Lori Falce: The reckless negligence of arguing about school shootings

On Nov. 30, Oxford High School near Detroit was the latest scene of a wholly avoidable tragedy when, authorities say, a 15-year-old boy brought a gun to school, opened fire in a hallway and shot 10 students and a teacher. Three students died that day. Another was gone by morning.

Ethan Crumbley, the shooting suspect, was promptly taken into custody and charged with 24 felonies, including four counts of murder. That is fairly standard in a situation where nothing should be standard at all.

In a less common move, he is not the only one authorities are trying to hold accountable for the terrible actions that unfolded. Crumbley’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, also are charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Those charges come because of factors authorities say contributed to the deadly shooting. They purchased the gun that authorities say their son used in the shooting as a Christmas present on Black Friday. They kept it in an unsecured drawer.

They were also at a school meeting about troubling issues regarding their son — looking up bullets at school, drawing pictures of guns and victims and the words “help me” — and refused to take him home. A short while later, authorities say, that shiny new Christmas present was pulled out, loaded with ammo, and used to end four lives.

Michigan does not have the same laws some states like Pennsylvania do that specifically spell out the responsibility of a gun owner to secure a weapon, particularly from children. Involuntary manslaughter, however, fits the bill. It’s a charge that says you took action that was reckless or negligent that had deadly consequences.

This is the kind of law that wasn’t used after the Columbine shooting. It didn’t happen at Parkland. It couldn’t happen at Sandy Hook; not only did the shooter die, but his mother was his first victim.

Here’s the question: Who else was negligent and reckless?

One could point to the school. One victim’s family is suing for $100 million. There’s definitely an argument to say Ethan Crumbley should have been removed from the building. Why wasn’t his backpack checked for weapons? It does seem the school fell down on the job.

But what about everyone else?

School shootings have been a horrible reality for more than 20 years. Every time, they result in a whirlpool of rhetoric that centers around guns. There is always an ultimately fruitless statement about how this time things will be different. If the murder of 26 people, including 20 first graders, has done nothing in nine years, why would the death of four teenagers change anything?

If people continue to focus on what will not change, we are all negligent. We are all reckless. And in the end, we are all responsible.

There must be other ways to stop our children from being shot at school. There have to be. Do I know what they are? Absolutely not, but I am willing to be part of a conversation because this is too important to neglect.

If addressing gun control is just building a brick wall to drive into at top speed, we must find different solutions because history tells us that if we don’t, Oxford will not be the final tragedy that unfolds like this. It will just be the last one — until the next one.