I’ve noted previously that while I support concealed-carry laws, and while I think it’s a good thing for states to recognize gun permits issued in other states, I don’t think the federal government should require reciprocity. The constitutional justifications for such a law range from debatable to laughable, and it’s an undeniable infringement on states’ rights.
Many supporters of the law are touting this case as evidence of the need for it:
Really, you can’t bring guns into the 9/11 Memorial?
A tourist from Tennessee waltzed into one of the most secure sites in the city — and politely asked a cop if she could check her weapon.
Instead, she was dragged out in cuffs.
Now, Meredith Graves, 39, is facing at least three years in prison for thinking New York’s gun laws are anything like those in the Bible Belt.
Given that she posed no threat whatsoever, a three-year prison term is an overreaction. A stiff fine would be more appropriate. But we don’t ask the federal government to step in whenever a state sets a penalty that’s too high in some rare scenario that arises under the law.
Further, what this woman did was idiotic — she’s an example of what happens when you break the law, not an example of how New York treats normal tourists. All she had to do was visit her own state’s website to find a list of other states that would recognize her permit. She would have seen that New York isn’t on it. Instead, she simply assumed that because Tennessee had granted her a permit, she was free to run around the country with a gun in her purse.
I have a friend who is a gun collector. He was attending a gun show in NYC, and had applied for and received several of the many forms and documents required by the city. He followed the laws as he understood them, packed his weapons according to the laws...and they arrested him anyway, and threw him in the lockup with the drug dealers, rapists and other lowlife in the clink on a typical NYC Tuesday. He called the NRA, and they dispatched a phalanx of lawyers to spring him...after about 24 hours in jail. The charges were eventually dismissed, but not after considerable embarrassment and financial expense.
This woman was stupid, but let's not lose sight of the fact that NYC gun laws ensure criminals keep their guns, and law abiding citizens go to jail.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"He was attending a gun show in NYC"
**where** in NYC exactly?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"idiotic" is an understatement.
A terrible mistake...
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Instead, she simply assumed that because Tennessee had granted her a permit, she was free to run around the country with a gun in her purse."
I agree with the sentiment expressed here, but if it's a constitutional right, does this sentence seem different if it referred to a pornographic pamphlet or an copy of a magazine critical of the POTUS?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseA Tennessee drivers license is good in New York. A Tennessee marriage license is good there, as is a divorce decree. You can sell a car from Tennessee in New York; likewise a house. You can carry a carton of Marlboros and a fifth of Jack Daniels from Tennessee to New York. A Tennessee birth certificate is legal in New York (maybe even in Hawaii!).
Automobiles, booze, tobacco, and spouses/ex's are responsible for far more deaths in this country every year than licensed concealed weapons.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt seems to me extremely likely that she was told over and over in her conceal carry courses and in various other things she signed that this permit only applies in her own state.
People with zero sense do not deserve these permits. Terribly stupid people shouldn't be wandering around the country with guns.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRight. And please note that "automobiles, booze, tobacco, and spouses/ex's" are not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, but the right to bear arms definitely is. However, I don't expect the New York City sheeple at National Review to understand this. Those of us that do believe in the Second Amendment should just shut up and vote for Mitt Romney as those better than us so instruct. Obviously, this country would be a much better place if every state adopted the Manhattan culture of elitism and dependence on others for our protection.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuseto be fair, booze is mentioned... twice
however you bring up a good point there only one candidate in the race who may actually respect our rights. however his pro people's rights is seen as dangerous by his own congressional party members to the point that they are constantly trying to paint him as unelectable.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusethe choice is there you want your rights, vote Ron Paul. You want crap like this where the state decides which of your "rights" you actually get to use, vote for anyone else
Actually any of us ladies should be free to "free to run around the country with a gun in her purse" because the Constitution of the United states clearly states "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
No state has the right to deny us our Constitutionally enumerated rights as US citizens.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI am no lawyer - but I keep hearing the word 'Intent' used in conjunction with attempts to explain why certain people shouldn't be charged with various violations of law.
Doesn't her attempt to check the weapon show lack of 'intent'?
Regards,
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusei am conflicted. I believe in states rights, but it also seems that the drivers license analogy is pretty good. Though we do need to follow state driving laws, the second amendment is a constitutional right that ought not be infringed.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"i am conflicted. I believe in states rights"
So do I, but do you think that New York would be able to ban a newspaper it didn't like, or a book that it thought was inappropriate? Of course it couldn't.
Why then, can states - like NY - ban weapons?
Once the ship sailed on incorporating the Bill of Rights to the states (if that's the right phrase), then it should have sailed on all the rights outlined in the Constitution, not just the ones the liberals love.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Once the ship sailed on incorporating the Bill of Rights to the states (if that's the right phrase), then it should have sailed on all the rights outlined in the Constitution, not just the ones the liberals love."
This. Either the rights apply to the states, or they do not. Politicians and bureaucrats shouldn't be able to cherry pick which ones they like.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo the 2nd is the only Amendment that should be regulated by the states? Both debatable and laughable.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseProtect and serve isn't worth the price of the decal that's affixed to the side of any patrol car.
Is this woman an idiot? You bet. But, if idiocy were a crime, every statehouse in the country would be barren, and most every federally elected official would be doing hard time.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt is the responsibility of the gun owner to know the laws. I've heard that since I was a kid. I've heard that in every concealed carry and hunter's safety course. The woman was in error. Frankly, I don't know how anyone on earth could assume NYC is anything but hostile to Americans exercising any of their rights. They have an avowed fascist as mayor for goodness sakes.
Stupid has its own costs.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe "idiots" are in new York. While everyone is required to have some knowledge of common law, the idea everyone in the US should be conversant with the ordinances of forty-nine (or is it fifty-seven?) other states is ridiculous.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis woman may have been in violation of New York law, but the New York law is violation of the Constitution.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'm sorry, but I have trouble calling her an idiot. Gullible, absent minded and law-abiding to a fault, but not an idiot.
Seems to me a system in where trying to follow the law gets you arrested, while ignoring it would result in nothing, is a terrible system.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhen I took the NRA approved course for a Michigan concealed weapons license I was given a card for my wallet that showed which states would honor a Michigan permit and which states wouldn't. New York, along with New Jersey, California, Illinois and others were in red - showing that the wouldn't honor a Michigan permit. Additionally, the flip side of the card contained the following: "For Information on other States Laws visit www.handgunlaw.us"
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