Firearms Coalition

Tripping over NYC’s Stupid Gun Laws

Thursday, January 19th, 2012 at 11:44 AM

By Jeff Knox

Tripping over NYC’s Stupid Gun Laws

FirearmsCoalition.org

Manassas, VA --(Ammoland.com)- The closing days of 2011 brought a rash of collisions between otherwise upstanding citizens and New York City’s infamous gun laws.

On December 16 Mark Meckler, a prominent California Tea Party leader, was arrested at LaGuardia Airport as he attempted to check luggage containing his unloaded, cased, handgun in accordance with TSA, FAA, and Delta Airline rules.

Then on December 22, fourth-year medical student Meredith Graves was arrested at the 9/11 memorial when she asked a security guard where she could check her pistol in an attempt to comply with a “No Guns” sign. That case echoed a September case in which Indiana jeweler, Ryan Jerome, also tried to comply with a “No Guns” sign at the Empire State Building by asking a guard to hold his gun.

These are just the latest examples in a long stream of incidents that serve to demonstrate how gun laws snare the law abiding. Each case is unique, but virtually every case of an otherwise law-abiding citizens running afoul of draconian gun laws – in New York or elsewhere – falls into one of the following broad categories:

Ignorance:

Both Meredith Graves and Ryan Jerome thought they were complying with the law when they attempted to surrender their sidearms for safekeeping. They saw the signs and tried to obey. Unfortunately they didn’t see any “No Guns” signs when they crossed into New York. They should have known better.

Ignorance is a dangerous thing. There are several web sites which feature interactive gun law maps. For more detailed information, I recommend GunLaws.com, where my friend Alan Korwin offers the most comprehensive collection of books about owning, carrying, and using guns at home or away, anywhere in the country.

Forgetfulness:

For many of us, a gun is a normal part of our kit, but we can’t aford to forget it’s there. When you cross a state line that “just in case” gun can be a serious problem if it comes to the attention of the local police. The cases of Stephen Grant and Jonathan Ryan fall into this category. Mr. Grant remembered his gun too late and locked it in his NYC hotel safe – then forgot to take it with him when he went home. In the end he took the more prudent way out by pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge and paying a fine. It cost him much more than the fine, but it didn’t cost him years in prison and permanent loss of his gun rights as it could have. Mr. Ryan, a Florida landscaper, had his gun discovered in his glovebox after a routine traffic stop. He gambled and stared down the potential felony conviction with its mandatory minimum sentence of 3.5 years. The jury which decided his fate apparently knew its rights and responsibilities, and voted to acquit. The Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA.org) has publicized the Ryan case because it is a textbook example of what juries should do with bad laws.

Odds-Playing:

There are times when it might seem prudent to adhere to the old adage that it’s better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6. When my father was directly threatened by a member of the Manson family, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, in the 1970s, he weighed the odds and started carrying illegally. Arizona had no provision for concealed carry then, but Dad figured that the threat posed by a proven killer and her cohorts outweighed that of a misdemeanor charge in a comparatively gun-friendly state. The full story appears in Neal Knox – The Gun Rights War, which is available at NealKnox.com.

In other places, such as NYC, carrying illegally is a felony with a mandatory 3.5 year sentence. That shifts the odds significantly. A NYC jury concluded that Bernhard Goetz’ use of deadly force was justified, but convicted him for having the gun. Goetz was later sued by one of his “victims” (as the NYC press called them) and ordered to pay $43 million dollars.

Passing Through:

Under the McClure-Volkmer Firearms Owners Protection Act (FOPA) a gun owner can legally travel through a jurisdiction where the gun might be illegal, if the gun is unloaded in a locked case and lawfully possessed in the origin and in the destination. For Mark Meckler the crux was where he was coming from and where he stopped on his way. An overnight stop, or even a breif detour on the way to the airport, can negate the FOPA protections. Meckler cut a deal, pleading guilty to disorderly conduct, paid a fine and lost his Glock, rather than place his future in the hands of a NYC jury.

A decision to carry a gun includes a load of responsibilities. It must be understood that even a clearly justified defensive use of a firearm – which saves your life – can easily cost your home and life savings through legal fees and civil penalties. Deadly force is serious business. No one should take the decision lightly, and threat recognition needs to include recognizing the threat posed by state power – particularly in states like New York.

Copyright © 2012 Neal Knox Associates – The most trusted name in the rights movement.

About:
The Firearms Coalition is a loose-knit coalition of individual Second Amendment activists, clubs and civil rights organizations. Founded by Neal Knox in 1984, the organization provides support to grassroots activists in the form of education, analysis of current issues, and with a historical perspective of the gun rights movement. The Firearms Coalition is a project of Neal Knox Associates, Manassas, VA. Visit: www.FirearmsCoalition.org

Tags: Alan Korwin, Conservative Politics, Firearms Coalition, Gun Laws, Jeff Knox, New York

Filed under: Gun Rights News by Ammoland 2 Comments »

All I Wanted for Christmas was Fewer Stupid Gun Laws

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 at 10:24 AM

By Jeff Knox

Polish P64 Pistol

FirearmsCoalition.org

Manassas, VA --(Ammoland.com)- I wasn’t among the estimated 2 million or so people who found a gun under the tree this Christmas, not because I didn’t want one or because my wife doesn’t love me, but because of stupid gun laws and an aversion to spending extra money to satisfy those stupid gun laws.

I’m frugal by nature and that inclination has gotten more pronounced with the current economy and future uncertainties.

But this Christmas my friends at J&G Sales made me an offer I didn’t think I could refuse. They lowered the price on their P64 pistols to just $149.95!

The P64 is a Polish knock-off of the famed Walther PPK carried by James Bond, but with a little more power. I just had to have one and my wife agreed so it was settled. That’s when the stupid gun laws kicked in.

In order to take advantage of the great deal from my friends in Prescott, I had to either drive up there or call and have the gun shipped to a dealer closer to my home in the Phoenix area. Driving up to Prescott takes about 2 and a half hours each way and would burn close to $50 worth of gas. Having the gun shipped down to a local dealer would add a $22 shipping charge plus a $35 transfer fee from my local dealer. Either way I would have to fill out paperwork and get approved through the NICS “instant” background check system. My sister, who lives in Prescott, could have gone down to J&G and picked up the gun for me except that’s illegal. If she were buying the gun for me as a gift, that would be OK, but if she were to buy it on my behalf or with the intention of selling it to me, that would be considered a “straw purchase” and she could face 5 years and $50,000 in penalties.

There was simply no way that I was going to be able to buy that gun without incurring $50 to $75 in additional costs. While that’s not a whole lot of money, it is more than a third of the price of the gun itself and it put the total cost over what I was willing to pay. In the end, I set the money aside in hopes that I’ll be able to cut a deal the next time I’m up in Prescott, or find some other bargain here locally.

The really frustrating thing about this story is knowing that the laws which kept me from buying this gun don’t keep criminals from getting the guns they use.

There were some 16 million NICS checks conducted in 2011 at a direct cost of more than a Billion dollars. That Billion dollars comes out of your paycheck and the value received for it is highly questionable. There has never been a single study indicating that the background check system has reduced violent crime. Still, a NICS checks is required every time I buy a gun from a dealer. It doesn’t matter how many guns I already own or how many I have recently purchased. Each time I wish to add to my collection I am placed under suspicion and investigated anew.

Couldn’t those Billions have been used to fund proven, effective crime-fighting programs or to keep serious criminals behind bars longer?

Gun laws – no matter how “common sense” they seem to be – don’t work because they simply don’t apply to criminals. Criminals get their guns through criminal means – by stealing them or getting them through straw purchasers. They find ways around the laws which are enforced against the rest of us. Certainly I agree that we should make an effort to keep guns away from criminals and crazy people, but at what cost and to what effect? Does it make sense to bind the hands of everyone in the vain hope of binding the hands of the criminals and crazies? Doesn’t it make more sense to literally bind – incarcerate – those who are too dangerous to be trusted with guns? If a person is known to be too dangerous to be trusted with a gun, what’s he doing driving down my street, hanging out at the grocery where my wife shops, or sitting in the park where my grandson plays? And why is the government messing up my Christmas, spending my money, and often disarming me in the name of protecting me from this guy that shouldn’t be on the streets in the first place?