It appears the Tea Party Patriots Mark Meckler has gotten into a bit of trouble today while traveling in New York. You'd think since Meckler's an attorney, he'd have bothered to look up the state's gun laws before allowing this to happen -- Tea Party Leader Mark Meckler Arrested With Handgun At Airport:
Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots and one of the most prominent spokesmen for the grassroots movement, was arrested at LaGuardia Airport on Thursday after trying to check in a handgun on his flight.
According to the Queens District Attorney’s office, Meckler arrived at the airport with the gun, a Glock 27, and ammunition locked in a safe and presented it to the flight attendant at the Delta counter. He allegedly told authorities that he needed the gun for protection after receiving threats, but did not have a New York State license to carry the weapon. He’s being charged with second degree possession of an illegal weapon, a charge that carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
“Before leaving home, passengers should acquaint themselves with the weapon laws of the jurisdiction that they are visiting and comply with any and all legal requirements if they choose to travel with a weapon,” Queens DA Richard Brown said in a statement. “Otherwise, they may find themselves being arrested and charged with a felony - as is what occurred in this case.” [...]
A spokesman for the Queens DA, Kevin Ryan, told TPM that the legal issue wasn’t whether Meckler followed airline regulations regarding safe transportation of a handgun, the issue was that he did not have a carry permit for New York state, which has strict requirements for handguns. Read on...
And as our contributor and webmaster Jamie pointed out, these right wingers just love state sovereignty, until it comes to their guns -- The GOP Wants "Gun Rights" To Trump State Sovereignty.
Meckler made Keith Olbermann's Worst Persons list following his arrest for his prior remarks about those law abiding tea partiers who never get arrested, unlike those evil dirty hippies at Occupy Wall Street.
