Stossel: NYC Government Traumatizes Gun Owners
New York City arrests people who travel with guns-even when they notify and follow all TSA rules and have a valid gun license from their home state.
If you have a gun, don't fly out of New York with it! Almost every week, New York City arrests someone who brings a gun to the airport–even when the person has a gun license from their state, notifies authorities about the gun and follows TSA procedures for flying with it. John Stossel interviews people who were arrested and confronts the assistant district attorney who prosecutes them.
In its battle against guns, New York City traumatizes law-abiding gun owners who pass through New York and its airports with guns. One man was even arrested for traveling with an empty magazine.
Bills have been filed in both chambers of Congress to make gun permits valid in all states, which would prevent cases like these.
Stossel interviews Patricia Jordan and Avi Wolf, who were arrested at the airport. Patricia had tried to declare her gun, which was unloaded and in a TSA-approved case. Avi was trying to declare an empty gun magazine–essentially a piece of metal with a spring in it.
For their effort they spent a day in jail. They were threatened with three years and six months in jail–the mandatory minimum for having a gun in New York. They spent months worrying about how to beat the charge. Each spent more than $15,000 in legal bills.
Eventually the government let them off with a violation–"public disorder."
Stossel says: Give me a break. He confronts the Queens District Attorney's office that prosecutes such cases.
Produced by Maxim Lott. Edited by Joshua Swain.
