by Joseph P. Tartaro, Executive Editor
The big news out of New York City is not the wave of recent well publicized arrests of a Tennessee woman nursing student, a Marine from Indiana or a Tea Party leader from California.
The bigger news came on New Year’s Eve when The New York Post and the Associated Press reported that some prominent New York lawmakers were expressing sympathy for the unwitting innocents who were recently arrested for illegal handgun possession after reporting to police and security agents that they were in possession of otherwise legal handguns.
Law-abiding Americans who travel into or through New York State knowingly or unknowingly with handguns that are not licensed in the state but legal elsewhere have been running afoul of the state’s gun law for years. The 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act doesn’t count, even if the handguns are unloaded and in locked containers, especially in the New York City and the Albany area.
The recent victims of New York’s law included 39-year-old Meredith Graves, who was visiting the 9-11 memorial at the World Trade Center site on Dec. 22 and noticed a sign that said “No guns allowed.” The Post reported that Graves asked police where she could check her loaded pistol, which she is legally permitted to carry in Tennessee. She was immediately arrested on a gun-possession charge.
Graves posted bond and is due back in court March 19. She faces 3½ years in prison if convicted.
The Post reported that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-NYC), one of the legislature’s leading anti-gunners, said he wants to examine whether the law should be relaxed. He reportedly said he would hold hearings toward revising the law.
The Assembly Minority Leader, Republican Brian Kolb, also said Graves deserves a break.
Whether this will translate into action in the legislature remains to be seen. The specter of anti-gun New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg darkens the prospects for a more sensible approach.
Another tourist now facing charges is Ryan Jerome, 28, a former Marine Corps gunner, who was enjoying his first business trip to New York City until he walked up to a security officer at the Empire State Building and asked where he should check his gun. The security officer called police and Jerome spent the next two days in jail.
Jerome holds a valid concealed carry permit in Indiana.
Earlier in December, CBS News reported that Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler was taken into custody at LaGuardia Airport after he tried to check in for a Delta flight to Detroit with a locked gun box containing a Glock pistol and 19 rounds of ammunition.
Meckler, 49, declared the handgun, as required, and like Graves and Jerome, he is licensed to carry in his home state of California.
Meckler spent the day in jail. He was arraigned and faces a pending a Jan. 12 trial.
