Yes, I’m being sarcastic. The Police Chief at LAX says that guns and airports don’t mix. Funny, this guy didn’t seem to get the message there Chief. Another vicitim of California’s highly complicated and unconstitutional gun laws.
“I am being charged for a law that is meant for ex-felons and bank robbers, that kind of individual,” Dominguez said.
I’m afraid you’re wrong there my friend. You are exactly who these laws are aimed at.
I’ve wound up passing through the Philly airport several times while in possession of a handgun. I noticed that they reserve the right to pull over any car at any time for inspection along the road leading to the terminals. I wonder what trumped-up charge they might try to stick someone with were they caught up in one of these fishing expeditions while in possession of a legal CCW.
???
Isn’t there a federal law called the Firearm Owners Protection Act which covers situations like these?
FOPA’s safe harbor provisions only cover you while traveling interstate. They don’t exempt you from state laws. If your starting location is California, you’re governed by California law until you exit California. Once you cross state lines, you can claim the federal safe harbor exemption.
I wonder what trumped-up charge they might try to stick someone with were they caught up in one of these fishing expeditions while in possession of a legal CCW.
They don’t really have anything to work with. It’s not illegal to bring a firearm into the non-sterile area of an airport in Pennsylvania. If you have a license, you’re good. If they arrest you, or take your guns, they are acting under color of law, and can be sued.
In California, they are charging this guy with violating California’s transport laws for assault weapons, because he did not go directly to the range. New Jersey has a similar provision for all firearms being transported. People can and have been prosecuted for stopping off for a cup of coffee on the way back to the range.
I wish I could get on that jury. I’d nullify right quick!
If FOPA provides safe harbor provisions for interstate travel, then why do Pennsylvania people with pistol carry permits still get arrested in New Jersey sometimes?
Because you’re not allowed to carry in your vehicle while traveling through NJ. The gun has to be in a locked box, unloaded and separate from the ammo, which has to be in its own locked box as well. Also, NJ banned hollow point ammo, so don’t get caught in NJ with the ammo not locked away in the said box. Each round of HP ammo they find on you or your vehicle, that’s not locked away gets you 5 years in jail for EACH round.
Five years in prison for each HP round? That translates into about 25 to 50 year’s worth of sentencing for a pistol loaded with HP ammunition, depending on the pistol.
New Jersey’s onerous and draconian laws on guns and ammunition are one thing, but its criminal justice system and how criminal cases get adjudicated are another. Plea bargains and deals seem to be the norm there. I have yet to ever read or hear about even the most hardened gang members in the Garden State receiving lengthy, decades-long prison sentences for just gun and/or HP ammunition possession charges.
That’s right. California’s draconian gun laws are ridiculous and anti-Constitutional, but the fine folks at CalGuns and the CalGuns Foundation have the State of California and CA’s DoJ running scared.
Check them out at http://www.calguns.net!