High School Student Stole Guns

The Berkshire Eagle reports.

PITTSFIELD -- A former Taconic High School student accused of bringing a loaded gun to the Pittsfield school in April has been indicted by a Berkshire grand jury.

Rayquan B. Watford, 18, of Wallace Place, was held on $1,000 cash, $10,000 bond after denying multiple gun crimes at his arraignment Tuesday in Berkshire Superior Court.

Pittsfield police said Watford stole two handguns belonging to his girlfriend's father on April 9, and he brought one of those weapons to Taconic on April 15.

That gun -- a 9mm semiautomatic Beretta pistol -- was loaded, according to police, who found it in Watford's backpack. The other stolen weapon was a .380-caliber semiautomatic Colt pistol, police said.

On Tuesday, Watford pleaded not guilty to double counts of larceny of a firearm, possession of a large-capacity firearm, and ownership, possession or transfer of a gun without a firearm identification card. He also denied single counts of possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card, carrying a firearm on school grounds, possession of a gun with a defaced serial number, and defacing the serial number on a gun.

Police said both weapons were stolen on April 9 from the Taylor Street home of James J. Fitzsimmons, whose daughter was dating Watford at the time.

Not a single word about the "victim" of the theft. Do you suppose the guns were properly stored and secured? Did the gun owner report them to the police as stolen, like any good citizen would? I'm guessing the answers are "no" and "no."

In my wild conjecture, I'm figuring the guns were legally owned by the girlfriend's father. But my point is, the problem is greater than what this stupid 18-year-old kid did.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.