There's more to this story than this. How was the child treated? Children don't just go around stealing their grandfather's gun and taking it to school to possibly shoot people, then threaten suicide while in tears (if that's true) if everything is ok at home. I want to know what his upbringing was like. Is he living with his grandfather? Why are his parents not mentioned in this article, where are they?

We will probably never know the entire truth in any of these situations as the politics against the 2nd amendment is using so much leverage. Why the rash of such incidents. No one, and I mean no one brought a gun to any school I attended years ago. Broken homes, immature adult role models etc are going to continue to create more problems. Kids being brought on earth by those who are not capable of being good parents, negative influences including tv, computers, games and a lack of any qualtiy community standards are all culprits. Take God out and this is what you end up with.

Maybe if Maryland's concealed carry laws were not so against an individual's right to protect his or her own life and loved ones, the granfather would have carried the gun on a regular basis and would have realized it were missing sooner. Realizing it were missing, he could have rectified the situation before it escalated by educating his grandson about the seriousness of the situation and the great responsibility it is to possess a firearm.

Maybe, if the law puts this old man in jail for a long, long time, others will get the point, follow the law, and lock up their firearms. Matt, I keep reading your comments and cannot follow your logic...it seems that you are blaming the laws of Maryland, claiming that putting more guns in pants pockets would make us safer.In fact, the laws are not against your right to protect yourself from your perceived enemies, but to protect the rest of us from the senseless gun violence wrought by members of "well regulated militias."

Only if you are a regulated malitia you may cary a gun. Second amendment.

unless the police search each individual, increasing police presence in the schools will not prevent weapons from being brought into schools or anywhere else for that matter. it will speed up response to the situation that may or may not help. someone name better ideas.

Us Americans are so regulated by this Government WE ARE THE regulated malitia !

Arbutus Town Crier, how does any gun regulation make you a part of a "malitia"( I guess you mean militia.) In other words, what are you talking about?

Hmmm..... The logic is if the CHILD was taught about gun EDICATE..ie...Not safety BUT it is not acceptable to THINK about POINTING a gun @ a person......as I was 50++++ years ago.. This would not be an issue WHERE ARE the parents???? Maybe @ the Riverwatch shining up their Harley???? JC K-town

I am an advocate for the right to carry. Not everyone, but responsible citizens. The people that carry firearms in our state are either criminals or police officers. It seems like the police are less prevailent than the criminals. My post was to provoke discourse. I was educated about guns and gun safety early in my life. I feel education is key. Making sure children do not have access to firearms is paramount. I would never leave a gun accessible to a child:

Give me a break, Charge the Grandfather. The Baltimore County Police Department is an example of Major Failure when it come to public safety. Do you honestly believe that charging this Grandfather is going to make a difference? I am disgusted with everything about this incident. Instead of working towards finding out why this student felt he had to bring the gun to school they are after the easy conviction with the grandfather, every police officer working for Baltimore County should be ashamed about the way the higher ups have decided to camouflage the real problem with an easy target. Convict the 70 year old and ignore the child's cry for help. waste of public resources and a waste of an opportunity to steer a child in a better direction. *sarcasm* Maybe they'll charge the 13 year old as an adult?

John Vincent......i totally agree 100 %........first where are THE parents......since I am not familur with this family or their situtation, it;'s hard to say. I think a LOT of our kids problems today comes from no family support. The teachers are no longer allowed to repremand the kids...when ever they act up a little or get a little rambuncious......"oh my goodness.....they are hyper, they need to be medicated" I truly believe most of the problems facing many of our young people come from not having a strong family support system.......not really the fault of the many of the parents.......of the few, that might have jobs they are working maybe two jobs just to make ends meet........others (and you know who you are) just really don't give a rat's a** about anything and use the school system as nothing more than babysitters........when I went to school, we listened to and respected not only our educaters but our parents and if I did something wrong, not only did my mother know about it when I got home, but I was in double trouble, now it seems everyone has an excuse as to why it's not his or her fault......always someone else to blame for bad decisions.and bad behavior.

Oh heck i wonder where the School Police Ofc. was at during both of these cases in baltimore county... we are paying i am sure hundred of thousands of dollars to have these school officers and still have these type of cases and worse yet is we are haing more than ever ??? How about spending less on the useless S.O.R List and use someof that money to beef up school security and protect our kids against each other

Without even taking into consideration the reasoning behind the child's bringing of the gun to school lies the fact, whether you agree or not, that the grandfather allowed an unsecured weapon to fall into the hands of a child. There is nothing that says that a law abiding citizen cannot own a gun. It's when that gun gets into the hands of a child or someone other than the owner that it becomes a crime. I have been around guns all my life and no matter how angry, defiant or sad I felt, the thought would (and still wouldn't) never cross my mind to wield that weapon against another in anger. The only exception would be to protect my family in a legitimate attack against our safety, to protect life. There is a terrible breakdown in society when kids are taking guns to school to shoot others and/or themselves and there is no video game that teaches that. It begins at home, with involved, caring parents and responsible people around the child to ensure their well being, education and safety.

It's so tempting to ask Sam just how one man or woman could be everywhere on a campus at once, and to ask John why it's wrong to charge the grandpa for breaking a law requiring gun owners to keep their weapons unavailable to children...so I think I will.

It all boils down to negligent / bad parenting. Child was on the verge of doing something drastic and no body in the house saw this ? And Gran Pop is just an idiot and violaters like this should get an automatic go to jail card for a week - no questions asked.

This defintely a lesson for anyone owning a gun. If you leave guns out and easily picked up, someone may use the gun against you/or others (even your own grandchild). As Robert Frost said "Good fences make good neighbors.." Lock your macho bull crap up before someone gets killed.

Sam-Seriously....Where was the SRO? Like they could have predicted the incident in the classroom? Typical reaction. Place the blame where it doesn't belong. Don't worry having an SRO in a school isn't costing you any additional money. Research it before you make a ridiculous comment. You obviously have no idea about the program and how it has had a great influence on many childrens lives since it's inception. Yes, they have to deal with trouble in the schools, but they also provide great mentoring to our youth....that in most cases they do not get in their dysfunctional homes. You really are speaking about something you know nothing about. Yes, some of these troubled children come from perfectly decent households, but there is a vast majority that are raised in very troubled homes and have been set no better example.

"Reporting to teachers and administrators, well, I don't really see how that helps matters. There isn't much schools can do, is there? They can't babysit the bullied at their bus stops, in the hallways, at lunch, etc can they?"

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No they cannot. However, if more kids were encouraged to report these bullying incidents to administration AND administration took a serious stand against bullying (not just a “window dressing” stand as I strongly believe they have in the past) – perhaps things would get better. These bullies should be expelled. First offense, detention. Second, expulsion.

We have laws on the books penalizing adults for assault and battery. But kids bully, kick, and harass each other -- with little to no penalty -- until the bullied reaches his/her breaking point. This nonsense has got to STOP.

I implore Superintendent Dance to draw a hard line on bullying NOW. Bullying should fall under the "mandated reporter" umbrella -- any administrator who witnesses bullying incidents on school property should be required to report it.

I think Baltimore County as well as all other Counties should EXPEL any child that bullies. Kids need to learn that this is a crime and there will be consequences with your wrong actions. Also, Baltimore County has issued that the Police on duty in the schools will have hand held metal detectors BUT can only use them if they feel a crime is going to be made. This will not do anything. The two Police Officers at the schools cannot be at all teachers and students shoulders 24/7. They need to scan every person that wants to enter the school premise. That means morning scans on all students as they enter and if a parent or someone comes later in the day, they are not just buzzed in, they are to be scanned also. They also need to put into place a class that teaches on Bullying and the effects of bullying just like they teach Sex Education. All kids are not taught certain things from home due to having parents that dont care or parents that work too much to make ends meet and the kid feels they dont care so it has to be taught somewhere.

I taught at Stemmers Run for 30 years. Most with their comments seem to be demonizing the parents of this student. No one knows the situation with his parents. Good parents will have good kids who do bad things as well as the opposite. It's human nature to look for simple answers/solutions when something like this occurs.
I'd like to give a "shout out" to the teacher who defused the situation in her classroom. Lets hear more about that!

Baltimore County Police said they were going to beef up police presence ha thats funny I havnt seen the SRO in our school for the last 2 days Guess they were in training. If the SRO is not out and about walking in the halls in between classes being in all lunch shifts the kids wont get to know them and feel like they can talk to them when they have a problem. SRO's can be a great asset to the schools but they have to be seen and willing to get involed with the kids not hidden in a room somewhere. SRO's need to jack a kid up for causing trouble like bullying then maybe kids will stop thinking they can get away with causing trouble at schools. Maybe after having to pick there kid up from the police stations or at least the SRO office at school some parents might start taking a stand at home. I know as a parent I would not want the police calling me everyother day saying my kid did this or that I would put a foot up his you know what. I am not saying it all falls on the school or SRO but it is a start if they are not going to put up with it then the parents have no choice but to do something or start homeschooling their child. Schools can not keep sweeping this kind of stuff under the rug and they do! I know if my child brings a friend home and they do not act right in my house then they have to go and are not welcomed back until the can act right under my rules. My house my rules your school your rules thats it.

Schools are to worried about suspension rates rather then getting the trouble makers to follow the rules.

Yes Pat, and the schools also realize that in a vast majority of cases suspended students have nothing but an empty home to go to.

Other Tim: I agree. I and many others do have some answers, unfortunately they're politically incorrect.

I can tell you, if you start making it mandatory for the bullies to attend some kind of Saturday detention (with their parents) where they all get taught the effects of bullying you will see a difference. Once the parents start getting "punished" too, you will see a change....I bet you my teaching degree on it. But again politics come into play.
And Other Tim: While I appreciate your comment, I think it's totally in la la land.....the environment that kids are in has a lasting effect on their schooling. While we as teachers can't control their home environment we can do something to improve their school environment to make it safe, Free and Appropriate.

Securing the firearms in the houses is the first step. Without the ability to get control of it the weapon would not wind up in school. Some children look at the incidents where they "think" taking a gun to school to will solve their problems.. The media will
" sometimes" justify the action ( but not meaning to ) by bring up bullying as the reason for the incident. Regardless of the problems a student faces in the school environment there is no excuse for putting lives in danger. This sends a dangerous message to a student who is trying to deal with any problem in school. How to deal with lifes problems starts in the home and shouldn't be put on the backs of the police or the school administration.More education on the consequences of these actions
should be taught in school. Evidently, it wasn't being taught at home.

Maybe FIREARM SAFETY classes are in order. Get the NRA Eddie Eagle course in all schools.
"NRA’s Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program Reaches 24 Millionth Child"

"More than 26,000 educators, law enforcement agencies, and civic organizations have taught the program since 1988.

“The Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program continues to receive outstanding feedback from program users and parents,” said Eric Lipp, Program Manager of the Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program. “I am tremendously happy to be able to say that Eddie Eagle has now reached over 24 million children with his life saving message.”

Eddie Eagle

Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program

Law enforcement’s partnership with Eddie Eagle has proven to be very effective. Along with schools and libraries, law enforcement agencies are one of the few groups allowed to purchase an Eddie Eagle mascot costume. NRA also offers free Eddie Eagle materials to any law enforcement agency, hospital, or educational facility across the nation.

To receive these free materials, or to purchase an Eddie Eagle costume, please contact the Eddie Eagle Department at 800-231-0752./;

The answer to sexual relations in the teens was to start sex ed earlier. The answer to this could be to teach them about firearms.