I fully expect that Meredith Graves will do time for having had the bad sense to attempt to exercise certain God-given and unalienable rights at a place in which they were famously attacked. While I have enjoyed the back-and-forth between Robert VerBruggen and the others on the legal and constitutional questions of interstate concealed-carry protocols, I enjoy them the way I enjoy watching a tennis match: The skill involved in the volleys is impressive, but it is only a game. Our Second Amendment jurisprudence, like our First Amendment jurisprudence, seems to me to be simply an unprincipled political fight. We should heed the wisdom of Roy Cohn: “Don’t tell me what the law is, tell me who the judge is.”
Rather than weigh in on the legal questions, let me offer another view: I am Meredith Graves. At least, I have found myself in a very similar situation, but had a very different outcome.
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During my time as a newspaper editor in Philadelphia, I was a beneficiary of Pennsylvania’s sensibly liberal concealed-carry laws, which make it easier to get a packing permit in the Keystone State than in Texas. There are many reasons that people in particular professions carry guns: They work late, they have to travel to dodgy areas, they carry lots of money. Two of those three things (alas, only two) are true for newspaper editors, who also have the obligation to sometimes publish things that people would rather not see published. (That usually is not about politics or public controversy—it’s about some guy who doesn’t want his boss or his estranged wife’s divorce attorney to read about his drunk-driving arrest in the newspaper.) For that reason, grabbing my Glock 27 in the morning became as habitual as grabbing my keys and my cell phone. It was routine.
So routine, in fact, that I sometimes forgot that I was carrying it, until something reminded me. That was the case when I was standing in line to take some visitors to see the Liberty Bell. Like Meredith Graves, I told the security guys that I had a license to carry a gun, that I was in fact carrying one, and asked them what they’d like me to do with it. They were typical government employees, of course, struck dumb by any unexpected turn of events.
“You can’t take that into the pavilion.”
“Well, of course, I’d expected not. Is there a place where I can check it?”
“You can’t take that into the pavilion.”
“Yes, got that the first time. What would you like me to do with it?”
“You can’t take that into the pavilion.”
“I can’t exercise my constitutionally guaranteed liberty here at the Liberty Bell?”
“You can’t take that into the pavilion.”
“Knock, knock.”
“You can’t take that into the pavilion.”
“. . .”
“You can’t take that into the pavilion.”
Etc.
They didn’t arrest me; they only bored me. In the event, I put the gun into my briefcase and checked my briefcase in with the valet’s desk at a nearby hotel. I suppose if the Park Service guys had been feeling froggy, they might have arrested me.
If you live in Philadelphia, your daily business can easily take you into the neighboring states of Delaware and New Jersey. You’re especially likely to end up in Delaware if you miss the exit to my favorite shooting range in the Philadelphia suburbs. I suppose I was liable for arrest on a couple of dozen occasions, some with more premeditation than others.
In New York City, I have a special disadvantage: Not only do the Powers That Be refuse to recognize any out-of-state permits, they won’t recognize a New York State permit, either: The city insists upon its own permits. (And the very best of luck getting one of those.)
Some will object: “You two should have known better. You should have made sure in advance that you were in compliance with the local law at all times.” And there’s something to that. (A Man for All Seasons and all that.) On the other hand, Meredith Graves and I are Americans, and the American government exists at our sufferance, not the other way around, and it sometimes needs to be reminded of that fact, especially when it is acting capriciously and incompetently, which is the rule when it comes to firearms and crime.
Our dear friends at the New York Times once did something useful, conducting a study of the city’s murders between 2003 and 2005. More than 90 percent of the murderers — and half the victims — had criminal records. But the government cannot be bothered to keep them under control, and instead set them loose to commit 1,662 homicides (or, to be more precise, almost all of those 1,662 homicides), but you can be confident that Meredith Graves will be locked up, because it is far easier to lock up law-abiding types such as Meredith Graves than it is to police the criminals who actually do the murders and muggings. This isn’t a question of whether the government’s behavior is constitutional or unconstitutional, but of whether the government’s behavior constitutes government, of whether it makes any sense at all, and of whether government can establish elementary priorities and exercise elementary discretion. I think that an answer to those questions has here been indicated strongly.
"You think that New York license plate on your car and that New York drivers license are any good here in Tennessee? Next, you'll think your New York marriage license is legal here, and that your New York insurance policy is valid. Shoot, you should knowed that tree branch growed over the SPEED LIMIT 35 MPH sign, and that Deputy Barney always hides behind the dumpster next to the Dairy Queen. You in a heap o' trouble, boy!"
I know someone who once accidentally (honest!) soaked a GA cop from head to toe with hot coffee after he punched his Styrofoam cup for being issued a ticket for not having auto insurance, which the licensing state didn't require.
I agree with him that the night in jail was worth every steaming drop of joe that dripped from that ugly cowboy hat that the worthless piece of navel fuzz was wearing.
But, we all know that, in many areas of the South, Josey Wales still has not accepted what Fletcher told him: "The war is over."
So, the motivations for the deprivations of rights are completely different.
Treasonous sociopaths can at least claim an incurable, genetic mental defect.
And the policemen in NYC are angels.
The Maryland State Police give Emily Post instructions on manners.
And ATF agents have the sanctity of American life uppermost in their minds.
You're a little man, Mr madisonian, with a little mind.
And the policemen in NYC are angels.
The Maryland State Police give Emily Post instructions on manners.
And ATF agents have the sanctity of American life uppermost in their minds.
You're a little man, Mr madisonian, with a little mind.
Kindly explain the need for gratuitious slaps at the South in the two preceding posts. Do you think that nearly 150 years after the Civil War ended you could put a sock in it?
I must say that I was shocked at own response of surprise when I read "On the other hand, Meredith Graves and I are Americans, and the American government exists at our sufferance, rather than the other way around,..."
It is a hell of a note that things in the USA have come to a such a state that this self-evident statement seems to be subversive. I guess this is a subversive notion in a country where the President violates the Constitution, without so much as a "by your leave", while appointing so-called"Czars" without Senate approval and, to boot, also suggests that he will not enforce a law, that is passed by Congress, which he does not like. Are we living in Venezuela?
A New York City street thug operates under a lot of pressure. If he's caught with a piece, he gets dinged for parole violation plus a felony carry charge. If some schmo gets caught trying to protect against the felon, he's likely to wind up in a cell with same.
Re: Delaware, the "Small Wonder" and home of tax-free shopping has reciprocity with Utah. Utah is very liberal in granting non-residents a concealed carry permit. The wise Pennsylvanian will obtain a Utah concealed carry permit at her first opportunity, which will give them the ability to legally carry in Delaware--and Ohio, for that matter.
The wise Pennsylvanian will also avoid travel New York, New Jersey and Maryland.
I try to avoid all states that fail to recognize my CPL (there are now only ten). Even in the other 40 state, how do you visit museums on military bases (e.g., Patton Museum at Ft. Knox, Air Force Museum at Wright-Pat AFB, Naval Aviation Museum at NAS Pensacola) while transporting a handgun? Maj. Hasan didn't have any problem -- until he started shooting. Then again, he didn't have a CPL and had a better excuse -- he was (shhh, not so loud) a Muslim extremist (opps sorry, I meant disgruntled employee), not a tourist.
Because of the places I want to visit on my next trip, I may still need to leave my carry gun at home -- despite only visiting states having reciprocity with mine.
So you enjoy Delaware county sportsman as well? Delaware enacted permit recognition laws in 2003 that enabled plenty of other states permits to be recognized in the first state. Back then you would have had a problem.
New Jersey is another story and remains a problem even for out of state police officers
"This isn’t a question of whether the government’s behavior is constitutional or unconstitutional, but of whether the government’s behavior constitutes government..."
This echoes VDH's essay about the law and lawlessness of his central California.
If the government isn't working, we should get a new one.
"to exercise certain God-given and unalienable rights"
Thank you, Mr. Williamson, for noting that critical fact. Some rights cannot be taken away, no matter what anyone says, and when we allow the powerful to punish us for exercising those rights it is easy to understand how a free people slowly become nothing more than an inconvenience to their government (except, of course, at tax time--for some of us).
I pity citizens who are forced by circumstance to visit termite hills like New York City, and therefore must subject themselves to the whims of petty, legalistic tyrants.
Actually, no right can be taken away without felonious activity on your part. All rights come from our Creator. Government can't take them away from us. We can "lose them" by participating in a felony and being found guilty.
Anything the government can take away from us isn't a right but a priviledge (driving a car, riding on a plane, etc.). They can't restrict our travel but they can regulate the method of travel. That is the theory behind TSA, although I would disagree with the benefits. The dirty little secret about 9-11 is that there was never a failure in the screening process. In fact, encouraging people to carry weapons on airplanes would be a greater deterrent than TSA is. Look at what happens to crime when concealed carry laws are instituted. Don't bring up the idea that a hole in an airplane makes it fall out of the sky, that's an idea from Hollywood. Aloha Air lost about 10-feet of it's roof and still flew.
Our confusion about what a right is and the government's role is has caused a lot of problems. We have a right to a free press but the government doesn't buy me a printing press. We have a right to freedom of speech but the government doesn't buy me a radio station or a soapbox (unless I am NPR). There is a right to food but that doesn't mean the government has to provide the food. They just can't restrict my access to the food I want. There is such a thing a reproductive rights. This means that the government can't Stop me from reproducing (say they decided they didn't like green people).
Unfortunately, this confusion about "rights" extends all the way to our President, the Constitutional Scholar that he is.
Couldn't agree more. He was a reckless idiot - and it's behavior like his that make it harder for law abiding CCW permit holders - like me - to exercise their rights.
Also, while I'm a fierce proponent of CCW, I'm also a fierce proponent of private property rights. If a private club owner has a sign that says, "NO WEAPONS", then his rights as a private property owner trump my rights as a CCW permit holder. That's the way it has to work if the concept of private property actually means anything.
Burress negligent discharged a weapon in a club that didn't allow weapons. He should have went to jail.
"We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."
Have you ever seen such a sign in a business establishment, Mr. Wilson? Not recently.
Private property rights do not allow the property owner to deny his customers their Constitutional rights.
Not so easy as you think.
