Mass. gun owners react after teen & father charged in Georgia school shooting

The father of the 14-year-old boy accused of a deadly school shooting in Georgia is also facing charges related to the massacre. It’s the latest attempt by prosecutors to hold parents accountable for their child’s role in school shootings.

Dozens of people walked in and out of Four Season’s gun shop in Woburn Friday. It’s a place where people can buy guns, ammunition, and accessories. Stephen Cerchione said his guns are unloaded and locked up, which is the law in Massachusetts. He said it’s up to him to make sure his kids can’t get to them.

“It’s their responsibility,” said Cerchione, a Fitchburg resident. “If your kid has access to your gun and does something stupid with it yeah it’s absolutely your responsibility.”

“ I’m all for gun ownership but you’ve got to take a little bit of responsibility there,” said Mike Coleman, from Cambridge.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed a new gun safety law in July . It cracks down on untraceable ghost guns, 3-D printed weapons, and prevents guns from getting into the wrong hands.

Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem was the lead negotiator on this law and said, “While the facts continue to emerge in the latest mass shooting tragedy in Georgia, I do believe that parents can and should be held both civilly and criminally liable for incidents resulting from their allowing unsupervised access to firearms to their minor children.”

Some people think the laws in Massachusetts are too strict.

“ I do believe in background checks I do believe in psych checks I don’t think anyone that’s a criminal or that’s unstable should have any type of weapon,” said James Golden, from Boston. “I just think I should be able to get the weapon that I want.”

Makaila Duggan just graduated from college and said she thinks the laws are fair.

“It’s terrifying,” said the Burlington resident. “I think they’re fair with having to have a license to own a weapon.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter . | Watch Boston 25 News NOW