Virginia mom faces charges after another 6-year-old brings handgun to school: report

For the second time in less than two months, a six-year-old in Norfolk, Virginia brought a handgun to school — and the mother faces charges, The Daily Beast reported on Friday.

"The child’s mother has now been charged with allowing access to a loaded firearm by children, as well as contributing to the delinquency of a minor," reported Katie Hawkinson. "Little Creek Elementary School did not discover the student was carrying a weapon until around 3:30 p.m., after which they called the police."

This comes after a nationally publicized case in which a different six-year-old boy brought a handgun to Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, a town half an hour's drive north of Norfolk.

That child ended up shooting his teacher, Abby Zwerner, who was seriously injured.

Subsequent reporting revealed that school staff hadn't taken seriously disturbing threats from the child in question, including a comment that he wanted "to light a teacher on fire and watch her die."

All of this comes as the U.S. is processing another series of mass shootings, including one at Michigan State University and another at the Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, Texas, right across the street from the Walmart that saw a more than 20-fatality hate-motivated shooting in 2019.