One way to reduce mass shootings by young males ...

Hold their parents responsible.  Simple as that.  

I’m not saying it would end mass shootings – most of which are by mentally ill young males still living at home. But at least the parents of these shooters would have some skin in the game; maybe if they shared responsibility, they’d be more likely to intervene earlier.  

Maybe they’d get off their asses and report their demon spawn to authorities and get junior committed and off the streets before he committed a horrific crime. 

Call it the “we’ll lose the house” threat parents used years ago to keep their kids from even thinking about doing bad stuff in their community.  Only now step it up to “you’ll also go to prison and perhaps get the death penalty, too” idea.  

I am simply so tired of hearing parents claim, after their kid or young adult still living with them murders innocent people, that they “had no idea,” saw no red flags, and had no warning signs of what their monster was planning to do.  They are as “shocked” and surprised as anyone else.  

Oh, and how sorry they are now.  A little too late for the victims, you lying bastards.  

You knew.  You enabled your monster. 

You may have even helped him get the weapons he ultimately used. As was the case in the Sandy Hook, Parkland, and now the Highland Park July 4th massacres among others. 

What the hell were you thinking?    

You may have already covered for him when he exhibited early signs of sociopathic behavior.  Like torturing and killing small animals for fun.  Like the pictures he drew of him shooting people or blowing up things.  Like the posters in his room celebrating mass murderers. Like his obsession with suicide.  Like his social media posts about an act no one would ever forget. And about settling scores with neighbors, classmates, teachers, and anybody else he thought had offended or bullied him.     

You saw all this. 

And for whatever reason – fear of embarrassment, foolish hope he would grow out of it, thinking it was “just a phase,” fear of saddling him with the stigma of mental illness – whatever, you saw plenty of signs something was desperately wrong with your kid. Your kid was telling you he was about to do something terrible. You consciously ignored it all. You did nothing to stop him.  

So spare me and the victims’ families your self-righteous bullshit that you had no idea what he was up to.  You could have stopped him. Because you didn’t, he killed innocent people.  Their blood is on your hands. Their pain is not lessened by your “prayers for the families.” Their loved ones are dead because of you and your indifference or temerity.  

I hold you equally responsible. You should go to prison.  

I would like to see a law that would make parents of children still under their roof fully liable for the actions of those offspring. If they are still under their roof, the parents are responsible for everything they do. If you can keep your kids on your insurance until they’re 26, then you can also be responsible for all the bad things they might do. 

Having a child should be like signing up for liability for as long as they live with you.  They’re in your house. They’re eating your food. They’re living off you, which comes with certain rights and obligations for you. You get to make the rules. If they don’t like your rules, they need to leave.  

But as long as they are under your roof, you’re responsible. Period.  

If a law like this passed, I believe it would reduce the number not only of mass shootings by single deranged young males through earlier intervention, but probably reduce crime by young males overall.  If you as a parent know your kid’s about to commit a crime that could put him and you in prison, you’ll probably think twice before ignoring it.  

Until parents share full legal responsibility for the actions of their kids still living with them, there’s no incentive for parents of would-be monsters to step up and make sure they don’t harm others. They’ll just keep saying they had no idea, no signs, no warning what was about to happen.  

I’m not buying it.  They knew. And they always did. That makes them responsible.  If not for the final act itself, then at least as an accomplice who helped make it happen. 

They may not have personally pulled the trigger, but they did nothing to prevent it.  

And they could have. They're just as guilty.