When I was a kid, there were always a handful of “bad kids” who did all sorts of stuff. They’d shoplift from the corner store or snatch things off of someone’s porch. They’d also tend to be the same kids who would try to start fights with others.

Being the son of a police officer, I didn’t dare spend much time with those kinds of kids back in the day, especially since I was one of the ones they wanted to start fights with.

Regardless, things are different now. These days, kids are hauling around guns.

We see media reports about these kids and many of us may ask, “Where are the parents?” Well, in some cases, they’re right here:

Cincinnati police said a father gave his teen son a gun and it was caught on camera.

It’s just the latest example of how Cincinnati police are using technology to catch crime in real-time.

The video is incredibly clear and you can see investigators tracking what is happening by the second.

Community leaders said it’s an important part of trying to stop violence.

“If you’re out there, if you’re slinging drugs, or if you are carrying guns, they’re going to come and get you. It’s just a matter of time,” state Sen. Cecil Thomas said.

Thomas said the video shows the importance of Cincinnati’s Real-Time Crime cameras.

Police said a father gave his 16-year-old son a gun and it happened in seconds at the Stanley Rowe Towers.

“Bad idea. And to any other mother or father out there that wants to give their child a gun to protect themselves, no. What you want to do is get that individual connected up with a CIRV advocate,” Thomas said.

CIRV, or the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence, Thomas said, helps connect young men with an advocate and someone of influence in their life to steer a situation from violence.

Police responded to the scene and an arrest was made.

Now, I’m not going to talk about how creepy it is to have cameras all over the place–Orwell’s 1984 wasn’t meant to be an instruction manual, after all–but instead, I really want to focus on a father giving his son a firearm.

For you or I, we might give our child a gun, but we keep it secured unless it’s time to go to the range or to go hunting or something like that. We damn sure don’t give them a handgun in broad daylight.

But on the same token, if things are bad enough on the streets, a father may also feel no choice about the matter. I’d rather my kid go to prison than the morgue, after all. At least one offers me the chance to talk to them again.

Thomas thinks the father did the wrong thing, though; that he should have connected his son with an advocate.

Now, generally, I think that’s a better option than giving your kid a firearm, but I have to ask just how that’s supposed to help a kid who is trying to protect himself. I don’t think a mentor is going to stop some rival from trying to pop a cap in your ass unless that mentor is a freaking superhero or something.

There’s obviously more to this story, and while I can’t condone giving a child a firearm to carry around with them. On the same token, with violent crime rising, I can almost understand why someone might.