Convicted Felon Caught with Firearm. What? Not Possible!

On January 3, 2012 at approximately 1:40 PM in Smithfield, NC, police were called to the scene of a shooting. In an apparent gang-related incident, several men in two cars pulled up to a home and exited their vehicles, milling around in front of the house. Gunfire erupted and approximately 15 shots were fired between the crowd and the house.

Three innocent bystanders were injured in the exchange and were taken to a local hospital and treated.

Police were able to apprehend Shanquan Dakell Padgett, a convicted felon, as he attempted to flee the scene. He was in possession of a firearm when apprehended, which is not legal for a convicted felon.

While this story may seem counter-intuitive to the purpose of this blog, it actually fits the narrative nicely. Making a law that prevents convicted felons from possessing firearms only does one thing: it makes it easier to put them back in jail when they're found with one; it does NOT prevent them from obtaining them or carrying them. Expanded gun bans would only take the guns out of the hands of responsible and law-abiding citizens, all the people you read about here, leaving men like Padgett free to continue his life of crime much easier, knowing that it is very unlikely that he would encounter armed resistance.