THE SHOOTING GALLERY: The father of the 14-year-old accused of killing two teachers and two students at his Georgia high school has been charged with second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children for “knowingly allowing his son” to have the assault rifle used in the state’s worst school shooting, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced

  Colin Gray had bought his son an AR-15 rifle as a Christmas present.

  GBI Director Chris Hosey said the charges against Gray are “directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon.” Gray’s son, Colt, was disarmed after the shooting Wednesday by two school police officers. 

  It’s uncertain whether Georgia has precedent for charging a parent in such a case. Earlier this year a mother and father in Michigan were convicted after their son killed four people at his school in what is believed to be the first case in which parents were held responsible for what their child did. 

  Various reports say the Grays had a tumultuous home in which the parents had split and Colt lived with his father. Colt’s maternal grandfather told The NY Times that, “My grandson did what he did because of the environment that he lived in.” 

  Authorities say Colt Gray will be prosecuted as an adult. His aunt told the Times in a text that, “the adults in his life let him down,” and that “he was actively seeking help.”

GUILTY, BUT NOT: Presidential son Hunter Biden pleaded guilty yesterday to tax charges in a California federal court after telling his lawyers that he would not subject his family to a second criminal trial and the angst and anguish it would cause his family. 

  The 54-year-old Biden said “guilty” nine times to charges of failure to pay income taxes. He did so without a plea deal, exposing himself to 17 years in prison in addition to the possible sentence of 25 years for his conviction of lying on a firearms application. 

  Biden made the plea after the court rejected a proffer in which his lawyers admitted their client was likely to be found guilty but still claimed innocence. The prosecutors said they would oppose any plea in which Biden did not accept unconditional guilt. 

  “There was only one path left for me,” Biden said in a statement. “I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy and needless embarrassment. For all I have put them through over the years, I can spare them this, and so I have decided to plead guilty.”

  The White House says President Biden is still adamant that he will not pardon his son.

BY THE NUMBERS: Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign raised $361 million in August compared to $130 million for Trump. She’s raised $615 million since July in part from 1.3 million first-time donors.

WARRANTED: In an ominous development for the administration and political career of New York Mayor Eric Adams, the FBI is reported to have raided the homes and seized the telephones of the city’s police commissioner, the first deputy mayor, the chancellor of schools and others. 

  The FBI has not said what it’s all about. The searches appear to be unrelated to another investigation into campaign fundraising on behalf of Adams. But put them together and Adams is in a bad spot.  

  The Times reports that other among the other officials scrutinized by the Feds are the deputy mayor for public safety and a senior adviser described as one of the mayor’s closest confidants.

LEGALITIES: Donald Trump is expected in a New York court today for his lawyers to appeal the $5 million jury award to writer E. Jean Carroll for sexual assault and slander. 

  In another court, Judge Juan Merchan is expected to announce whether he will delay for a second time Trump’s September 18^th sentencing for his conviction on 34 counts of fraud. 

  And in Washington, a federal judge declared at a court hearing yesterday that Trump’s campaign for president will not affect her scheduling of proceedings in the former president’s election tampering case. Judge Tanya Chutkan set a deadline of September 26th for prosecutors to submit a brief on presidential immunity that might reveal further new evidence against Trump before election day. 

ORANGE ALERT: Speaking before The Economic Club of New York, Donald Trump was asked about making childcare more affordable. Here’s what he said, trimmed a bit. 

  “It’s a very important issue,” Trump said. “But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about, that — because — child care is child care … It’s something, you have to have it in this country. You have to have it.”

 “But when you talk about those numbers, compared to the kind of numbers that I’m talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that they’re not used to, but they’ll get used to it very quickly, and it’s not going to stop them from doing business with us, but they’ll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country.” 

  “Those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we’re talking about, including child care, that it’s going to take care,” Trump continued. “We’re going to have — I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time, coupled with the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country.”

SPIN RACK:  China is ending most foreign adoptions of its children, leaving in uncertainty hundreds of American and other foreign families with pending applications. — Ugandan marathoner, Rebecca Cheptege, who just ran in the Olympics, died several days after her former partner doused her with gasoline and set her on fire. 

BELOW THE FOLD:  Taylor Swift went to a football game last night and the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs also won their home opener.

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