The boy exchanged the handgun for $300 in February. The incident was discovered after ammunition was found in the backpack of the other student Wednesday.

Two 10-year-old students were arrested in connection with a gun sold at their elementary school in Florida, county officials confirmed.

A deputy’s son “agreed to exchange a handgun, (later found to belong to his deceased father), for a sum of $300” back in February, the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The Country Oaks Elementary School was placed under lockdown Wednesday morning after the sheriff’s office received a call about “a suspicious incident” on campus. Authorities discovered ammunition in the backpack of the boy who purchased the gun.

The gun was later found in his backyard under a shed, hidden with a 74-gram bag of marijuana, according to investigators.

    • theangryseal@lemmy.world
      5·
      8 months ago

      I grew up in a neighborhood like that. By 9 the older kids had us bringing “sunflowers” that my friend’s dad smoked for whatever reason, and we’d trade a pocket full of buds for snacks and pocket change. By 11 one of the older kids decided to make a coke can pipe and show us why the sunflowers were so great. We sold pills and weed for some older people not long after that, that is until we all inevitably ended up trying those pills and becoming addicted.

      I remember one time, a walk that should have taken about 10 minutes ended up taking two hours or more because I couldn’t get my brother and our friend to move. They mixed Xanax and alcohol, I didn’t have the alcohol so I was able to drag them slowly up the road. Older folks were sitting on the porch shaking their heads at us. It was terribly obvious we were into something. I was about 12 when that happened.

      Those two slept for more than a day. My dad said, “I’m telling you, they’re on drugs!” And my mom said, “how could they be on drugs? They’re just babies!”

      I ended up getting arrested for pills in the 9th grade and put on probation. That turned me around for a while. It took a whole lot of bad shit before I finally got my life together, but I’m clean now. My brain developed on weed, alcohol, Xanax, and opiates.

      What a world.

        • theangryseal@lemmy.world
          5·
          8 months ago

          Hey, I appreciate that.

          My brother did even better than me. He faced the threat of losing his wife who he had somehow managed to hide his addiction from for 5 years. She wasn’t having it. She told him to get clean or get lost.

          He went to my mom’s, got in bed, faced the withdrawal with no assistance, left her place clean. He was immediately hounded by everyone offering him drugs or asking for drugs. He relapsed, went back to my mom’s place, went through the horror again, and then left for police academy.

          His logic was, “not only am I the right kind of person for that job, but I dare anyone to offer me drugs when they know what my job is.”

          He hasn’t looked back and he and his wife have been happily married for 14 years.

          I actually required rehabilitation. I went through withdrawal intentionally one time and that was enough for me. Once I relapsed I just couldn’t do it again. I am in a permanent medication assisted program. I don’t like it, but I like it better than being a junkie on the outskirts of society, one bad moment away from being locked in a cage.

          I wish I had his strength. I really do. He was always stronger than me though, physically, mentally, spiritually. I don’t do religion, but I wish I had that whole larger purpose thing going on.

          For me, my purpose is simple. I have to guide my kids through this world better than my parents did. Not that I’m saying anything bad about my parents. They were a mess but they did the best they could with what they had.