Hoist on his own petard
(Daily Caller) A Buffalo, N.Y. community activist who is well known locally for pushing for a highly restrictive 2013 gun control law has been arrested for — wait for it — carrying a gun illegally at a public elementary school.
The arrested gun-control advocate, Dwayne Ferguson, caused quite a scene at Harvey Austin Elementary School, reports local CBS affiliate WIVB.
At about 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, police acted on a pair of anonymous 911 tips. A battalion of cops quickly swarmed the school. The brigade included over a dozen squad cars, the SWAT team and K9 units. The Erie County Sheriff’s Air One helicopter and what appears to be an armored vehicle also turned up.
Ferguson is a mentor at the school, and has a legal pistol permit. Yet, he was one of the people pushing hard for the NY law that bumped up possession on school grounds from a misdemeanor to a felony.
(Buffalo News) He was a well-known face in the movement for the SAFE Act, the state law that made carrying a gun on school property a felony.
Lots of his associates said it was an honest mistake. I agree with them. However, no matter what good work Mr Ferguson has done (he spends lots of time working against gangs and drugs, as well as mentoring), should he be immune from the law he helped pass? Should he be given a free pass? If he was a gun rights advocate the same people forgiving him would instead be pillorying him and demanding Hard Time, along with more gun restrictions.
“Mental lapses happen,†Giles said. “Things happen. It’s an unfortunate mistake. Dwayne was not conscious that he was in school with a gun.â€
We should remember that next time a kid is suspended from school for have a water pistol or turns a pop tart into a gun.
“forgot” he was wearing a gun?
or “was not aware” that he was in the school?
If he was a teacher, an excuse could be made. But if he is just someone who shows up now and then in no official capacity? Then it’s all just a bit creepy. Especially when he advocates for the NY gun law.
No one is above the law, unless it is those who make the law, those who wield the law, those who decide what the law really says, and those who supported those who decide what the law says, and those who feel that it doesn’t apply to them.
…………. another town with an MRAP?