Unsecured Guns and the School-Home Partnership

My View

Thirty years ago, when I was a middle school principal, our D.A.R.E. officer unexpectedly showed up to inform me that my secretary’s 14-year-old son, following a suspension for a fight in the high school, committed suicide with his father’s handgun. I have a vivid recollection of the family’s grief, especially the regrets of the boy’s father over not having secured the gun. I recall how his classmates and the community grieved for the loss of this bright, affable and athletic young man, who in an emotional moment, made a tragic decision, enabled by easy access to a loaded handgun.