Not here... Here
Last month, we reported that Akron City Council president Marco Sommerville "accidentally" carried a loaded .38-caliber through security at Akron-Canton Airport. Seems he didn't notice all those big ass signs saying "No Guns Allowed."
Well, according to the police and everyone else involved in the investigation, there is no need to put scare quotes around accidentally. Here's something to help you sleep at night, sweetie - I carry so often that I've walked into places with "No Guns" signs. Outside of federal buildings and the such, they don't carry weight here in Florida.
However, fate -- and a dubious legal system -- intervened this week, when Sommerville pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge, after prosecutors offered him a deal. He was slapped with a $500 fine and his gun was confiscated. Sommerville claimed he carried the weapon for protection against the thugs who run his ward. Residents are hoping that, without his trusty firearm, the councilman might actually clean up the neighborhood, instead of just threatening to shoot everyone who looks suspicious.
Has Mr. Marco actually threatened to shoot people? That's a felony charge right there. I wonder if this little girl actually understands what she's saying? I doubt it.
While Sommerville's conviction may stink of favoritism, FBI spokesman Scott Wilson told Scene in November that a misdemeanor conviction wouldn't be unusual in this case. Wilson said that in the two previous cases of people carrying guns into the Akron-Canton Airport, both men copped to misdemeanors and simply paid fines. "Intent is an important part," Wilson says. "It's only a felony if the person intended to bring the weapon into a secure area."
Yeah, sucks when we have to go through the whole "prove them guilty" shit, ain't it, Denise? In fact, I guess if we just ignored intent, then people who accidentally kill someone in a car crash should get life without parole since they're murderers, right?
Which brings us to the morals of this story: 1. Stupidity is an actual alibi. 2. You're better off carrying a gun into an airport than driving there drunk.
Well, Ms. Grollums, you've got one hell of an alibi. It takes a high degree of "stupid" to confuse the threat of driving drunk which is an active danger to all around you to simply carrying a firearm, which is really only a danger if you intentionally use it. But Ms. Grollums doesn't really care about intent, does she?