The New York Times reported on May 4 that Belgrade, Serbia had a terrible school shooting on the previous day.

The shooter was a thirteen-year-old boy who killed the school’s security guard, seven girls and one boy. Six other children and a teacher were also injured in the incident. Because of his age, the shooter was taken to a mental health facility; under Serbian law he is too young to be criminally responsible. Because the boy used his father’s pistols in the attack on his school, the Times reported that his parents had been arrested for not keeping the weapons secured away from their child. An online search said that the boy’s father was indeed in jail for allowing his son to access the guns he used in his murder spree.

Arresting and jailing parents whose guns are used by their children to shoot up schools won’t stop all school shootings, but I’m sure having a law that says parents must make sure that their children can’t possibly access their weapons will stop some school shootings.

As I read the Times article about the Belgrade tragedy, I was reminded of the six-year-old who brought his parent’s pistol to his Virginia elementary school on 1/6/2023 and shot his teacher, Ms. Abby Zwerner.