A former New York state senator candidate was taken into custody. The arrest was a result of the former candidate possessing an illegal assault weapon.

Police found an AR-15 assault rifle inside the car of Gia Arnold together with her boyfriend Halim Johnson and was taken into custody immediately at Niagara Falls. She was initially pulled over by the authorities after she failed to use her signal light after turning but instead of just a simple traffic violation, weapons were discovered including magazines inside the passenger's seat.

According to the police report, Arnold's Pontiac Vibe was loaded with deadly weapons. When authorities searched the car, they found the assault rifle beside her seat and a handgun placed in the cup holder. In 2014 during Arnold's campaign in a district along Lake Ontario between Rochester and the Canadian border, she disagreed with the law against possessing firearms. Her platform was to remove the assault weapon measure known as the SAFE act.

In the SAFE act law, it disables citizens to own high-powered firearms like the AR-15 as well as other semi-automatic guns with removable magazines. The owner of this type of weapons should register them with the State Police.

During her stint in the senatorial race last 2014, she abandoned the race due to issues of extramarital affairs but, later on, rejoined the election. She admitted the issue and told reports that she already left her husband but, in the end, was defeated by Robert G. Ortt.

An organization called Rally.org is now seeking funds to pay the bail for Arnold and her boyfriend, they insisted that the arrest was illegal and a racial discrimination against Johnson. Currently, the group has already raised $2,400 dollars and was able to get Arnold out of prison. Her boyfriend is still not out which was also accused of being a drug dealer.