The 6-year-old Virginia boy got a gun from his mother's top shelf. On January 6, the country's first case of a school shooting happened at Richneck Elementary School in Virginia.
The shooter, a boy, shot his first-grade teacher, Abigail Zwerner, in front of their class.
The incident sparked major conversations and outrage in the country about how a child that age could obtain a gun.
6-year-old Virginia boy's gun access
According to CNN, the attorney for the child's family, James Ellenson, stated that the first grader reportedly used the weapon stored on the highest shelf of his mother's bedroom closet.
In an email, the attorney told CNN that the mother performed her due diligence in keeping the gun secured with a trigger lock.
However, Ellenson did not provide any further possible explanation as to how the child got hold of the firearm.
Ellenson added that the second set of searches at two residences belonging to the child's family were carried out this week by officers from the ATF and the Newport News Police Department.
In further news, the Insider reported that the child has an acute disability.
The 6-year-old Virginia boy has been known to have quite aggressive behavior in class. The student sometimes throws furniture and school materials in the classroom, which often results in his peers hiding under desks.
The report also revealed that the parents are under a certain care plan at the school for his disability.
The care plan states the agreement that either one of his parents, mother or father, should accompany him to school every single day.
Aside from that, another teacher at Richneck Elementary School also revealed that the child wrote him a letter saying how much he hates her and wants to light her face on fire to kill her.
The said teacher brought this matter to the school administration, who did not take it seriously and told her to drop it.
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Laws on child access and safety storage
Laws on child access and safety were referenced regarding how the 6-year-old Virginia boy will be penalized or if he will be.
According to the Giffords Law Center, the state administrative laws are the authority that determines how weapons may or may not be stored in certain settings.
However, there are no rules in Virginia that stipulate how weapons must be maintained while they are unattended.
Numerous headline reports read that the child might not be charged with anything criminal due to his young age.
Under the legislation of Virginia, it is illegal for anybody to intentionally leave a loaded and unattended handgun in a location where it might put the life or limb of a child less than 14 years old in danger.
It is also against the law for any adult to intentionally give a kid under the age of 12 permission to use a handgun in any circumstance other than when an adult directly supervises the minor.
In addition, the sale of a firearm in Virginia does not mandate the inclusion of a locking system, nor is there any legislation in the state that requires gun owners actively lock their firearms.
