Detroit Police Chief fails to declare gun in luggage

Mlive ^ | 10-18-02

[Dan from Michigan]

Detroit Police Chief fails to declare gun in luggage

The Associated Press
10/18/2003, 7:07 p.m. ET

DETROIT (AP) — The Transportation Security Administration confiscated a gun belonging to Detroit's police chief after the weapon was found in baggage the chief had checked for a flight.

Police Chief Jerry Oliver "didn't declare the gun to the airlines and hadn't filed the necessary forms," said Detroit Metropolitan Airport spokesman Mike Conway.

Conway said the loaded .25 caliber Colt semiautomatic weapon was discovered by TSA officials while the luggage was being screened.

Oliver told Detroit television station WDIV that he wasn't aware of the regulations for declaring the gun in checked baggage and that he follows the necessary procedures when carrying his weapon onboard the flight.

"It was just one of those things," Oliver said.

Airport police were called in and Oliver, who was aboard a Northwest flight, was contacted but was not asked to leave the plane.

Federal regulations require guns stowed in checked luggage to be unloaded and that officials be notified and specific forms be filled out.

Failure to follow those steps could result in a $1,000 fine.

[Dan from Michigan]

Only cops should have guns......

[Dan from Michigan]

boom

[joesnuffy]

this guy is too stupid to be a mall security ninja let alone a police chief

[So Cal Rocket]

This guy should get the EXACT same sentence that the 20-year old college student who tried to show how ineffective the TSA is by getting boxcutters and bleach on board two aircraft.

[Bonaparte]

He's perfect for Detroit.

[NautiNurse]

the loaded .25 caliber Colt semiautomatic

This guy should be carrying a Dolt .005

[Jack Black]

Not only is he an idiot for failing to fill out those forms, but he is shaming the City of Detroit by carrying a little ladies gun like that. No wonder they have a crime problem in Detroit. The chief himself is totally undergunned. I would have respected him a lot more if it were a Ruger Redhawk in .45 Colt or a 10mm Custom Kimber.

[waterstraat]

First of all, police should know the law, at least the common ones like this one. This has been illegal for decades. Secondly, they should throw the book at him no special treatment. He should get what anyone else would get if they did the same. Perhaps he should not be allowed to have a gun anymore, isnt this a firearms violation, trying to put a loaded gun on an airplane?

[Bonaparte]

"...shaming the City of Detroit by carrying a little ladies gun like that."

Impossible to shame that city more than it shames itself. The gun was probably a gift for his out-of-town squeeze.

[Mulder]

I suppose that if this was one of the serfs that committed this "crime", a SWAT team would have been called, he'd have been arrested and charged with a felony, and the bootlicking contingent here would be joking about him sharing a cell with herpes-infested Bubba.

As it was, the right thing (almost) happened in this case. He was not arrested or charged with anything. It doesn't even appear that he was harassed by the airport nazis. He should have been given his weapon, and asked to carry it on board instead of checking it in his luggage. Likewise, the gov't should recognize the Right of all Americans to do so.

[Oztrich Boy]

The chief himself is totally undergunned

It's adequate for a drop-gun

[hillyes]

Jerry be de ex-police chief of Richmond,Va. He be
A-A.

[William Tell]

From the article: "Oliver told Detroit television station WDIV that he wasn't aware of the regulations for declaring the gun in checked baggage and that he follows the necessary procedures when carrying his weapon onboard the flight. "

He probably doesn't know the procedures for guns in checked bags BECAUSE he routinely carries aboard the plane.

There is no good reason to question him about that because they are confident that he will not hijack the plane.

The question, of course, is why they are not confident that I will not hijack the plane. Is my background somehow suspect? Was my military service not impressive enough? Is my clean criminal record somehow not clean enough? Have I conversed with too many Freepers to be allowed the same right to keep and bear arms which the airlines are allowing this man?

[Shooter 2.5]

I was wondering when was the last time Colt made a .25 Auto. A 1908 model was discontinued in 1946 and then another model started again in 1958. It was stopped again because of the 1968 gun act because they were produced overseas. It started again in 1970 but the book doesn't say when they stopped making them again.

That's the information I was able to get from two antique collector's books.