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Earlier this month, Georgia officials charged the father of the suspected Apalachee High School shooter with two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter, and eight counts of cruelty to children. This comes five months after a Michigan judge sentenced the parents of another school shooter to at least 10 years in prison related to their son's deadly rampage.
Holding parents culpable is a prosecution trend likely to become more widely adopted, and according to RAND's Andrew Morral, it is a sensible strategy. If it leads more parents to rethink giving their children unsupervised access to firearms, then it could deter some school shootings or other gun violence.
But prosecuting parents is likely to be used only after preventable tragedies have occurred. Enacting and enforcing strong child-access prevention laws, however, can preempt such tragedies by addressing the root issue: access to firearms.
As part of the RAND Gun Policy in America initiative, Morral and colleagues have reviewed all available research studies on the effects of child-access prevention laws. They found “supportive evidence,” the study's highest evidence rating, that these laws reduce firearm suicides and homicides among young people. This suggests that implementing and enforcing child-access laws may be a critical step in preventing firearm access that could lead to tragic outcomes.
“Preventing youth access to firearms is not just a hopeful strategy,” Morral says. “It is a proven, data-driven approach that can save lives. It should be a priority for policymakers nationwide.”
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