Raising Cain

School shootings have become an epidemic, a childhood crisis, and a national shame. Aside from the shooters themselves, where do we place the blame for America’s deadly pastime? What about gunmakers who lobby for fewer regulations? What about lawmakers who tell social media execs they have blood on their hands while responding to mass playground slaughters by loosening already loose gun laws? What about those who make the deadly farcical argument that the musket-toting Founding Fathers wanted the second amendment to cover widespread ownership of deadly automatic weapons? So far, none of the above have been held to account. But today, in a novel case, the mother of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley (who killed four students and is serving a life sentence) was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. “The gun was the Sig Sauer 9 mm his father, James Crumbley, purchased with him just four days earlier. Jennifer Crumbley took her son to a shooting range that same weekend.” Mom has been removed from the courtroom in shackles. Dad’s trial on the same charges begins next month. “The prosecution’s case against Jennifer Crumbley has focused on three main aspects: her knowledge of her son’s mental issues, how he got access to the firearm and her actions at a pivotal school meeting on the morning of the shooting. Prosecutors sought to portray her as an inattentive mother, more interested in her horses and her extramarital affair than her son’s well-being.” Jennifer Crumbley, mother of school shooter, found guilty.