Libertarian ping! To be added or removed freepmail me or post a message here.
Posted on 07/21/2008 8:12:15 PM PDT by bamahead
An Albany man who came to town for a conference was arrested on a felony charge and jailed for 18 hours because he had a gun in his hotel room.
Eric Dewayne Baylis, 45, said he didn't know that the hotel was owned by the University of Georgia, which put him in violation of a state law forbidding weapons within school safety zones.
His employers made the lodging arrangements and he had no idea the hotel is owned by UGA.
"I actually didn't know (it) was campus property," Baylis said Thursday, soon after posting a $2,000 bond to get out of jail.
"I carry my gun with me when I'm on the road traveling, and I took it out of my suitcase and just left it on the bed," Baylis said. "When the maid went through the room cleaning it and saw it, she told the manager, who called campus security."
Georgia Center Director Bill Crowe said the hotel will immediately change the form guests receive at check-in, paperwork that lists forbidden items and activities, like smoking.
"We are going to correct that," Crowe said. "I hate that the guy got arrested. We could have given him better information when he checked in."
During a lunch break Wednesday, Baylis got a call from the front desk that the police wanted to speak with him.
Officers didn't lecture him on gun laws or allow him to move the pistol from his room to his car; they arrested Baylis and took him to the Clarke County Jail.
He was booked on a charge of possession of a weapon on school property about 6 p.m. Wednesday and bonded out at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
Whether the man made a mistake or intentionally broke the law is a question to be decided in court...
(Excerpt) Read more at onlineathens.com ...
ping
I agree with the guy except for the fact that he did not secure his weapon.
Fortunately, he’s in Georgia. It will probably work out OK in the end.
Yeah - the problem is that it’s a felony in the first place when it should be perfectly legal.
Uh....UGA “owning” the hotel does NOT make it a school campus. No violation. Case dismissed!
An island of liberalism in a sea of sanity. He might want to ask for a change of venue.
Bull. He's from out of town, an easy mark to just plea out and pay his fine. They are just stuffing the county purse.
Agreed. Letting anyone, especially strangers know that you are carrying is irresponsible and dumb.
If you’re going to carry, think, always think and remember. Always assume it’s loaded and never take it or anyone for granted.
You always have to remember the anti gun hysteria now rampant in this country. Think about that, how things have changed in this country.
The Georgia Center is pretty much in the heart of south campus. It's between a dorm complex and the athletic facilities (north to south) and about halfway between the west campus dorms and the new east campus development.
Two things.
1). The law is idiotic and should be thrown out. At the very least the cops should have turned a blind eye.
2). He had to have known he was at a UGA building. I don’t buy his excuse (though I am absolutely not saying he should be charged or arrested or that any of this is just). That building is on campus and is very clearly a school owned building. It would be almost impossible not to think that was associated with UGA. I don’t know why he’d even bother with an excuse that lame.
If UGA owns the hotel and wishes to have such strict rules Maybe they should not be renting out rooms to non UGA people.
For what I know, there are NO weapons stored on UW-Madison property except for the UW-Madison Police Department.
It's a good thing stupidity isn't against the law also.
It depends on your priorities and the situation.
As an example, keeping a gun concealed gives you the advantage of surprise.
Carrying a gun in the open gives you the advantage of tactical deterrence.
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed freepmail me or post a message here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.