I haven’t traveled to other states with a gun much. Make that at all, really. But living scarily close to the state of Illinois, I’m damned careful about how a gun is carried in my car (yes, there is a way to do it legally) if there’s even a chance I’ll be driving over the Big Muddy. And there are plenty of people – even post-McDonald – that won’t take flights that even connect through Chicago. One of the little side benefits of the advance of gun rights throughout the country is that it’s not that hard any more to know all the problem states and cities. I’m sure you can rattle most them off yourself. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that Mark Meckler could…
Meckler’s the president of the Tea Party Patriots. How that organization is related (or not) to the various other Tea Party operations around the country, I don’t know. In any case, according to newyork.cbslocal.com, he was scheduled to fly from New York to California yesterday morning, starting his journey at the pride of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the lovely, modern LaGuardia Airport.
Authorities said Meckler was boarding a 5:30 a.m. flight to California when they discovered a gun in a lockbox with 19 cartridges.
Meckler did declare that he had the gun and cartridges with him but, since he didn’t have a New York State permit to carry the weapon, he was arrested. Meckler did have a California permit for it.
Mark must be an awfully busy guy. Apparently he hasn’t heard the news that New York isn’t the most gun-friendly locale in these here fifty-seven states. But it’s not like there aren’t all kinds of resources out there available to law-abiding travelers who want to know where they can go with their gun and avoid handcuffs and an abrupt stripsearch.
It’s bad enough that Meckler’s given a lifetime supply of ammunition to his ideological opponents. Worse, though, when someone prominent and ostensibly on the right – and, one can assume, pro-2A – pulls an idiotic stunt like this, it hurts all gun-toters.
So congratulations, Mark. In addition to a criminal record, thousands of dollars in legal fees and the probable loss of your gun rights, you’ve added our world-famous IGOTD award to your trophy shelf today. At least you’ll be able to polish it when you’d otherwise be out shooting at the range.
