More Marco Moments

Today one of my Starbucks barristas lent her voice to the talk over Akron Council President Marco Sommerville's trouble with a loaded .38 in his bag while en route to boarding a plane at CAK. She's a Christian woman, she tells me, but then whispers "what the HELL was he thinking?"

Here's the answer.

"I wasn't," he tells friends and family who were asking the exact same question (albeit some with more forceful language). That's the one-on-one Marco had with WAKR morning host Ray Horner, although not on the air -- yet. Sommerville's lawyer has already done most of the talking here and Marco confirmed for us he does have a concealed carry permit and just forgot the gun was in his carry-on luggage while moving through the security checkpoint at the Akron-Canton Airport to lead a contingent of Akron council reps to the National League of Cities get-together in New Orleans. (sidebar: is it just me or does anyone else find it interesting a leading major city Democrat has a concealed permit and regularly packs a gun, even for business purposes? I thought all those folks were supposed to be gun control wackos...)

An honest mistake, but now there are more questions on what happens next.

Marco's attorney is Bob Meeker, and he tells AkronNewsNow this isn't the first time someone has been popped with a piece at the TSA checkpoint; in fact, he says, three others were treated as misdemeanor violations when they went through the court system and it stands to reason Marco would be treated otherwise. The Council President was also allowed to continue on his trip as long as he agreed to face the music when he got back, also typical treatment in cases such as this where the perpetrator clearly acted out of ignorance and wasn't pulling an Osama by slipping weapons past the security inspectors.

But today's Akron Beacon Journal reports police may seek to serve Sommerville with a felony warrant when he gets back in town. Is Marco being subjected to a higher standard because he's a government official? The conspiracy theorists speculate Sheriff Drew Alexander, as a Republican, will push for the felony warrant and the feds will then take over throwing City government into turmoil because Marco will be turfed from office since felons can't serve. Alexander says most of that story is bunk, telling AkronNewsNow the treatment is typical and he expects the rest of the way out to be typical, too.

Makes a nice story to fill space in the paper (and online in blogs, thankfully) but don't look for it to get that far.

If it's a felony warrant it'll be because that's the way the law is supposed to be, followed quickly by a plea on misdemeanor charges just like everybody else. Most of these cases of innocent what-the-HELL-where you thinking stupidity wind up exactly where they belong: in a muni court, not a federal case, with time served and fines paid and embarrassment serving a more fitting punishment. But in the meantime it gives ink-and-electron stained scribes something to fill space and time with, which in the greater scheme of things is a welcome change from the usual pre-holiday fare involving 765 different ways to cook a turkey, how many police will be looking for boozers, what gas costs and the hassles of flying during the busiest travel time of the year blah-blah-blah.

Shameless plug: Marco's scheduled to be in-studio with Ray Horner on 1590 WAKR Monday morning in the 8:00 hour. He's been a stand-up guy off the air, telling us he knows he messed up (even Marco asked what-the-HELL was he thinking, barristas!) and will take the medicine. Sommerville is not the kind of politician to duck questions from reporters or the public, taking phone calls many times while on our airwaves. I'm just hoping the warrant blood lust holds off enough so Marco doesn't have to call us collect from the Barberton lockup.