If’you’re going to make a political statement, make sure that statement isn’t “I am an idiot.”

All four Canal Winchester schools were on lockdown for about a half-hour during mid-morning Nov. 14 after a 19-year-old Canal Winchester man allegedly brought a high-powered, loaded military rifle within the boundaries of a school zone.

The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, which provides law enforcement services to Canal Winchester, charged Alex E. Gibbons, 24 Elizabeth St., with inducing panic and having weapons in a school zone, both fourth-degree felonies.

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Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Marian Vault, commander of the Canal Winchester substation, told Canal Winchester City Council Nov. 18 Gibbons “borrowed a gun from a friend and said he wanted to exercise his right to openly carry a firearm, but he isn’t allowed to do that on school property.”

If you want to open carry to display your rights, you have the legal right to do so in many places, but it is your obligation not to do so in areas where that is a crime.