Chicago, IL—It happens again and again, a forgetful or
preoccupied traveler is found to have a firearm in a carryon bag at Midway or
O’Hare Airports. Zero tolerance kicks in
and the hapless traveler is hauled off to jail.
They are forced to miss their flight along with the weddings, funerals
and business meetings they planned on attending.
That happened to the late retired Chicago cop and actor Dennis Farina seen in the above photo being handcuffed by police at LAX in 2008.
Everyday thousands of travelers are similarly found with lotions,
potions, perfume, liquor or various objects that just appear harmful. Thousands of other forgetful or preoccupied
people with the prohibited liquids don’t face arrest, just the confiscation of
their sometimes-expensive property.
The point is that no person with criminal intent would ever knowingly
place a bag on a conveyor belt for TSA inspection that contains a gun! We all know our bags are sniffed, searched
and x-rayed!
Passengers are permitted to transport their firearms
unloaded in a hard-sided locking case provided they inform the airline ticketing
and checked baggage agents. There is
inspection and tagging the firearm involved.
You’d be surprised to learn that not all airports are the
same. It depends more on local laws,
attitudes and their concerns about fundamental fairness.
If an intended passenger is found with a gun in Phoenix,
Denver or Jacksonville chances are they will be told to remove the gun and make
proper arrangements for its disposition. They are allowed to hand over their gun to
friends, relatives or place it in their automobile trunks without being
arrested or prosecuted.
The same conduct at most airports brings jail, bail
bondsmen, defense lawyers, prosecutors, judges, disgrace and sometimes-horrible
publicity. Even if a passenger were to
win in court the over-all financial damage can be staggering to some
people.
Sometimes criminals are forgetful too. I’m talking about those people that
prohibited by law from possessing firearms and those with stolen guns or ones
with defaced serial numbers. When that
happens arrests are appropriate and reasonable.
Why would we want to clog our jails and courts with people
that are in no way a threat to anyone?
Why would we want to stamp the Mark of Cain (criminal record) on some
traveler destroying their current or future business and professional
licenses? Why would we want to
criminalize forgetfulness?
This problem of unreasonable arrests can be addressed by
either state or federal legislation.
The federal government currently has the ability to assess a
civil penalty of up to $10,000 for violations and that issue also deserves
revisiting and review.
Zero tolerance is more suited for Communist, Nazi or similar Fascist governments, not that of a free nation.
Above all, we have a right to keep and carry firearms that’s spelled out
in our Constitution.
All Americans deserve fairness and the benefit of the doubt when it comes to matters or crime, courts and justice. Arresting some otherwise law-abiding person simply for pure forgetfulness is nothing short of government tyranny.
All Americans deserve fairness and the benefit of the doubt when it comes to matters or crime, courts and justice. Arresting some otherwise law-abiding person simply for pure forgetfulness is nothing short of government tyranny.
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