Vanity: Requesting FReeper Advice on Friend's Firearms Bust

vanity | 02/27/2008 | rogue yam

[rogue yam]

Fellow FReepers, please forgive this, my first-ever vanity post. I am seeking advice for my friend who was arrested at Spokane Airport for going through airport security with a handgun in his carry-on bag.

Background: My friend is a responsible, married, small business owner with absolutely no criminal background. He has a valid Washington State concealed carry permit. On the day of his arrest he had been doing some business requiring him to carry cash, so he had also carried (in a small carry bag) a handgun for personal security. He went home and then went to the Spokane Airport to take a short in-state flight for a business trip. Unfortunately he simply forgot to remove his handgun from his carry bag so when he went through security at the airport and he ran his bag through the x-ray machine, the gun was discovered leading to his arrest.

The Airport Police were very reasonable and low-key and he was on his way in twenty minutes (minus his handgun, of course) but my friend is now charged with a Washington State criminal violation, RCW9.41.300, for carrying his handgun into a restricted area.

So here's the reason for my post: My friend is fairly new to that area and does not have local contacts with regard to legal advice, etc. Also, he has never had to deal with anything like this before. He called me to ask for advice as to whether he should plead guilty and/or whether and how he should seek legal representation in this matter.

We both searched for Washington State gun rights contacts and I told him I would post this request for information here on FR.

If any FReepers, and in particular Eastern Washington FReepers, have any suggestions or relevant experience regarding how my friend should proceed to resolve this honest mistake with no criminal intent, I would very much appreciate hearing from you either on this thread or by FReepmail.

Thank you all.

- rogue yam

[stuartcr]

I don’t carry when I fly, and I still know everything that I packed and have in my carry-on luggage.

[Texowa]

The NRA might be able to give some good advice. The Northwest is tough though.

[CindyDawg]

Put the toys in your luggage too. I flew with my grandson once. I had all his toys in my bag. Wires and batteries lite up like a Christmas tree:’)

[expat_panama]

Everybody screws up once in a while, and sooner or later most of us will have messed up something really bad..  We all pray that if we do that we could be as lucky as this guy --he leaves a firearm where he shouldn't have and it gets found without anyone getting killed.  

A lot to be grateful for here.

[Dead Corpse]

In a sane Country, people would be able to read “shall not be infringed”, use airline approved frangible ammo, and terrorists wouldn’t be able to crash airliners into buildings.

[stuartcr]

I would think that many criminals or terrorists would go through the trouble of obtaining a cc permit, if they could get away with it...I imagine there actually are some.

I doubt it will count for much, as the judge will probably think that he should have known better, since he did have the permit. You can’t even joke about a bomb or hijack in an airport, why do you think actually going through security with a weapon would get any leniency?

[angkor]

>>>>Sen. Webb’s assistant who inadvertently tried to carry the senator’s pistol through Capitol security a few months back?

Charges were dropped by DC, I vaguely recall with a lot of words that basically said “we have no evidence”

Which I predicted from day 1.

a) Senate rules permit transport of “stored” firearms by members and aides on Congressional grounds. DC police don’t supercede Senate rules, so the arrest was bogus from the outset.

b) Webb has CWP in Virginia and regardless of that, open carry on a car seat is legal FOR ANYONE in Virginia.

c) Given (a) and (b) the only possible violation of the law was on I-395 (a federal highway) from the VA state line (west side of Potomac River) to the Senate parking lot. So now DC was up against federal statues on peaceable carry, which IMO would permit legal transport of firearms to a place of storage (Webb’s office) regardless of DC law which does not speak to peaceable carry at all.

It is not plausible that DC can ignore (let alone trump) federal peaceable carry statutes on the three major federal highways running through it from Maryland to Virginia (I-295, I-395, I-95).

[Vigilanteman]

In a sane country, the terrorist would be greatly outnumbered and nobody would be afraid to "profile" them.

Sorry, bub, I grew up in the west where everyone carried guns and the amount of crime was negligible because everyone knew everyone carried .

In a sane country, terrorists wouldn't get a visa. The homegrown variety would be decorating telegraph poles.

In a sane country, we wouldn't be trying to understand Islamofacism, we would be exterminating it.

In a sane country, moderate Muslims (like the guy in my tagline) wouldn't be afraid to speak out because they would be the majority of all Muslims and the others would be on their way to extinction.

[dashing doofus]

Sorry for the aside: Andy — do you happen to know how friendly MHT is to gun owners? I’ve heard that Logan is a nightmare to deal with.

[CindyDawg]

I just feel bad for him. 99.9 % of the time he has probably been very careful. One mistake and you can lose it all. Criminals have more rights.

[stuartcr]

So do I.

[HawaiianGecko]

Well, he did break the law so a not guilty plea will do nothing but guarantee a conviction.  I'm not up on Washington laws but many states have a sentence called SIS (Suspended Imposition of Sentence)  In this case a judge places him on probation for a given length of time and if he successfully completes probation, no sentence is ever actually ordered so an S.I.S. is NOT considered a 'conviction' for anything other than law enforcement purposes.  This is entirely different than SES (Suspended Execution of Sentence) because the judge actually sentences the person as if convicted, (5 years for example) but suspends the actual execution of the sentence.

The difference, in Missouri anyway, is that under successful completion of SIS the person can honestly say he has never been convicted of any crime.  I have the impression it is designed specifically for people that do actually commit a serious crime unwittingly, as is your case here.

I am NOT an attorney BTW, but I suggest he get a real good one.  One who's golf clubs ride around next to judges golf clubs from time to time.  Stay away from cheap lawyers. The inexpensive defense attorney will be looking at your friend as a one time fixed amount of money, not a long term retainer client and will maximize his monetary rate by minimizing the amount of time spent on your case.  In short, he will spend 10 minutes or less getting the first deal with the prosecutor that keeps your friend out of jail. Which really isn't a good deal as he most likely wouldn't get jail time anyway.

Trust me, the prosecutor sees a slam dunk here.  He can't help but get a conviction.  Your friend was arrested in the airport with the gun in his possession, and I'm sure it's registered to him and that he showed his concealed carry permit, which is an admission of guilt right on the front end.  (See airport guys, I have a permit to carry this firearm you found on me.)

Good lawyers are worth their weight in gold.

 

[dmz]

When life is truly good, in a free society, you have enough guns that you don’t have to keep mental track of them at all times.

Do you know where all your screwdrivers are?

______________

LOL. Nobody was asking the unfortunate gentleman to account for the whereabouts of all of his weapons. Just the one he had on him in his carry on bag. Too funny.

[Ancesthntr]

Advice from a lawyer (me):

GET THEE A LAWYER!!!

Also, advise your friend to NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER plead to any crime that would end up with him prohibited to own or carry a firearm in the future. Pay a large fine as part of a plea deal...that’s fine. He MUST get a lawyer who is knowledgable in firearms law.

He might want to contact CCRKBA http://www.ccrkba.org/ since they’re located in Washington and they are very pro-gun.

[freedom4ever]

Our Congressman was caught a couple of years ago(Hostettler-R)in the Louisville airport. He, if I remember correctly, kind of got off because he was in an unsecure area of the airport. I don’t recall the specifics, but somehow he was nabbed before he passed through final security. I think he got off with a whack on the peepee and no time, but you’d have to look it up. There was some discussions on FreeRepublic about it.

[steve86]

Well, he should get good legal representation but I’m not sure how much value there will be in the specialized firearm knowledge. The law is clearcut. I think the attorney’s value will be more in negotiating a plea with the court, which any good lawyer can do.

[Atlas Sneezed]

A screwdriver is not a gun.

---

Really? They are booth tools that can be dangerous when misused.

[steve86]

Also, the lawyer will look for a technical defense, which might or might not involve firearms knowledge.

[ctdonath2]

Word is such occurrences are surprisingly common, and after an initial period of bluster the TSA settles it amicably - so long as nothing else goes wrong.

Advice:
- Don’t plead guilty
- GET A VERY GOOD LAWYER NOW.

Feel free to turn it into a 4th and 2nd Amendment case as well.

[Rick.Donaldson]

I sure as hell dunno where MY screw drivers are, and I have a son-in-law that’s got some ‘splainin’ to do. On the other hand I have forgotten NUMEROUS times that I have a weapon in my vehicle, until a gate guard asks me “All Secure Sir?” and I say “Yup!” hehe