A Cub Scout Asked a Lawmaker About Gun Control. Then He Got Kicked Out of His Den

Maya Rhodan
Updated

A Colorado Cub Scout was booted from his den last week after asking a state Senator tough questions on several sensitive topics, including gun control.

On Oct. 9, 11-year-old Ames Mayfield and other Scouts gathered for an event with Colorado state Sen. Vicki Marble. During the event, Ames Mayfield pressed the Senator about her record on guns. At one point during his lengthy and well-researched question he said, “why on earth would you want somebody who beats their wife to have access to a gun?”

He also asked the Senator about controversial comments she made in 2013 about black Americans’ health. His mom, Lori, recorded the exchanges.

Lori Mayfield told the New York Times that on Oct. 14, a local Cub Scouts leader told her that Ames Mayfield was not welcome to return to his pack. “He let me know in so many words that the den leader was upset about the topic of gun control,” she said. “It was too politically charged.”

The Boy Scouts of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TIME. The organization told the Times that the 11-year-old Mayfield is now scouting with a different den. “The Boy Scouts of America and the Denver Area Council are pleased that the family will continue their participation in Scouting,” the Boy Scouts told the Times.

State Senator Marble told the Denver Post that she does not blame Ames Mayfield for asking questions because she believes there was “an element of manipulation involved.”

“It wasn’t much different from the questions I normally field in other meetings,” her statement to the Post reads in part. “The invitation to meet with the Scouts was never intended to cause friction and controversy.”

Lori Mayfield denied pushing Ames Mayfield to ask the questions, saying in several interviews that that she only helped him to print them and reminded her son to be respectful. “There were kids who asked about fracking, about the border wall, about fossil fuels,” she told Colorado’s 9News. “In the midst of that, it didn’t seem like gun control was that different.”

Former U.S. Representative from Arizona Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head at a political event in 2011, has also weighed in on the incident, commending Ames’ “courage.”