Wow! I never imagined a Republican governor would come to the aid of children in schools but Governor Youngkin has made it clear that in the State of Virginia every parent has the right to protect their child. He couldn’t have stated that right any clearer than he did while issuing a pardon to a parent who had become violent at a school board meeting after his daughter was sexually assaulted in a Loudoun County School. Scott Smith was convicted of disorderly conduct after he threatened to kick the teeth out of the deputies who escorted him out of a school board meeting in 2021.

When pardoning Smith, Youngkin made it clear that parents have the right to protect their children when they are in the care of the local school districts. “In Virginia, parents matter,” Youngkin stated, “And my resolve to empower parents is unwavering. A parent’s fundamental right to be involved in their child’s education, upbringing, and care should never be undermined by bureaucracy, school divisions or the state.”

Moreover, Youngkin noted, “Scott Smith is a dedicated parent who’s faced unwarranted charges in his pursuit to protect his daughter. Scott’s commitment to his child despite the immense obstacles is emblematic of the parental empowerment movement that started in Virginia.”

I couldn’t agree more with Governor Youngkin. I think every parent has the right to expect that when they send their children off to school that those children will be kept safe from all harm. Just today, I was saying to my husband that it suspends belief that our grandchildren are having to practice school shooting drills in elementary school.

I hope that other parents in Virginia will take Gov. Youngkin at his word about parental rights. I hope parents in Virginia step forward and begin to sue the NRA and Youngkin and every school district where children are living daily with the threat of gun violence. Oddly enough, Gov. Youngkin opposes any gun safety legislation that would lend itself toward stopping mass shootings at schools. In fact, Youngkin’s pledge when running for governor was that he’d roll back any gun safety legislation. One might question whether Youngkin’s real core value favors violence as long as it benefits him politically, particularly since firearms are the number one killer of children in the Commonwealth, and in the nation.

But if we are to take Youngkin at his word today, he believes parents rights should never be, what was it he said, “undermined by bureaucracy, school divisions, or the state.”

The state is him, right? As governor?

Parents, you heard that right. Governor Youngkin is asking to be held legally responsible should your child suffer as a result of violence or threat of violence at schools.

Isn’t it long past time for parents to start suing governors for not protecting children in care of the state? Especially those governors like Youngkin who oppose gun safety legislation?

Karen Spears Zacharias is author of The Murder Gene: A True Crime.