More than ever we hear about children bringing weapons to school, some to show friends, others to commit unthinkable crimes.

Either way, the situation has many parents worried about their children's safety. Those types of situations can happen closer to home than you may think.

Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department’s Lt. Randy McCroan says a Calhoun County eighth grader is in a Bay County juvenile correction's institute after bringing a 9 mm to school.

"At Carr School we were notified about of a handgun that was brought on campus. It was on campus and off campus before we knew about it."

The incident happened on March 20th at the school in Clarksville. According to the police report, the juvenile got onto a school bus with the gun hidden in his waist. When he got to the school he then put it in his locker where the weapon stayed until the end of the day when he took it back home.

The situation has many Calhoun County residents like Cassandra Robinson in the area on edge.

"It was very shocking because you feel we live in a community where things are a lot safer than the big cities, so I was really shocked to see that going on."

Despite the severity of the situation, McCroan says the other students at the school were never in danger.

"It was never loaded."

According to the report, the 8th grader had one round which he kept in his pocket.

"If there was any chance of the other students being in danger, and then there would have been a lockdown until the weapon was located."

Officials say the student's mother realized the gun was missing the day after it was brought to school, and that's when she contacted officials.

A Calhoun County sheriff's deputy conducted an investigation and located the gun, which was already back at the boy’s home.

"After interviewing him he showed a lot of remorse about bringing the gun to schooland continued to say there was no one else that was in any danger," McCroan stated.

The boy was expelled from school and is currently serving 21 days in a juvenile correctional facility. The boy told officials he took the gun to school for his protection against an older boy who had threatened him.

The older boy does not attend any school in the district. Next month the juvenile will appear in court on federal gun charges.