gunfire sent people running<\/a> at The Avenues Mall during a large gathering of teenagers.<\/p>\nJacksonville police said no one was hurt in Saturday\u2019s shooting, but the chaos has left shoppers and parents with lingering questions: Are large teen gatherings the problem, or is access to guns the bigger issue?<\/p>\n
First Coast News Crime and Safety Expert Ken Jefferson says the answer is layered.<\/p>\n
Jefferson says when hundreds of teens gather in one place, the environment can quickly shift, especially if someone arrives armed. He said teens often have easy access to guns.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can get a gun quicker than you can get a sandwich,\u201d Jefferson said.<\/p>\n
He points to what he describes as two major factors in these situations: access to firearms and adolescent maturity levels.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times it\u2019s a recipe for disaster when you have that many young people because somebody\u2019s gonna act a fool,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While some teen shoppers argue the focus shouldn\u2019t be on limiting where teens gather, Jefferson said large crowds can amplify conflict when tempers flare, and decision-making is impulsive.<\/p>\n
Jefferson said the so-called \u201cteen takeover\u201d events are not new. Large groups of teens have been gathering at malls and other public spaces for years.<\/p>\n
What concerns him is how quickly minor disputes can escalate when a firearm is involved.<\/p>\n
Jefferson says malls can take proactive steps to lower the risk. That may include having security identify and disperse large groups that are not actively shopping and clearly enforcing no-loitering policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to post a sign, and it’s another thing to enforce,\u201d Jefferson said.<\/p>\n
He adds that visible security presence can help deter trouble before it starts, but enforcement must be consistent.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Jefferson says, prevention does not begin with signage or patrol cars; it begins with parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just need to start being parents and not being their children\u2019s best friend,\u201d he said. \u201cThey need to let them know that there are repercussions for their actions. The best line that a parent can give a child is if you get in jail, don\u2019t call me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some shoppers echoed the sentiment that responsibility starts early.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s more so how we raise people,\u201d shopper Jessica Warner said.<\/p>\n
Teen shoppers Lorelei Anderson and Lilly Goethe told First Coast News they believe the real issue is the individual who chooses to bring a gun.<\/p>\n
First Coast News reached out to the Orange Park Mall to ask about its recently-implemented\u00a0youth supervision policy<\/a> \u2014 which requires anyone under 18 to be accompanied by an adult and wear a verified wristband after 4 p.m. on weekends \u2014 to see if it is making a difference. Mall management declined to comment.<\/p>\nWe also contacted the JSO for an update on Saturday\u2019s shooting. Officials said there are no new developments at this time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gunfire at The Avenues Mall sparks debate: are teen gatherings the problem, or easy access to guns? JACKSONVILLE,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157825,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-157824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}