Not one but several tragedies mark the unfortunate case of Jordan Brown. First is the victim, Kenzie Marie Houk, whom police say Jordan shot and killed while she lay in bed; she was the pregnant fiancee of Jordan’s father.

There is 11-year-old Jordan, the subject of custody disputes years ago and now the defendant charged by police in Lawrence County with the homicides of Ms. Houk and her unborn child.

You can also count Chris Brown, Jordan’s father, who, in one act of violence suffered the demise of his fiancee, his next child and, quite possibly, his son’s freedom.

But there is one more tragedy ... the weakness of state law on the handling and use of guns by minors.

Pennsylvania law is clear that no one under 21 can buy a handgun, no one under 18 can buy a rifle and no one under 12 may have a hunting license. But the law is silent, vague or lax on other important counts. ...

Instead, weak gun laws and a Legislature that cowers before the gun lobby may have been a factor in the tragic circumstances that visited the Lawrence County family. ... Certainly Jordan might have acted against Ms. Houk in another way, but easy access to his youth model shotgun gave him ready means. ...

That’s a tragedy of the law, and if the Jordan Brown case proved anything, it’s one Pennsylvania can no longer afford.