Tea party patriots co-founder arrested on gun charges at nyc airport

[Aguila Blanca]

Pfft. Greg Revell was not a "high profile" defendant, and they sure gave him the "treatment."

[shootniron]

This guy walks on this.

You cannot extract New York from national politics and in this year when the Dems are scrambling to keep from becoming irrelevant, they are not about to run the risk of alienating the tea party after the fiasco of 2010. This guy will be fined just like the other 50-75 other people that were caught in the same situation this year, he will just be fined about quadruple the amount and those funds will find their way into some re-election fund and everyone will be happy.

[maestro pistolero]

For his sake, I hope you're right and I'm wrong. If they do roast his chestnuts, may they pay dearly at the polls.

[Alaska444]

Yes, being an election year may be of help. I hope so for his sake. Otherwise, the max penalty is quite harsh. Even a felony conviction without much jail time would ruin his career.

Silly how easy it is to commit a felony in one state for doing what is perfectly legal in most of the other states. Quite a sad state of affairs.

[maestro pistolero]

Silly how easy it is to commit a felony in one state for doing what is perfectly legal in most of the other states. Quite a sad state of affairs.

Truly. The same rifle that I may freely transport here in Nevada, loaded (not chambered) on my front seat would get me on the 10 o'clock news in San Diego. And a felony. From perfectly legal without so much as a raised eyebrow, to incarcerated and loss of rights for life. Something is very wrong with this picture.

[BlueTrain]

There are plenty of people who would like their idea of a good law to be the same everywhere but it wouldn't necessarily be your idea of a good law. And while plenty of people here seem to take delight in referring to their state of residence as "the people's republic," none have announced their intention of moving to another country. But maybe that would just be off-topic.

[NJgunowner]

I fully intend to move out of NJ... When I can find a decent job in one of the states I'd like to live in.

[VINCENT1]

what i want to know is how he managed to get a CCL in california. frinends and family members who have lived there all thier lives have been trying for ages, and not one of them has been granted.

[maestro pistolero]

Most counties in CA are virtually shall-issue. The densely populated coastal counties are much more restrictive. CalGuns has made in-roads and has a short and long-term strategic civil rights strategy to fix this. But the courts move at tortoise-speed so it's going to take awhile.

[MLeake]

maestro, this is just another example of how gun control really serves to keep minorities from carrying guns... I am kind of surprised that more on the left either have not noticed, or refuse to see that.

Then again, gun control laws as we know them now were shaped in large part by the establishment's reactions, first to the Civil Rights movement in general, and second to the Black Panthers in specific.

JFK, RFK, and MLK were factors, too, but the result is still that minorities tend to live in areas that are very gun-restrictive.

[BlueTrain]

If you start to think about it, in some places there are and always have been more minorities than "majorities." That certainly may enter into the way things have worked out over the last, oh, 200 years. A minority is not necessarily a group of people of which there are fewer than there are of other groups. But time marches on and in some places today in this country, everyone is in the minority. But some groups tend to run things anyway, mostly to suit themselves. In fact, I'd even say some groups are barely aware of the existance of any other group, or at least they act like it.

It is also unfortunate when there is a public reaction to crime rates that may not be the same reaction you have yourself.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by MLeake

maestro, this is just another example of how gun control really serves to keep minorities from carrying guns... I am kind of surprised that more on the left either have not noticed, or refuse to see that.

Their focus is elsewhere, and they've been brainwashed. I used to have an elderly friend (now deceased) who was a truly delightful woman. But she was a died-in-the-wool liberal, and she had firmly bought into the "The National Guard is the militia" argument.

[MLeake]

Yes, BT, it is unfortunate when people think that legislation has much impact on the behavior of criminals.

On the behavior of law-abiding citizens, yes... but not much on criminals. Not unless the criminal justice system is capable of dealing with all the criminals it creates.

The bad guys just work at not getting caught, or assume they won't really do the time anyway. Or, in some cases, they just aren't all that smart.

Personally, I think we would be a lot better off with higher standards of personal accountability, and less handing over of decision-making to a nanny state. (Note that the nanny state doesn't accept responsibility for the consequences of its actions, either...)

[secret_agent_man]

Back on topic, what she said: http://lipstickunderground.blogspot....-mecklers.html

[MLeake]

Ok, back on topic. If a state does not allow non-residents any mode of carry, does that not effectively create a ban?

Do bans not exceed the allowed level of regulation to which SCOTUS alluded?

Perhaps a lawsuit over this concept is the goal.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Originally Posted by secret_agent_man

Back on topic, what she said: http://lipstickunderground.blogspot....-mecklers.html

She is ignoring the "... to any other place where he or she may lawfully possess and carry it..." clause also.

This all may well be intentional and, if it is, I applaud the mans courage. It is exactly the same as refusing to move to the back of the bus, IMHO. Both are refusals to abdicate civil rights, no more, no less.

However, if he thought he was *protected* by FOPA as a matter of normal application of the law, he's wrong. It simply defies common sense to assert that a stop of several days duration counts as an incidental stop on the way to some other destination.

[Alaska444]

Today, 07:47 AM #108
VINCENT1
Junior Member

Join Date: December 16, 2011
Location: LAKE COUNTY FLORIDA
Posts: 13
what i want to know is how he managed to get a CCL in california. frinends and family members who have lived there all thier lives have been trying for ages, and not one of them has been granted.

Actually, it is rather simple, don't live in LA County or San Diego county. The man in question is in a county that is essentially shall issue. I live on the outskirts of LA county. If I lived 5 miles away in Kern County, I would have no problems at all getting a CCW in CA. I have no plans to move to Kern county any time soon, but that is a solution for many that are denied in LA county. Here it is up to the LA sheriff who only hands them out to the rich and famous. Ordinary folks have no chance of getting one, but many of the well known movie stars have theirs.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by secret agent man

Back on topic, what she said: http://lipstickunderground.blogspot....-mecklers.html

You're still not getting it.

FOPA (as quoted in the article you cite -- she doesn't get it, either):

"Under FOPA, notwithstanding any state or local law, a person is entitled to transport a firearm from any place where he or she may lawfully possess and carry such firearm to any other place where he or she may lawfully possess and carry it, if the firearm is unloaded and locked out of reach..."

Meckler could not legally possess or carry a handgun in New York, ergo the FOPA does not apply.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by MLeake

Ok, back on topic. If a state does not allow non-residents any mode of carry, does that not effectively create a ban?

It does, which is why the Ohio Supreme Court ruled a few years ago that if the legislature chose to ban concealed carry, since the Ohio state constitution guaranteed a right to bear arms, open carry had to be legal. This is what set the stage for Ohio's concealed carry law.

According to Al Norris, Idaho had a similar ruling about a century earlier.

[secret_agent_man]

You're still not getting it.

No, you are the one who doesn't get it.

If this is a setup, which it appears it might well be, the prosecution will be unable to place the gun that was in Mecklers possession at the check-in counter anywhere else in the state of new york. Not likely Meckler would divulge anything to that effect, especially if he's been over this in advance with staff at the Second Amendment Foundation.

So all new york and the queens d.a. have is a sharp lawyer and conservative political activist with friends in high and low places arrested in violation of his 2nd Amendment rights and charged with possession of a handgun in a safe harbor for such activity under federal law.

Now maybe you're beginning to get it.

And, perhaps, new york and the d.a. are starting to realize they may have been duped.

[MLeake]

Additionally, has Meckler stipulated that he never left New York? Has any verifiable evidence been put forward that he remained in NYC the entire 4 days? Could he have gone to VT, PA, NH, ME, etc on his trip?

He could claim he only went through NY for the airport portions of a multistate trip, and use FOPA.

He could claim that his stays, if any, in NY were incidental to the airline portion of a multistate itinerary, and try to use FOPA - in an attempt to get case law on what defines an allowed stop.

Or he could have stayed in NYC the whole time, and put forward an argument that the complete ban in place is unconstitutional. That would be the best one yet, as far as potential outcomes for the pro-RKBA side... but would be the costliest for Meckler.

I doubt an "Oops" defense will cut water in NY, so I hope that isn't where this is going.

[MTT TL]

He had the gun at the airport. That is pretty damning that he had possession or constructive possession.

[maestro pistolero]

I think deep down NY knows this law is indefensible, and that it's days are probably numbered. If they go easy on him, it may be because they realize that when push comes to shove, they'll lose at the high court.

They may rather keep an unconstitutional law on the books as a means to suppress the right, than to win every singe case and risk having it struck.

[secret_agent_man]

He had the gun at the airport. That is pretty damning that he had possession or constructive possession.

Meckler had the gun in his possession while in the act of traveling when arrested at LaGuardia and is consequently protected by FOPA.

For constructive possession, it must be shown the gun was in new york state somewhere outside the federally protected umbrella, that Meckler knew it's whereabouts and could have accessed it.

So far, I don't see the gun placed anywhere in this case but at the airport.

[thallub]

i can't believe that a lawyer was not aware of the NY prohibition on the possession of unregistered handguns. This stuff has been publicized all over the US for at least 15 years. Federal courts have upheld this NY handgun ban. Like it or not the NY law has withstood the test of time. Bring an unlicensed in NY handgun to NY at your peril.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1400739/posts

New York state's handgun licensing scheme does not violate the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. Upholding the dismissal of a suit brought by an out-of-state resident barred from being allowed to carry a handgun under the licensing scheme, the circuit also found in Bach v. Pataki, 03-9123, that the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV "cannot preclude New York's residency requirement in light of the State's substantial interest in monitoring handgun licenses."

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/new-yo...gun-law/81209/


Read what a NY City law firm that handles guns in NY City airport cases has to say:

http://www.queensdefense.com/guns.htm#airport