'Red Sweater Guy' Ken Bone's Son Suspended Over Shooting Pic

Ken Bone became a bit of a meme during the presidential debates. Known for his Mr. Roger’s-like red sweater, he made an impression on the American people.

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Eventually, furor faded over the man, and his life, more or less, returned to normal. That is, until last week when a simple tweet caused problems for his son.

Ken Bone — aka the “red sweater guy” — claims his son was suspended from school on Thursday and is now being investigated by cops for a photo that shows him firing an assault-style rifle at a shooting range.

The picture was posted by Bone earlier in the week after he caught wind of a Twitter exchange between Marjory Stoneman Douglas student and gun rights advocate Kyle Kashuv and national security lawyer Bradley P. Moss.

The two had been trading verbal jabs over a tweet that Kashuv posted online Monday, in which he claimed to have been “wrongfully questioned” by police for shooting an AR-15 at a gun range — and then sharing footage of it online.

Bone chimed in Tuesday, saying: “Here’s a pic of my son learning to shoot safely under my supervision. Maybe those security guys want to talk to him.”

Obviously, Bone was being facetious.

This is an activity that takes place all over this country, each and every day. Fathers often teach their sons how to shoot. Mothers do it, too. Daughters learn, as well. It’s the great American pastime, if you want to get right down to it.

Unfortunately, it seems Bone’s facetiousness didn’t get picked up on by the authorities.

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Look, yes, we want police to investigate. Numerous mass shootings turn out to be the result of law enforcement failures, and I get that police and school officials don’t want a repeat. I really do.

But you know what doesn’t count as a red flag? Someone going on a range trip with their father.

This isn’t about red flags. This is about harassment. This is an attempt to drive the concept of youth shooting underground. They’re essentially saying that you can do it, just don’t talk about it. They’re trying, yet again, to stigmatize gun ownership and gun use, making it look like no one owns or uses firearms so they can present it as a symbol of anti-social attitudes.

Unfortunately for them, they don’t get that power. The First Amendment extends to school kids. We know that because it came up when kids with anti-gun attitudes decided to stage a walkout last month. Well, that knife cuts both ways.

Even worse, though, was that the son had no part in posting the pic. It was his father who posted it. His son doesn’t even have a Twitter account, according to Bone. In other words, the boy is being punished for the “sins” of the father.

If this doesn’t alarm you, you need to wake up.

 

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