Posted on 02/06/2014 2:52:36 AM PST by rickmichaels
Screw Canada.
Another reason not to venture to the dark north.
Gun-related message boards lit up this week over news of the arrest of an American man at the Canadian border.
Retired U.S. Army sergeant major Louis DiNatale and his wife were on a romantic getaway from Kentucky to Vermont when they say their GPS led them astray to the border.
When DiNatale failed to declare a loaded handgun in the centre console he says he simply forgot it was there he was detained for four days and now faces gun-smuggling charges that could land him in prison for three years.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalpost.com ...
” Do you have a right to arms up in Canada in your Constitution?”
Probably the USA is the only country in the world with anything remotely close the 2nd.
Forget about Canada -- The fact that he forgot that he had a handgun in his console while driving from Kentucky to Vermont -- through New York -- demonstrates that this guy lacks the competence to even own a handgun. Mere possession of an unloaded handgun in New York without a state issued permit is at least a misdemeanor and a Class E Felony with a minimum 3.5 year sentence if the firearm is loaded. There is an an exception for transit through New York State (except for New York City) provided the person is legally allowed to possess the handgun in his or her state of residence and the handgun is unloaded, locked, and inaccessible to the occupants of the motor vehicle.
Canada has a constitution in name only. It really isn't worth the paper its written on.
Besides, who needs a constitution? How is yours working out for you?
Truth be told, the guy was probably in violation of several state laws driving from Kentucky to Vermont with a loaded gun in the center console. (Not sayin’ I agree with the laws, just sayin’)
Fortunately, crime rates in most places are so low, it wouldn't make much of a difference.
Canada does have a higher violent crime rate per capita than the US.
I don’t see how we can reverse the damage to our gun laws here because too many liberals buy the lies.
Well, I see one way, if the west just up and left.
Yep but we must not talk about that or his forgetfulness and inability to notice he was crossing into another country, let alone crossing state lines.
I've crossed the border between the U.S. and Canada dozens of times. If this guy just "got lost" then he never intended to enter Canada anyway and therefore wouldn't have been processed at the Canada Customs facility as a visitor. They would have turned him around and sent him back south to the U.S.
Oddly enough, he may have been forced to go through a U.S. immigration/customs process at that point, depending on how the border crossing facilities are laid out. For many of these locations, someone driving north into Canada drives past the U.S. immigration/customs facility first, which means they have to get processed as a new entry from Canada if they turn right around and go back.
The article says he and his wife crossed into Canada at the Thousand Islands Bridge. That's several hours west of Vermont, at the north end Interstate 81 in New York State.
Something about this story stinks to high heaven. He might be better off being prosecuted in Canada than being prosecuted in New York.
The border goons on both sides of our country’s borders are lowbrow neanderthals with zero common sense. Canadian laws suck it’s true, but if the idiots at the Detroit/Windsor crossing find so much as a mariijuana seed in the carpet from your kid or spent .22 casing under the seat from your last trip to the range, you can also be thrown in lail, subject to huge fines AND have your car impounded (read:stolen)
When the kids were younger, we went to Epcot and, unfortunately, into the Canadian pavilion.
I think I still have PTSD from the experience. What a joke.
The thing that bugs me about this incident is the border agent asking WHY he owned guns. Its none of his f’in business and people should not be subjected to some moron’s political views. That Canuck should be told to STFU about politics and stick to checking for fruits and veggies.
On our first crossing into Canada in 2012, the young border guard asked if we had any weapons, fruits or vegetables. I held up a bag containing four apples. He admonished us, “Don’t bring them next time!” & waved us through. That was all.
Crossing back into the U.S. we handed our passports to the border police. He scanned them & immediately told us to pull into the holding area to have our vehicle searched while we had to fill out a customs declaration. It took an hour & a half and when they returned our passports assured us that this was a random one in three hundred vehicles search.
My wife & I are retired military & we each have been deployed. That makes us potential terrorists under the current regime. I don’t think that search was random, JMHO.
I watched Two Americans Returning Into the US I think the Crossing is Pembina,ND. give the customs agents crap.
I was inside getting my Firearms checked.
They looked like they didn’t enjoy the cavity search when they came out of the room.
Anybody who buys the “Why couldn’t they just turn him around” BS have probably never been to the border. First off if you are interacting with the Canadian border service you are in Canada, not the US. Once you pull up to the booth, it is too late. If they, for the sake of argument, turned him around he would again be arrested at the US border for the same thing. You see, he would have to go through US customs to get back, and I’m pretty sure they would want to know why he was turned back from Canada.
He should count himself lucky that he was not arrested on our side of the border, which was New York. If he was found in NY with a handgun in his car, he would be doing years in state prison instead of the couple of days in Canada. You cannot possess a handgun in NY without a NY handgun permit, which you cannot obtain unless you live in NY.
The guy also sounds like one of those drivers who are oblivious to his surroundings. You know the type, exits from the left lane on a highway. Maybe he should have read the signs that alert you that you are heading for the border. They start a few miles before you cross. The last exit in the USA one is also a big giveaway. I cross the border all the time around Champlain NY, since my daughter attends college in Montreal. There is no way someone who pays attention could stumble on it.
Because of all this, it brings to mind how does a guy this dumb get employed in the position he is in, Army Corps of Engineers. What this points to is the death of competence in our country. From the top to bottom, people are getting dumber and dumber.
do you know that he didn’t unload it and lock it in the trunk during his trip through NY? he was in Vermont at the time which is a no license, carry concealed or carry exposed state....
I personally am licensed in NYS. when I travel from my home on Long Island, through NYC(often, mostly to go to my hunting camp upstate), I am suppose to lock the gun, unloaded. once I cross into Westchester county, 10 minutes later, I may pull over reload and carry. talk about draconian.
Shorten it a bit and would make a good tagline.
Minor point, but I do not think he made it to Vermont. He crossed into Canada around Ogdensburg, NY in the Thousand Islands area.
For the history buffs out there. Maybe they are a little touchy about Americans crossing the border with guns in this particular area of Canada. One clue, Hunters Lodges.
Are you sure about that?
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.