A Tale of Two School Shootings: Parental Accountability and the Secure Storage of Firearms
Recently, two school mass shootings by students, in Michigan in 2021 and in Georgia in 2024, have resulted in prison sentences for the shooters’ parents.
This new accountability has come at a time when states are increasingly passing safe storage laws that require parents who own firearms to store them securely, away from children.
Since the Columbine shooting in 1999, there have been over 400 school shootings, with students frequently using weapons from home. In the past parents were rarely held accountable for the actions of their children. Now, that’s changing.
The prison terms for the parents of the mass shooters in Michigan and Georgia have the potential to bolster legislative initiatives underway to require the secure storage of firearms. And the widespread implementation of these laws will surely help make our schools safer.
Stories of these tragic mass shootings are sadly all too familiar. In November 2021 at Oxford High School near Detroit, a 15-year-old used a 9mm semiautomatic handgun to kill four students and injure seven people, including a teacher. Two years later he pleaded guilty to 24 counts, including murder and domestic terrorism, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus another 24 years.
In this case, his parents were also charged with involuntary manslaughter because they failed to secure the handgun they had given to their teenage son as a present, even though they were aware he had significant mental health issues. In fact, on the day of the shooting they were informed by school officials that their son was showing suicidal ideation. The parents refused to take him home, and the deadly attack occurred an hour and a half later. In the spring of 2024, both parents were convicted in two separate jury trials and each sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.
In September 2024 at Apalachee High School outside of Atlanta, a 14-year-old was charged with using an AR-15–style rifle to shoot and kill two students and two teachers and to wound seven others. He faces four counts of felony murder and is awaiting trial.
In an unusual step, before the shooter’s trial, in February 2026 his father was tried and found guilty of second-degree murder in the deaths of the students and of involuntary manslaughter in the killings of the teachers, plus 18 counts of cruelty to children and five counts of reckless conduct. It was noted in the trial that he was aware of his son’s obsession with school shootings and that he nonetheless gave him the AR-15–style rifle as a Christmas present.
The jury took less than two hours to deliberate in reaching the guilty verdict on all 27 charges. He could be sentenced to up to 80 years in prison.
The legal process that held the shooters’ parents responsible for these assaults on the schools represents a breakthrough in the accountability of gun ownership. Data regarding the secure storage of firearms suggests that approximately 80% of school shootings committed by children and teens involve firearms taken from the home of family or friends—often because the weapon was not stored securely. Among those who lived in households with firearms, more than one-third of adolescents reported being able to access a loaded gun in less than five minutes. Sadly, over 79% of teens who have died by suicide used a firearm that belonged to someone in their home.
These incidents can be easily prevented if parents and other gun owners store firearms in a safe and secure manner, including keeping them locked up when not in use and storing guns separately from ammunition.
California has become a leader in addressing the need to securely store firearms to protect children and schools. In 2022, the state passed AB 452, which requires all kindergarten through 12th grade school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to inform parents and guardians of California’s child access prevention and safe storage laws at the beginning of each school year.
A companion bill, SB 906, strengthened state policy to require schools to notify law enforcement of any potential homicidal threats. And, in January 2026, SB 53 went into effect, requiring that all firearms be securely stored when not in immediate control of the owner, with penalties ranging from fines to jail time.
GIFFORDS has worked at the federal, state, and local levels to promote safe storage and child access prevention laws for decades, publishing analyses and the latest research on just how effective these measures can be. Recently, we joined a coalition with other gun safety groups to focus on implementing safe storage laws in California—ensuring that once the right laws are passed, they are shared widely, understood sufficiently, and resourced appropriately.
GIFFORDS also regularly partners with other national groups working to save lives through secure storage. SAFE (Scrubs Addressing the Firearm Epidemic) equips healthcare providers with the information and skills to advise their patients and communities on the importance of safe gun storage. Teachers Unify, founded after the Oxford High School tragedy, promotes trauma-informed strategies to improve safety, educate communities, and support students.
The possibility of holding parents legally liable and even jailing them for their children’s use of unsecured firearms promises to add a vital new legal tool in our arsenal to combat school shootings. While responsible gun owners understand the importance of safety and properly secure their weapons, it is imperative that we make this practice universal. With persistence, we can help make our students and staff safer and our schools more secure places for learning.
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