Watch: Cub Scout’s Gun Control, Race Questions Get Him Kicked Out
A Colorado Cub Scout’s pointed questions on gun control and race led to his dismissal from his group.
Ames Mayfield, 11, along with his Broomfield, Colorado, Cub Scout pack met State Senator Vicki Marble earlier this month. The group was told by its leaders to prepare questions for the Republican senator. Mayfield’s mother, Lori Mayfield recorded her son’s questions on “common sense gun laws.”
“I was shocked that you co-sponsored a bill to allow domestic violence offenders to continue to own a gun,” Ames Mayfield said. “Why on earth would you want somebody who beats their wife to have access to a gun?”
Ames Mayfield’s long question included research, along with pointed criticism.
The event took place Oct. 9, days after the mass shooting in Las Vegas, an event Ames Mayfield referenced in his question. Specifically, the scout asked why Marble did not support legislation banning bump stocks, a gun modification device used by the Las Vegas shooter that makes rifles shoot at a faster rate.
Marble responded that the Las Vegas shooting happened in a “gun free zone” and that the state needed “crime control.”
A few days later on Oct. 14 Lori Mayfield was asked to meet with a Cub Scout leader.
“He let me know in so many words that the den leader was upset about the topic of gun control. It was too politically charged,” said Lori Mayfield to the New York Times Sunday. “He communicated that my son was no longer welcome back to the den.”
Ames Mayfield said he was upset to leave the group in an interview with KUSA, a Denver, Colorado, based NBC News affiliate.
“I am really heartbroken,” said Ames Mayfield
Lori Mayfield also said the fact that she posted the video and references in her son’s question to Marble being a Republican and that she believes gun ownership is a right while healthcare is a privilege helped lead to the dismissal. Ames Mayfield was able to join a different pack as he now advances to being a Boy Scout.
Ames Mayfield also asked about a statement Marble made about black people and their health several years ago. In a legislative committee hearing on poverty in 2013, Marble referenced southern barbecue and chicken when talking about the lower health outcomes for black constituents.
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