The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

An Argument for Gun Control?

Posted on | April 18, 2023 | 2 Comments

Say hello to Derrick Edward Gathers, a registered sex offender from Augusta, Georgia. In 2005, when he was 19 years old, Gathers was convicted of third-degree rape — but this mug shot is not from that case. In April 2020, Gathers was arrested on charges of drug possession as well as possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. However, this mug shot is not from that arrest, either. In March 2021, Gathers was arrested for a parole violation but — as you may have guessed — this mug shot is not from that arrest. Would the reader care to guess what happened to Derrick Gathers in June 2022? If you guessed “arrested,” congratulations. This time, Gathers was charged with driving on the wrong side of the road, with no license, no insurance and an expired tag, as well as fleeing or eluding a police officer.

But the mug shot? Not from that arrest, either.

You may be wondering, what does it take to put someone in prison nowadays? Because here we have a registered sex offender who got arrested three times in the span of barely two years — including charges of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon — and we might imagine that at least one of these arrests would have been enough to put Derrick Gathers away for more than a few months at a time. But, no, because here at last is the crime that led to the mug shot at the top:

The registered sex offender accused of trying to kill a state trooper and a Bamberg County deputy on Sunday will remain in jail until his case is heard in court.
Derrick Edward Gathers, 37, of Augusta, Ga. is charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count each of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime and failure to stop for blue lights. . . .
Those charges stem from a traffic stop initiated by the S.C. Highway Patrol and Bamberg County Sheriff’s Office around 3:30 a.m. Sunday on U.S. Highway 78, on the edge of Denmark, near Best Friend Avenue.
As Lance Cpl. B.A. Frazier approached the Mazda SUV allegedly driven by Gathers, the driver presented a pistol and shot the trooper in the side of his face, according to the S.C. Law Enforcement Division.
Warrants also accuse Gathers of shooting at Bamberg County Sheriff’s Deputy Dwayne Duckson.
Frazier and Duckson returned fire, with bullets striking the SUV.
Other officers pursued the SUV until it crashed into a home in Branchville. Gathers was treated by medics and transported to the hospital, where he stayed until he was booked into the Bamberg County Detention Center at 1:59 p.m. Monday.
The Bamberg County courtroom on Tuesday was filled to standing room only with law enforcement officers in support for Frazier and Duckson.
Frazier attended the hearing virtually from his hospital room where he’s undergoing treatment for a gunshot wound to the right side of his face.
Second Circuit Deputy Solicitor David Miller told the court that Gathers has an extensive record with multiple felony convictions in New York and pending charges in Georgia.
Miller described Gathers a danger to the community.
Miller asked the court to deny setting Gathers’ bond.
[Judge Richard] Threatt agreed.
Gathers has an extensive record that dates back to 2005 in Broome County, New York.
On Dec. 20, 2005, he was convicted of third-degree rape and second-degree criminal sexual act there.
He is a registered sex offender. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Sex Offender Registry, Gathers’ aliases include: “Assassin,” “Tiger” and “Tragedy.”
Miller told the court that Gathers has a warrant for his arrest in Georgia.

Here is the state trooper that Gathers shot:

Highway Patrol Lance Corporal B.A. Frazier

Lance Corporal Frazier is said to be making “significant progress” in his recovery, and I checked the White House press office page to see if President Joe Biden has said anything about this case, but apparently not. Every time a shooting makes the national news, Biden issues a statement blaming the NRA and Republicans for opposing “commonsense gun safety reforms,” but when a convicted sex offender who’s been in and out jail repeatedly for the past three years shoots a state trooper, where is Joe? What does the president have to say about this case? How would his so-called “commonsense gun safety reforms” prevent a lifelong felon like Derrick Gathers — who, by law, is not allowed to possess firearms, period — from committing the crime that finally got him locked up with no bail? Do you see the problem here?

All the gun-control laws in the world won’t stop criminals from committing crime, including crimes with guns, because guess what? Criminals steal guns. The only way to stop this is to put criminals behind bars, but Joe Biden and the Democrats don’t want to send criminals to prison because “social justice” or whatever. And as a result of this turn-’em-loose policy, cops end up getting shot by criminals who should never have been out on the street. The only way law-abiding citizens can protect ourselves against these rampaging felons is to buy guns — and Democrats want to put us in prison for daring to defend ourselves.

My friend Robert Waters wrote a book, Guns Save Lives: True Stories of Americans Defending Their Lives With Firearms. You should read it.



 

 

Category: Crime, South Carolina

Comments

2 Responses to “An Argument for Gun Control?”

  1. Daily Top 5 - The DaleyGator
    April 19th, 2023 @ 9:35 am

    […] The Other McCain […]

  2. Three Hundred Years in Prison? : The Other McCain
    April 20th, 2023 @ 8:24 pm

    […] “reforms” won’t stop criminals from stealing guns. Just think, for example, about Derrick Gathers, who recently shot a state trooper in South Carolina. The trooper made a traffic stop on Gathers, who was driving 20 mph over the […]