Wyoming man with loaded gun arrested at San Jose airport

KCBS.com ^ | August 14, 2002 | kcbs staff

[NEWwoman]

Wyoming man with loaded gun arrested at San Jose airport Source: kcbs Publication date: 2002-08-14

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- A Wyoming man arrested after airport security screeners discovered a loaded semi-automatic handgun in his carryon luggage was being held in Santa Clara County jail Tuesday night.

William Simmons, 57, was arrested around 2:45 Tuesday afternoon at Mineta San Jose International Airport after a screener found the gun in his luggage and notified police, said Officer Joseph Deras, a spokesman with the San Jose Police Department.

Simmons was being held on charges of possessing a concealed loaded firearm, Deras said. Simmons was uncooperative with police and had to be forcibly arrested, he said. Simmons was taken to a nearby hospital after complaining he was hyperventilating. He was examined and released, Deras said.

The airport was not evacuated because security screeners found the weapon before Simmons was past the checkpoint, Deras said.

(10:35p.m.)

[NEWwoman]

I know these days we check our Constitutional Rights at the airport gate. That said ... I feel a bit angry that his Wyoming man was treated this way. Clearly, he had forgotten about his firearm and was no real threat to anyone. I'm sure if it had been calmly pointed out, he could have unloaded it and checked it into baggage. (Though that clearly is not the policy anymore. He has to be made a criminal.) Also, I wish this man had been aboard one of the jets that flew into the WTC or Pentagon. He could have really stopped the hijacking and saved many lives.

[montomike]

How do you forget that you have a personal protective device in your luggage? The guy deserves to spend the night in jail for being so brain dead.

[Dog Gone]

I don't know. Anyone dumb enough to accidentally carry a loaded gun onto a plane is probably too dumb to be trusted with one.

I mean, sheesh. If you have a loaded gun, it's your job to know where it is.

[j.havenfarm]

Which reminds me. The recent renaming of San Jose International for Norman Mineta makes me proud to be a FORMER San Jose resident.

[dawn53]

Sounds to me like he wasn't in the mood to be calmed down.

Simmons was uncooperative with police and had to be forcibly arrested,

[spodefly]

Sorry, no sympathy from me. Every time I hear about someone doing something stupid with a firearm I cringe knowing that it is one more instance that can be used to broad brush all gun owners as careless and un-thinking.

No excuse for having a loaded firearm in carry on baggage at an airport. None. It should have been unloaded, declared, and placed in checked baggage.

[1rudeboy]

I wonder how he got to California with the gun. If my suspicion is correct, he's batting .500 and you shouldn't be so upset.

[NEWwoman]

Can't say I disagree with you.
But I used to listen to Ken Hamlin who broadcasts out of Colorado (the Black Avenger) - a once liberal journalist turned conservative when he woke up smelled the coffee. He is a firearms owner and he admitted he forgot he had a firearm on him when he entered an airport. He carries it with him so much, it's second nature. (This was well before 9-11) But they just pointed it out to him and he was embarrassed. I really see how such a thing could happen.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Poor guy.

He forgot that he no longer lives in the free country in which he was born.

[Dog Gone]

Every time I fly, I wish I were allowed to carry my gun aboard. But that's never going to happen, especially after last September.

I'm just surprised that anyone could accidentally do it in today's environment. Heck, I'm conditioned to make sure tweezers aren't in carry on luggage.

[martin_fierro]

The recent renaming of San Jose International for Norman Mineta makes me proud to be a FORMER San Jose resident.

Where did you end up, and how did you go about getting out of this overpriced 'burg?

[esopman]

I like Ken H. a lot. A whole lot. He is a well-known 'African American' and therefore probably less vulnerable to the hassle factor than, well, uhh, a non-minority individual, and pre-9/11, well, things were a little different...

This (un)gentleperson from Wyoming was supremely careless or worse. I am quite partial to my S&W N-frame 6" .357, but I won't go within a mile of an airport with it (and I fly a lot). We all are guilty of oversights, but there are some we must quadruple check to avoid. Before leaving to catch a flight, I search my briefcase(s) to be sure I have no spare cartridges lying about.

Lunacy reigns in our republic. Frankly, I try to travel by car where possible. So I have my own (pinned and recessed) 'Patrolman' nearby. Folks like us are specifically the ones who could do the most to stop terrorism. But we are going to be progressively backed into a corner and ultimately the state will move to confiscate. Our brainwashed neighbors will support the move. Sigh.

Anyway, I can sympathize with Wyoming, but he is probably, unfortunately, a Jeremiah Johnson at least a century past his time. He is toast. Those of us who can think clearly have an obligation to minimize the tools the leftist press has to demonize gun owners and to prepare for.....

Blessings on Freepers Everywhere.

[Frohickey]

Aren't you supposed to die first before your name goes on a building?

[11B3]

Very well said.

[B Knotts]

But that's never going to happen, especially after last September.

Why the heck are we here then? I thought we were here to change things for the better, not just reluctantly accept the liberal status quo.

[newgeezer]

I thought we were here to change things for the better, not just reluctantly accept the liberal status quo.

One has to wonder if we have any hope of doing anything more than slowing (as opposed to preventing) this nation's inevitable Death By Liberalism.

[Joe Hadenuf]

A Wyoming man arrested after airport security screeners discovered a loaded semi-automatic handgun in his carryon luggage was being held in Santa Clara County jail Tuesday night.

This guy isn't the sharpest pencil in the box. Hope he brought his tooth brush, he's going to need it.

It's just too bad, all American citizens are not allowed to take a firearm where ever they want to. Crime would be hard to find.....Crooks/terrorist and bad guys would be very paranoid and would probably start looking for work.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

LOL! So which would you rather have? Someone with a box cutter or handgun? You want to take your chances on the results being the same?

Guns are not allowed on aircraft, period, unless authorized! I guess people don't realize what an airplane is! The man was asinine! He should have checked it in at the ticket counter. it has NOTHING to do with your "rights". It is the AIRLINES "rights". It is MY right to safety that the airline provides by securing it for me (and others).

I suppose you reserve the "right" to run red lights, hit pedestrians, and drive the wrong way down a highway, since it is the FEDS who have told you that you can't!! What the heck is wrong with you people?

[RedBloodedAmerican]

No, he is allowed. HE can check it at the ticket counter and pick it up at baggage claim at his arrival point.

[AppyPappy]

Clearly, he had forgotten about his firearm and was no real threat to anyone.

Then why did he freak on the cops? I can't believe someone "forgets" a loaded gun in a carryon bag.