hunting without any adult supervision. Parents in those days in my experience were pretty hands-off as we became families with two working parents.
However, I agree with everything else.... today something is clearly different and broken. Especially for inner-city urban youth and young men. The level of murder rate is the equivalent of "mass shootings" on a weekend in large cities, but no one talks about that, unfortunately. Simply taking guns away or passing yet another law won't change that. Maybe locking up all of the inner city fathers for decades via the "Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994" for the smallest of crimes is the core of that problem. Removing fathers from the family on a mass scale would have to have some sort of impact I would think. I don't know. But clearly, the problem is cultural and deep. I have no answers.
I can agree with everything you said except the bolded. Parents in the 60's 70's and 80's were clueless about what we did all day. They weren't involved in our homework, or education, they didn't even know where in town we were. We ran all over the place and in those days at the age of 16 you could go hunting without any adult supervision. Parents in those days in my experience were pretty hands-off as we became families with two working parents.
However, I agree with everything else.... today something is clearly different and broken.
Your parents were, possibly many other parents too.
But certainly not ALL parents were. In the late 60s and 70s I was a child and my parents knew where I was, where I was going in general, ditto my brother, ditto my friends and their friends. If I went to a friend's house, my parents knew. Yes, some kids did go wander off and there were parents who probably didn't know where they were. Trust was built over time.
But the topic is about guns and kids.
- Who here thinks it's a good idea to *not* secure firearms and ammunition at home?
- Who here would be fine with their kids (or someone else's kids) finding a loaded gun at your or someone else's home?
- Who here thinks it was no big deal that the 15 year old kid in Hedingham had or got a hold of 2 firearms (shotgun + some other gun)?
If it's more than 1 or 2 people I'll be surprised.
Last edited by lottamoxie; 10-20-2022 at 11:24 AM..
It seems guns just don't fit into our society now. It's not the 1700s anymore. It's not even the world we knew a few decades ago. Things change and to be a successful society, we're going to need to adapt. Our gun laws are proving to be totally outdated at this point, and things aren't going to get better until we address that. We're not going to go back to the good ol' days and that's a good thing in many ways. The sooner we accept that and start thinking about the best way forward, the better.
We should start by banning minors from being able to possess guns. There is no good reason why a 15 yo should be allowed to gain access to any type of gun. Not even for hunting.
Raleigh PD released their 5-day Preliminary report
{brief snippet}
"The report states Austin Thompson, the suspect in the mass shooting, shot and stabbed his brother James Thompson before killing four others in the Hedingham neighborhood. Thompson was found with a shotgun, a handgun, a large hunting knife and several types of ammunition, according to the report."
My random theory from the 5-day report is that the brother might have got wind that his brother was up to something (maybe he was planning a school shooting - who knows?) and confronted him about it which led to the stabbing and then the random attack that followed
I wonder what time the Mom found her son in the bathroom and if there was a 911 call. WRAL had a list of the 911 calls but so far no one has said if one of those was the Mother. If I came home and found one of my sons shot/stabbed there would be a 911 call. I would also be frantic not knowing where my other child was and if he was safe. So it will be interesting to know if there was a call and if so what information was provided.
There were some other communications that came through that night that make you wonder about some other things but since this platform does not allow you to delete posts I am not comfortable sharing. It's not anything "BIG" but hopefully they will have a more detailed timeline of events including when and where the parents were (including Dad) and how that all unfolded.
And of course the most important question is how he got the guns. It will be interesting to see if the Reddit posts are accurate.
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