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Fathers are badly needed by their children in troubled times
By Jeffery M. Leving
While it can be highly questionable to give a minor an AR-15 as a gift for any reason, it is unconscionable that a parent would give an AR-15 to a child who has been bullied in school and questioned earlier by police investigating online threats to a school, yet that is what prosecutors in Georgia said Colin Gray did.
Colin Gray allegedly gave his son, Colt Gray, an AR-15— just months after his son was questioned about online threats to his school. It has been reported that investigators could not definitely link Colt, then 13, to the threats in May 2023 and thus, no crime was charged. It was during that investigation that Colin told authorities that his son was often ridiculed at school and that his son’s home life was chaotic. Yet, prosecutors now say, despite all that, Colin gave his son a military-style firearm for Christmas in December 2023 and he took it into his school in Winder, Georgia, and fatally shot four people — two students and two teachers — and injured nine others.
Colt Gray is now charged as an adult for the four murders and his father Colin has been also charged with murder and manslaughter because prosecutors believe that he knew his son “was a threat to himself and others” and still allowed him to have a military-style weapon.
It is a shame if this parent did not learn from other mass shooting cases that resulted in parents being charged with crimes after their child allegedly went on a shooting rampage. By my count, this is now the third such case and hopefully the last.
Closer to home, Robert Crimo Jr., father of Robert Crimo III, was sentenced to 60 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct for helping his son acquire a firearm owner’s ID card, despite red flags. Robert Crimo III is awaiting sentencing for killing 7 people at the 2022 Independence Day parade in Highland Park.
Before that, the first parents charged with a crime in a similar case were James and Jennifer Crumbley, whose case wrapped up in April 2024 when they received sentences of at least 10 years. The Crumbley’s were convicted of involuntary manslaughter after a jury in Michigan determined they could have prevented their teenage son Ethan from possessing a gun and killing four students in 2021.
I sincerely hope that no other parents make the same mistakes as these did. Yet, if they do, and it can be determined that they broke laws, they should be charged with appropriate crimes.
However horrible the mistakes these parents allegedly made, I do hope that the public narrative is that parents who enable their child’s crimes are rare exceptions. The fact is, most parents are positive influences on their children, not negative. And when it comes to fathers, their role is especially important.
Simply put, while I do not advocate against trying to pass common sense gun laws and addressing mental health concerns, another issue that bears mentioning is the importance of having a father in a child’s life.
The Fatherhood Educational Institute has shared statistics showing that 72% of all teenaged murderers grew up without fathers; 60% of rapists were raised in fatherless homes; and 70% of kids now incarcerated in juvenile corrections facilities grew up in a single-parent environment. Additionally, a growing body of evidence shows a high correlation between fatherlessness and violence among young men.
So, while the fathers of Colt Gray, Robert Crimo III and Ethan Crumbley allegedly made wrong choices, the vast majority of fathers in this country are always setting positive examples and helping to ensure that their children never consider resorting to violence.
These are the fathers you will never read about in the news. There are fathers who always set positive examples about taking responsible action. There are also fathers who teach their children that guns are never to be used to solve a problem. And there are the fathers who, if their children were showing any alarming signs, would take steps to ensure that they cannot access any type of firearm or other weapon that could harm themselves or others.
There are countless reasons children need responsible fathers. Preventing gun violence is one of the most important reasons.
Attorney Jeffery M. Leving is the recipient of the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from the President of the United States. Leving is a nationally recognized divorce and family law attorney, who has written: “How to be a Good Divorced Dad,” which was endorsed by the late Cardinal Francis E. George, then the Archbishop of Chicago. With thanks for contributing to this article to Janise A. Lane, an attorney with the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving, Ltd., and a proud advocate for sensible gun control laws and Fathers’ Rights. Visit dadsrights.com.
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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