Pierce County, WA, has a ‘Kids with Guns’ Problem

Another kid in Pierce County, Washington, brought a gun to school, because apparently that’s the new normal out there.

On October 3rd, deputies were called to Spanaway Lake High School around 9:30 in the morning after a 14-year-old student was found with a loaded firearm tucked into his waistband. The only reason anyone even knew he had it is because the gun slipped out and hit the ground. Another student reported it, the school locked down immediately, and deputies were on the scene within minutes.

When they tried to take the teen into custody, he fought with them. During the struggle, the weapon fell to the ground again. A loaded handgun with eight rounds in it. No registration, no traceable history, no serial number. Deputies are calling it what it is, a ghost gun.

And make no mistake, this could have gone very differently. Struggles over a firearm aren’t just chaotic; they’re lethal. We’ve seen it before, like in the 2005 Campbell County High School shooting in Tennessee, where a student pulled a gun during a confrontation with school officials and ended up killing an assistant principal and wounding two others. One wrong move in that hallway in Spanaway, and we could be talking about dead students, dead staff, or dead officers.

The 14-year-old is now being held in juvenile detention and faces charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, obstruction, and resisting arrest. Thankfully, no one was hurt this time. But that’s about the only good news here.

And here’s the real question. What in the blue hell is going on in Pierce County? This is now the fourth time this school year a kid has shown up with a gun. One of the earlier cases involved an eleven-year-old. And let’s not forget the high schooler who was caught with multiple 3D-printed guns. That wasn’t a one-off. This is a pattern, and it’s getting worse.

The fact that a 14-year-old is walking around with a ghost gun should stop everyone cold. Ghost guns are untraceable, unserialized firearms that can be built from kits or parts ordered online. No background check, no paperwork, no oversight. You print or assemble the pieces, slap them together, and you’re armed and anonymous.

Washington State at least had the sense to ban ghost guns. But clearly, that didn’t stop this kid, or whoever put the weapon in his hands, from getting one. People love to point at laws like this and say, “See? They don’t work.” That’s lazy thinking. If someone breaks a law, the problem isn’t the law; it’s the lack of broader enforcement and the patchwork loopholes that make it meaningless outside state lines.

Just because one law failed in this case doesn’t mean it isn’t needed. It means it isn’t enough. Until there’s federal legislation banning ghost guns across the board and not just in a few states, kids will keep getting their hands on them. And while we’re at it, maybe we try passing laws that actually keep firearms out of the hands of minors instead of pretending “thoughts and prayers” is a safety policy.

And the worst part? This isn’t some rare aberration. Incidents like this are happening almost every day in America. It’s so constant and so widespread that I can’t even cover every single one. There just aren’t enough hours in the day. The only reason this one stands out is because it’s yet another case from Pierce County, which is quickly turning into a case study in how bad things have gotten.

Four incidents in one county before Halloween. How many more will happen before people stop acting surprised?

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