Posted on 04/10/2018 8:20:47 AM PDT by Simon Green
Do you understand what it means when you have absolutely nowhere to turn? ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
Clark Camp is a slight, mild-mannered blond who has spent recent weeks preparing to be locked away in a New York state prison for the next two years.
The 29-year-old Hawaii native faces a second degree weapons possession charge, a crime that carries a mandatory five-year sentence in New York, yet Camps lawyer, almost miraculously, managed to have that reduced to two. Camp has no criminal record and no prior arrests.
His life changed one night in 2016. He was living in San Diego and on his way home decided to stop into a bar down the street for a nightcap. He made eyes with a girl and they struck up conversation.
We shared a plate of nachos, some drinks, and some laughs, Camp recalls.
A whirlwind romance ensued over the next few days. Camp, who has never had much luck with women, fell madly in love. A few days later the two set off for an overnight trip to Mexico and rented a beachside Airbnb in Baja. As she prepared to return home to Brooklyn, and their affair drew to a close, the two found themselves unable to part. The woman suggested they take a road trip back to New York and perhaps Camp ought to just stay and live with her.
He would do just that, packing a few bags and heading cross-country in April 2016. But early on there were signs that she perhaps suffered from emotional issues. And one year later, Camp came back to their apartment to find his girlfriend naked on the sofa with another man. A heated argument broke out.
In a small compartment behind the seat of his 85 Chevrolet El Camino, Camp stored a Hi-point .45 pistol he bought legally in Ohio for $140 and that he kept locked away in a safe. When the officers found the weapon, Camp was arrested and charged with a Class C Felony.
His girlfriend had a far-left stance on guns. She said it frightened her to have one in their apartment and so Camp kept it locked safely away in the car to appease her, he explained.
I just wanted to leave, Camp recalled to DANGEROUS.
It was too late. The noise from the shouting attracted the attention of neighbors, who called the police. Officers interviewed Camps girlfriend who told them, out of spite, he says, about a weapon he had in his car.
This is EXACTLY the kind of guy Leftist’s want to lock up in their zoo.
Good for diversity reports.
Cue the crazy/hot chart. We too often think with the wrong head.
So glad I no longer live in NY.
You say that like it's a bad thing. I suspect he knew about the unstable part for a long time and accepted it because of the naked part. That was probably a really good deal . . . until it wasn't.
We may not agree with it and may consider it unconstitutional but in New York State you cannot legally own a pistol unless you have a state license to own it.
The state law is known as the “Sullivan Act” and has been in effect since 1911.
Basically it is a misdemeanor to own a concealable firearm without a license and it is a felony to carry one without a license.
And it is not easy to obtain a license to own a pistol.
New York is a “may issue” state as opposed to a “shall issue state”.
So the governing law enforcement agency does not have to issue a license if they don’t want to for any reason at all.
He should be getting schooled in the martial arts for mere survival in a New York prison. If he severely damages the first couple of thugs who try to assault him, he may escape the beatdowns and rape attempts. Then, of course, his sentence will be increased for bad behavior.
Mr. President, here is a great opportunity to do real justice with a Presidential pardon.
“Law enforcement” is happy. They got a conviction, and can boast about how they’re stopping crime.
Reality: they have no intention of taking guns from violent criminals, but are taking them from non-violent individuals.
Well he will have two years to reflect on how wrong he was. New York's gun laws are about the strictest in the nation.
Love is sometimes blind to young men...I suspect she was somewhere above the crazy line, but he was unfamiliar with the Hot vs. Crazy Matrix.
From later in the article:
According to a 2013 article in the New York Times, not everyone faces prison time for these types of weapons violations. Many caught with a loaded gun in New Yorks most crime-stricken neighborhoods actually never see the inside of a jail cell.
As the Times reported, as few as 31 percent of those caught with illegal weapons in the Bronx were imprisoned. The Bronx is New Yorks poorest borough by median household income and has one of the highest crime rates in the nation. The predominantly black and Hispanic 16th Congressional district of the South Bronx is also the poorest Congressional District in the nation, with over 52% of residents living below the poverty line. The 16ths violent crime rate is also among the worst in the nation, but still 69% of gun offenders in the Bronx are not put in jail, according to the Times.
Camp is not expecting to get that pass. The neighborhood where he was arrested, Williamsburg, is a rapidly gentrifying section of Brooklyn dominated by hipsters, would-be artists, and upper middle class white collar workers. Still, the neighborhood fares poorly with overall crime rates. A recent study by DNAInfo ranked Williamsburg 47th safest for per capita crime out of 69 neighborhoods surveyed.
Which is a problem I have with NRA, GOA and other gun rights groups. They should be balls-to-the-wall challenging these laws wherever they exist, with every penny they can muster. If they are in fact doing anything, they are not publicizing it. They have to be as in-your-face about rights as anti-gun activist are in removing our rights.
That’s what happens when one sinks to going after a left-wing gal for her lady parts......
Be careful of what you wish for. If Congress can say that states cannot control gun ownership within their borders then that same Congress can say they can regulate gun ownership within the entire country. Are you willing to trust some future Democrat congress with that?
The same powers that allow New York to be hyper-strict on gun ownership allows Missouri to be far more reasonable. I'd like to keep it that way.
Didn't Williamsburg used to be dominated by an Orthodox Jewish community?
There shouldn’t be any humor in this thread, but guys will nervously laugh at this the same way they nervously laugh at some poor guy who gets hit in the stones with a softball.
It is human nature.
This guy made a mistake about two things: The company he keeps, and the concept of traveling with a weapon. He apparently was not given the opportunity to learn from his mistake about the company he keeps. Many of us do get to learn without going to jail. He didn’t get that opportunity.
But if anyone owns a weapon in this country, it is absolutely essential before he ever purchases it that he knows exactly what can legally be done with it and where it can legally be taken, and under what conditions or restrictions.
That is simple self preservation, and in this environment of gun ownership, essential.
I think it is wrong. I think it is a crime that I live in a country where I am allowed to exercise my Constitutional rights one way in one state, but if I drive two miles and cross over a border into a neighboring state, I may end up in prison for two years and branded as a felon for exercising my Constitutional rights in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY.
That is wrong. We all know it, but that is reality.
Maybe he needs a better lawyer?
I'm sure the NRA is fighting the battles they think they can win.
I have a NRA sticker on my cars and RV.
No way i go to N.Y., N.J. Illinois etc. cause i might get stopped.
I have a CCW and Always have a pistol in my vehicle.
Not going to any state that won’t let me defend myself of family.
I Will not spend a penny in such states.
Hell with anything they might have to see.
The President cannot pardon someone convicted of a state crime.
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