A man attempted to board a bus in Battle Creek, Michigan, with an SKS rifle in his carry-on baggage. The rifle was longer than the bag, so the butt stuck out and was visible. Some of the riders called 9-1-1. I wasn’t there, so I do not know the totality of the circumstances, but it seems clear that that no one was threatened by the man, and that the rifle was reportedly unloaded. The police showed up and arrested the fellow for…what? They’re apparently still trying to figure that out . . .
The City’s Gang Suppression Unit responded and took the 25-year-old into custody seizing the gun and a fully loaded magazine. He has not yet been charged. It wasn’t exactly a concealed weapon and it wasn’t loaded but it quickly could have been.
This sounds like the beginning of another false arrest settlement. There have been a number of them in Michigan over other open carry incidents. I wonder what’s meant by “a fully loaded magazine”? Most SKS rifles have a fixed magazine and load using 10-round stripper clips such as this one:
I’m reminded of how Justice Scalia recounted his experience of carrying a rifle on New York City mass transit as a boy, and how no one back then considered it a problem.
Carrying concealed handguns on public transportation isn’t prohibited in Michigan, but a number of transit agencies prohibit the transport of weapons on their vehicles. That might be a breach of contract, but I doubt that it would warrant an arrest.
©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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