Posted on 01/12/2012 10:09:36 PM PST by GVnana
Nevada County Tea Party Patriots
January 12, 2012
GREAT NEWS! I'M DELIGHTED TO SHARE THE PRESS RELEASE MARK ISSUED TODAY:
On December 15, 2011 at approximately 5:15 a.m., I was at LaGuardia International airport preparing to check in for a flight out of the city. During a routine check-in, I requested a firearms declaration form from the ticket agent. It was my intent to declare and check my unloaded firearm.
I purchased this firearm legally, and I have a valid concealed carry permit for it issued in California. The unloaded gun was locked inside a TSA-approved travel case, and the case was locked inside my checked luggage. I carry the firearm for my personal safety, having received numerous threats due to my role in the Tea Party Patriots. I have checked this firearm at airports dozens of times before, all across the country.
As I traveled through LaGuardia that morning, I passed TSA signs telling me I had the right to check this unloaded firearm in my luggage, and that I am required by law to declare the firearm to the ticketing agent. This is exactly what I did.
The ticketing agent provided me with the declaration form, and I signed it and returned it to her. She advised me that she would need to call Port Authority police to inspect. This is not unusual when traveling with a firearm. Procedures vary from airport to airport, from airline to airline, and even from day to day, and as a law-abiding citizen, I have always been happy to cooperate.
Unfortunately, that day, I didn't realize that I was about to cross paths with New York City's anti-Second Amendment stance. Upon showing my case and the weapon to the officer who arrived on the scene, and after a few brief questions, she advised me that she was placing me under arrest for violating New York City's firearms laws.
To say that I was stunned would be an understatement. I am from a law enforcement family. My mother is a retired correctional officer, and I have spent my life around folks from the law enforcement community. I have always considered myself a law-abiding citizen. I have never been arrested before. I have never been in police custody. I can never say those things again. On December 15th, 2011, I was arrested, handcuffed at the ticket counter, and taken to a waiting squad car for transport to the Port Authority Police station at LaGuardia.
I was subsequently transferred, in handcuffs, to the Queens Central booking facility in New York City. I was charged with felony possession of a firearm with intent to do harm. I spent the day in Queens...in jail.
It was a nightmare that I can scarcely describe to you. Until you have felt the handcuffs on your wrists, and until you have heard that cell door close behind you, it is impossible to understand what it means to actually lose your liberty. And since that day, my liberty has been at stake, and because of that threat, based upon the advice of counsel, I've been unable to publicly speak about this case. Today the silence ends.
I am pleased to announce that the criminal case against me has been dropped. Although I was originally charged with a violent felony, the case against me was resolved with a plea to "disorderly conduct. " Disorderly Conduct is not a felony or a misdemeanor, or even a crime. The facts underlying my plea are that I declared a legally purchased, properly licensed and unloaded firearm at an airport counter. Apparently, much to my surprise, in New York City, it is considered "disorderly conduct" to exercise your constitutionally guaranteed, Second Amendment rights.
Strangely, now that the case against me is over, the authorities refuse to return my firearm. There is no law that allows them to confiscate a weapon in this manner. They simply say "no" when you ask for your weapon back. This is apparently their "policy." This is apparently done regularly in New York. This is government robbery. Not only is New York City anti-Second Amendment rights, but they are depriving citizens of their legally owned property. My lawyer has advised me that I can attempt to pursue the return of my firearm, but that to do so would cost me more than the firearm is worth. I am not alone in facing this tyranny. It has happened to hundreds of people in the New York metro area. My lawyer, Brian Stapleton, has handled over 400 of these cases himself, so he is an expert on the subject.
While the end of this case is the end of a horrible nightmare for my family and I, it is not the end of this fight. It is just the beginning. Since the original incident, I have received more emails, phone calls, texts and tweets of support than you can possibly imagine. To those people, I want to say heart-felt thanks on behalf of my entire family. We have come to know that we are not alone in this particular fight. Apparently, this happens to hundreds of people per year in New York City. And New York City is not alone in its attack on our rights. This sort of Constitutional abuse, Second Amendment and otherwise, is taking place all over the nation. And we as citizens must stand against it. We must protect our rights, or we will lose them.
Many of you know me as someone who is willing to stand and fight for self-governance in this country. I'm no politician, and I'm not from a powerful or connected family. I'm an average American citizen. And I stand shoulder to shoulder with millions of other Americans who, despite enormous obstacles, and despite the politicians and ruling elite who oppose us, intend to return this country to the bounds of the United States Constitution.
The politicians and ruling elite will try, but we must not let them label us Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal. We cannot let them make us fight against each other. Too much is at stake. We the People are losing our sovereignty to the government. We the People, must stand and fight for our inalienable rights.
I'm not alone in this fight. There are so many laws, that no one can possibly know or understand them. We are all affected. From the inner city to the farm, from the heartland of America to the coasts, people are under pressure from a government that no longer serves them. From my home in California, to the farmland of Kansas... from the small towns of South Carolina to the metropolis of New York, every year the legislatures pass thousands of laws and regulations that do not serve the people. The legislators don't read the bills they pass, and even if they did, they couldn't understand them. Our criminal justice system is terribly broken, and no longer serves the people and the communities it was intended to serve. Our regulatory system is broken; small businesses and the communities that rely on them crushed under the weight of unnecessary regulation. We are, step by step, destroying the heart of America. And we are doing so because we are not governing ourselves according to the Constitution. It's up to us...the People.
It's time to stand for self-governance. It is time to stand for the plain meaning of the Constitution. Every word of the Constitution is important, and we must fight for them all. We must fight for every inch of this country, from the inner city to the smallest rural town. We are, all of us, first and foremost, American citizens. We've always governed ourselves...and we always intend to. And we've always been willing to stand when freedom is at stake. It is time to stand...time for all of us, every race, every religion, every gender, every American to stand up and fight for liberty and take responsibility for governing ourselves. No one should ever have to go through what my family has been through, simply for exercising a fundamental right, specifically enumerated in the United States Constitution. I am committed to making sure no one does. And I'm willing to work with anyone...anyone, who agrees that it's time for the people to govern themselves once again.
Will we as citizens fight for our inalienable right to govern ourselves, or will we quietly allow ourselves to be "governed" into submission by a ruling elite, disconnected from our citizens and our communities? Only history will tell, but I intend to fight.
Mark Meckler
News reports made it sound like he was trying to sneak a gun on the plane with him or something.
Sheesh!
The closest I will ever get to New York City is Google Earth.
ALL gun owners should boycott NYC! This is outrageous, but sadly not surprising.
I hope he sues and wins. He should sue for return of his gun at the least. But this should go all the way to the Supremes if necessary.
Welcome to Bloombergland.
Even before the Bloombastard took office, New York was a nutty place. Maybe you don’t remember Kitty Genovese? She was a woman who was stabbed to death while neighbors looked on without even calling the cops. around the same time some cops picked up a woman for carrying a knife to protect herself and arrested her.
A guy who thinks he can regulate the caloric intake of citizens and send out city cops to distant states to arrest NY residents legally buying guns in those sates is more than a liberal politician. He’s a maniac and his subordinates reflect his fascist thinking.
Years ago a very wise man once said that New York should be sawed off America and allowed to drift off to sea. Barry Goldwater was right.
class action against the city for the return of the firearms....?
Why not?
The Bloombastard needs a good spanking in the Woodshed every once in a while to remind him he is a mortal human being and not a pint-sized little godlet.
In this day of weblawyers, someone ought to be able to do a fair business of providing the forms to seek the requisite court orders of (IIRC) replevin “for $19.95” or whatever nominal fee. While I’m sure his attorney was honest, I’m also sure the estimate of cost he provided factored in his own retail rates. Might be different in a pro se proceeding.
For crying out loud. has no one ever heard of the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986?
AKA, MV-86.
It clearly implements a “Safe Passage” provision, a FEDERAL provision!
The safe passage act was one of the major features of that bill.
I can LEGALLY transport my machine gun from Nevada to Arizona, passing through Kalifornia, and so long as I stay within the relevant minor restrictions (just passing through, not taking it out to show off to friends, etc) Kalifornia has NOTHING to say about it!
Same has to be true for NYC, so long as the firearm originates and ends in legal destinations NYC can suck wind, they have no say in it!
From what I read this guy was traveling through, he complied with posted procedure, he did not display or attempt to use the firearm in any unlawful manner.
What’s the point of MV-86 if the GOOD portions of the law are not enforced?
Time to nail NYC in Federal court, and to force them to return all the stolen firearms, or fund the purchase of replacements.
All airports gleefully accept federal funds, time to make compliance with MV-86 a condition of continued funding!
Class action suit for a billion dollars.
Can’t you file a class action suit and go for millions....for confiscation of your private property—if they do this regularly....
Class Action Lawsuit(s) can only be brought by a member of the bar (”Licensed” Attorney, Licensed my a**) in good standing (Current with Union Due’s.)
The reason why a Class Action Lawsuit can only be brought by an Attorney, is the Court(s) wants to protect all the individual’s rights, and who better than a member of the bar, in good standing, to receive all of those protected fees & costs.
Another case for Upstatehood.
I will NEVER visit New Jerk City again in my remaining life. At one time years ago I had duty to be there but not of my own choosing. Never again will I set foot in that cesspool nor would I spend a dime there.
I encourage every gun owner in this nation to get behind Mark Meckler and if possible get a fund started to support his case. Count me in.
News reports made it sound like he was trying to sneak a gun on the plane with him or something.
&&&
Exactly. And that is the association that will just hang in the air for the vast majority of people who saw anything in the media about the arrest. This is intentional.
I swore off visiting NYC several years ago. Here is yet another reason for me.
The closest I will now go to NYC is watching “Cash Cab”.
If you see a thread about donating to Meckler’s legal fund, please ping me. Thanks.
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