Oregon Lacks Criminal Penalty for Parents After 16-Year-Old Used Mother's Gun in Bend Shooting
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 16
Oregon Lacks Criminal Penalty for Parents After 16-Year-Old Used Mother's Gun in Bend Shooting
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 16
Summary
A 16-year-old in Bend used his mother's Maverick 88 shotgun to kill three students and a teacher before he was shot dead, putting Oregon's parental-liability gap at the center of the case.
Oregon has no criminal law specifically targeting parents whose children use their guns in school shootings, though it does require secure storage and can impose civil penalties of up to $2,000.
Shauntai May Nickerson, the shooter's mother, said she could not discuss how her son obtained the gun and added, "If I could have prevented this, I would have."
Recent prosecutions elsewhere have pushed accountability further: Michigan parents received 10- to 15-year manslaughter sentences in 2024, and a Georgia father was convicted this year and sentenced to 15 years.
Those cases have turned general homicide laws into a new test for parental responsibility as states weigh whether gun access and missed warning signs can make parents criminally liable.