What should this gun owner have done?

[SoonerDVM]

I read this article today:

High court denies man's gun arrest appeal

I'm curious what you would do in that situation to try to avoid the same problem.

Not so much interested in discussion of New Jersey gun laws, but more on what the guy could have/should have done to avoid the problem. Even the judges admit he was in a bad situation.

Here's the relevant portion of that article:

Revell was flying from Salt Lake City to Allentown, Pa., on March 31, 2005, with connections in Minneapolis and Newark, N.J. He had checked his Utah-licensed gun and ammunition with his luggage in Salt Lake City and asked airport officials to deliver them both with his luggage in Allentown.

But the flight from Minneapolis to Newark was late, so Revell missed his connection to Allentown. The airline wanted to bus its passengers to Allentown, but Revell realized that his luggage had not made it onto the bus and got off. After finding his luggage had been given a final destination of Newark by mistake, Revell missed the bus. He collected his luggage, including his gun and ammunition, and decided to wait in a nearby hotel with his stuff until the next flight in the morning.

When Revell tried to check in for the morning flight, he again informed the airline officials about his gun and ammunition to have them checked through to Allentown. He was reported to the TSA, and then arrested by Port Authority police for having a gun in New Jersey without a New Jersey license.

[snip]

"We recognize that he had been placed in a difficult situation through no fault of his own," wrote Judge Kent A. Jordan of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. However, the law "clearly requires the traveler to part ways with his weapon and ammunition during travel; it does not address this type of interrupted journey or what the traveler is to do in this situation."

 

[338Shooter]

Posted in the correct forum?

 

[inactive]

I think he did the right thing by notifying the authorities and acting in good faith to be complaint. As they say, "no good deed goes unpunished."

The authorities need to have a contingency plan for such situations, aside from criminalizing otherwise law-abiding citizens who are working to comply with their laws; hopefully they recognize this now even though it seems they are immune from civil action against them.

 

[Plinker]

Wow, so much for being forthright and honest... I guess he could have hidden the pistol and ammunition in a box and illegally mailed them, or taken another bus and just not declared it. I wonder when exactly he became a criminal in New Jersey's eyes: the minute he took posession of his own luggage?

 

[Blinocac200sx]

He should have immediately gotten on the phone with JB Books and waited until he arrived before doing anything else.

 

[Old Fart]

For me, I'd a skipped those liberal lay overs.
I know sometimes you can't, in which case hopefully you can find the laws governing them.
Anymore I really don't like flying.
But if this is what you can expect maybe having a ffl ship it for you might be a good thing.

 

[beast1989]

The man on the corner waiving the illegal "gat" gets a free pass while the gov'ment "makes" themselves look good by protecting law abiding citizens from other good guys

 

[grizzly97]

Sounds like he did the right thing, but got screwed cause of the poorly constructed laws. I'd have done the same thing. Hope he gets a good lawyer!

 

[inactive]

Sounds like he did the right thing, but got screwed cause of the poorly constructed laws. I'd have done the same thing. Hope he gets a good lawyer!

Lawyer does not matter at this point. Criminal charges were dropped. Looks like he has no civil cause of action any further since the Supreme Court is not hearing his case.

 

[Gunrunner45]

First, he should have never went anywhere near the Socialist Republic of New Jersey.

Next time he will check the firearms laws for all states he is passing / connecting through and adjust his travel plans accordingly.

Flights get delayed and or cancelled, weather happens, mechanical failures whatever. Anytime you have a connecting flight you run the risk of being stranded. He was traveling with a firearm. It is his responsibility to know the laws of the states he is traveling through and to abide by those laws.

He should have never left the airport with his firearm. Upon his arrival and discovery that his bag had not been checked through to his final destination, he should have proceeded directly to baggage check and checked his bag before departing the airport.