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 An English passenger would be mightily offended. Just sayin' (courtesy news.yahoo.com)

OIA gun arrests rarely end with convictions, the orlandosentinel.com headline proclaims, adding Gun arrests dismissed almost every time a defendant says, ‘I forgot,’ records show. Although the story doesn’t actually come out and say “Hang ’em high!”, scribe Henry Pierson Curtis’s incredulous tone tells you that the paper’s editor is unhappy with the fact that Orlando International Airport gives forgetful gun owners a pass when the TSA’s blue-shirted goons discover a firearm in their carry-on. Actually, that’s not true. It’s neither the airport nor the unionized gropers who let our People of the Gun go. In fact it’s . . .


Local prosecutors.

Orlando International has one of the nation’s toughest arrest policies when people are caught with firearms at security checkpoints.

But the scale tilts toward leniency when it comes to prosecuting those people.

Just one of the 42 cases sent to the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office in 2013 ended in a conviction so far. Three cases are pending . . .

Chief Assistant State Attorney Richard I. Wallsh in Orlando said the 38 OIA gun cases completed were all reviewed by prosecutors who had to decide if there was enough evidence to take them to trial. He pointed to a copy of state law on his desk that showed “knowingly and willfully” breaking the law must be proved for conviction in most cases.

Twenty of those cases — including five of the six felony cases for unlicensed guns — were referred for pretrial diversion requiring community service and regular check-ins. Upon completion, a judge can withhold adjudication so the participant does not have a conviction.

And this is a problem because . . . ? Because guns!

A recent Sentinel review found airports across the nation had widely differing gun arrest policies and data. Some were strict and others lenient when it came to travelers showing up at checkpoints with guns.

There’s less uncertainty at some overseas airports.

“If you do not declare your weapon you are detained for 24 hours and your weapon is confiscated,” Rafi Sela, former head of security at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, wrote in an email to the Orlando Sentinel. “You will stand trial and your license will be revoked.

“In Israel, people usually do not forget they are carrying guns.”

And in Israel the government is busy disarming its citizens. Go figure.

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22 COMMENTS

  1. Deferred adjudication isn’t necessarily a slap on the wrist. Depending upon the underlying crime, that punishment can render one ineligible for a concealed handgun license in Texas for ten years.

  2. Had to be *That picture of a TSA agent lol

    “Excuse me Mister! Do you know where I’m gonna put these two fingers?”

  3. It takes a special kind of stupid to try to board a plane with a “forgotten” gun in your carry on.

    Of course it’s not illegal to be stupid. Otherwise they would have locked up FPSRussia and MattV2099 a long time ago.

    • I don’t forget that I’m carrying but sometimes I forget that other people may go bat**** crazy for me having it. It’s easy to do that where it’s been normalized.

  4. I’ve been cleared for the TSA Precheck for my last few flights. What a difference! The TSA agents are nice, I didn’t have to take off my shoes and I zoomed through the procedure in seconds.

  5. Personally, when I fly, which is frequently, I know EXACTLY where my firearm is at.
    I find little excuse for “I forgot”

  6. I’ve gone through the metal detectors with a knife before. Thankfully this was pre-9/11 and people still had sense. It’s not so much about forgetting I had the knife. I knew I had the knife because it was a tool I use every day.. It’s that I forgot that some other silly people don’t like that I have a knife in certain places.

    The nice security people bagged it and I picked it up on the other end at the security point near baggage pickup at my destination.

  7. Twenty of those cases — including five of the six felony cases for unlicensed guns — were referred for pretrial diversion requiring community service and regular check-ins.

    UNLICENSED?????? WTF

  8. I know we here in California get a bad rep when it comes to gun laws, but a friend of mine accidentally brought a gun to the airport and they let her put it in her car. The whole process was quick enough that she was still able to make her flight.

  9. Israel had it right, but is now reverting to socialist type.

    It gives the meme “Never Again” a whole new meaning.

    Just apply it to personal liberty.

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