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Elderly Woman Arrested For Bringing BB Rifle To Westport Town Meeting

HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) - One Connecticut woman's idea of a political statement has landed her in handcuffs.

86-year-old Estelle Margolis of Westport brought a BB rifle with ammunition to a town hall meeting on Tuesday evening.

She said the whole idea was to demonstrate how easy it is to buy a gun.

Before driving to the meeting, she drove to a local Walmart, picked out the gun, and headed for the clerk at the check out register.

Elderly Woman Arrested For Bringing B.B. Rifle To Westport Town Meeting

"I paid in cash. He did not ask for my name. He did not do anything to record the sale for anybody. Gave me my receipt and I walked out of the store," she told WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau. "What I wanted to do was to bring that gun to the stage during the discussion about gun control."

Margolis stuffed the rifle into a laundry bag, but at town hall a few people suspected she might be carrying a gun.

So they called police, who confiscated the weapon and charged Margolis with breach of peace. She is due in court in Norwalk on January 18.

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