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
If tyrants can be beaten in Chi & D.C. they can be beaten in NY.
OK a silly qustion:If he were given his gun back by New York, how could he get out of the city with it without being arrested again.
The minute he took possession of it he would be in violation of the law.
CC
“Years ago a very wise man once said that New York should be sawed off America and allowed to drift off to sea.”
Leftists will continue to ignore the constitution until they’re punished. Wait for bloomberg and his armed fascist guard to fly into a free state and arrest the whole crew for illegally carrying concealed arms. Throw bloomberg in jail and set bail at $1 billion.
Bump!
Second, he has a permit to carry concealed in CA? How do I apply and how do I get approved?
I'm glad the charges were dropped (although, I consider being charged with anything, not totaly "dropped"). I don't understand how NY gets away with not returning the guy's property. Bet they give the gang bangers their guns back!
Some state out west (Wyoming ?) actually passed a law requiring any of these jerks from New York who go out there to try an enforce Bloombastard’s anti-gun laws against residents or travelers there to be arrested.
I suggest you have a conversation with a local gun shop owner first. In my county you apply with the local sheriff. Helps if you can establish you have credible threats to your safety (landlord collecting rents, laundromat owner, etc.).
NYC does this regularly to people. Drops the felony charges for a disorderly conduct guilty plea and keeps the gun. It’s nothing new. Despicable, but not new.
Very simple, ship it back to him via USPS, UPS, or Fed-Ex.
FOAD NYC!
I’ve been there, NOTHING could convince me to go back again, it’s even worse than it’s stereotype.
And I STRONGLY suspect you are correct!
Doing so should only be a delaying action, it is past time to fix this ongoing travesty.
The original “Sullivan Act” was put in place to give the Irish mob an advantage over the Italian mob.
Now it’s used indiscriminately to deprive everyone who is not “Connected” of their 2nd Amendment rights.
To Hell with Blooming-Idiot’berg and his coalition of sedition.
Goldwater was a bit off...put a giant hook into Cape Cod, then tow the land mass north of I-64 in Virginia and east of I-81 from Virginia northerly to the Canadian border out into the North Atlantic where it can drift aimlessly without bringing further harm to the rest of the country.
It's going to take a good-size chain... :-)
Mark Meckler has standing. NYC robbed him of his gun. I’d like to see Alan Gura take this case.
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