As he faces felony charges for bringing a gun onto a school campus, Dwayne Ferguson may be contemplating the wisdom of the New York SAFE Act for which he tirelessly campaigned as a community activist in Buffalo. The Buffalo News reports:

Dwayne Ferguson spent more than a decade advocating for nonviolence and peace in the streets of Buffalo.

He was a well-known face in the movement for the SAFE Act, the state law that made carrying a gun on school property a felony. He was also a familiar presence in the hallways of the city's Harvey Austin Elementary School, where he worked in the after-school program and mentored students.

No one imagined that on Thursday he would show up at the school in possession of a gun, touching off an hours-long lockdown, search and ultimately his arrest on two felony charges.

Ferguson, 52, told WGRZ-TV that he frequently carries the gun, for which he has a permit, and did not realize he had it on him when he went to the school as part of the mentoring program.

Those who have worked with him also said they believe it was an honest mistake.

Honest mistake or not, Ferguson is accused of committing a felony and now faces prison. Perhaps the real mistake was in pushing for a law that takes guns out of the hands of good guys, and makes sure that any law-disregarding armed attacker would face no armed opposition on campus. This reality seems to be occurring to some of his supporters:

"The more they make these gun-free zones, the more they make people vulnerable to mass killers like at Columbine and Sandy Hook," said Stephen J. Aldstadt, a Colden resident who serves as president of the state Shooters Committee on Political Education.

Some of Ferguson's supporters echoed similar criticism, saying that carrying a weapon meant Ferguson could have helped police in the event there was a gunman actually threatening students.

"Dwayne probably was in a position to help the police not knowing that he was the one they were looking for," said George Johnson, president of Buffalo United Front,

Ferguson sounds like a well-intentioned man. I doubt he was ever a threat to the students. But he pushed for legislation that makes felons out of people who carry firearms onto campus for any reason whatsoever, including by accident, or a wish to protect students from ill-intentioned intruders.

Equal justice under the law would seem to require that no favoritism be applied. Perhaps Ferguson and his supporters could use his prison years to reflect on the irrationality of the law they pushed for.

Hat tip: Instapundit