Posted on 05/14/2012 6:31:13 PM PDT by marktwain
The District grabbed the guns belonging to 1st Lt. Augustine Kim and won’t give them back. Two years ago, the South Carolina Army national guardsman had been injured on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan. Now he’s fighting to restore his constitutional rights.
Before deploying overseas, the soldier drove his collection - which included an AR-15, a Beretta 9mm and several .45 caliber pistols - to his parents’ house in New Jersey for safe storage. Upon his return to the states and recovery, Lt. Kim wanted to bring his weapons back to his home in Charleston. On the way, he stopped at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Northwest Washington for a doctor’s appointment. That’s when his troubles started.
Lt. Kim became lost in the city and was pulled over. The cops asked Lt. Kim if they could search his vehicle. The lieutenant agreed because his guns were cased and stored in full compliance with federal firearm-transport laws. “I told them I had been under the impression that as long as the guns were locked in the back, with the ammunition separate, that I was allowed to transport them,” Lt. Kim told The Washington Times. “They said, ‘That may be true, however, since you stopped at Walter Reed, that makes you in violation of the registration laws.’ ” It is illegal to possess a firearm anywhere in the District other than the home. He was handcuffed and brought back to police headquarters, and his guns were confiscated as evidence.
The tank platoon leader was booked on four felony counts of carrying outside the home, which threatened a maximum penalty of a $20,000 fine and 20 years imprisonment. “I knew if I got one felony, my military career would be over,” Lt. Kim recalled.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Where are the guns now? Guess!
His mistake was allowing the police to search his vehicle...what reason did they have to do so? Probably none. As the article suggests, he thought there would be no harm in doing so.
Also, what about his right to travel?
Exactamundo - Never ever ever let cops where they are not constitutionally allowed.
Not in your house without a warrant.
Not in your car without a warrant.
They are NOT “your friends” “to protect and serve”
I do not agree with it, but once he made the stop , he was no longer traveling, he was conducting local business.
DC is the jurisdiction that can and will convict you of DUI with ANY measurable alcohol in your system, no lower legal limit. Any out of towner stopped for traffic offense is a fishing expedition for those gun grabbers. A great place to avoid at all costs.
Facist Nazi Govt Thugs....
Eric Holders GOONS.
“It is illegal to possess a firearm anywhere in the District other than the home”.
OK, how do you LEGALLY get it there?
Good question!
He will, in the end, win his case. His lawyers should also bring personal lawsuits against each of the officers who failed to recognize his status. They are simply too dangerous to be cops in DC where this is a common event.
That makes sense, but this situation is still BS.
He saw a doctor at Walter Reed ~ military business. The cops had no jurisdiction.
This reminds me of that case in New Jersey not too long ago.
The fed law only covers you while traveling through, not conducting local business. He was not on military orders, he was traveling on his own. Also, having the guns on Walter Reed’s property is a huge nono, he knew better.
Like I said, I do not agree with it, but the gun laws, especially in that part of the country, are intended to trap people.
I sure hope so!
I know I am an extremist, but I think it is time to make it a Federal capital crime for police officers and department heads to deny the constitution rights of citizens.
The second amendment that protects the right to posess weapons which includes guns shall not be infringed. If liberals chose to do that they are treasonous, and the death penality is due. That would take care of that.
With rights come responsibility. If you are going to exercise your 2nd A rights, you had better know the laws in the jurisdiction you wil be in.
For instance, you CAN NOT carry a firearm into a secure area in a transportation facility (not just airports).
Most gov’t facilities and property are off limits as well, military property is especially limited. Loaded firearms in hunting areas during closed hunting season is verboten in some states. In my state, “gatherings of people, sporting events, and rallies” are areas where you can not exercise your 2nd A right.
It is a PITA, but we do not need to give the anti gun crowd any rope to hang us. We need to follow ALL the rules to the letter until we get those rules rescinded. And it is no accident that many of the gun infractions are felonies, that way you lose your gun rights for life.
A fellow at one of the newspapers here once identified all the various police agencies in DC and defined all the spaces they had jurisdiction over.
Sometimes the jurisdictions conflicted ~ one such place was the Carillon near the Capitol. There were something more than a dozen types of cops had some sort of jurisdiction there and yet muggings were frequent!
Whatever goes on at Walter Reed is between the traveler on the property and provost marshall. You leave that place you are traveling interstate again.
We have this situation down here where you go to the town of Quantico VA to the gunstore THROUGH Quantico marine base ~ you actually have to stop at a couple of stop signs to make this trip.
I've done it several times and each time I had firearms in my vehicle. The Constitution protects my right to travel on that road which is actually part of the base ~ and hundreds of people each week do the same. The SPs could stop me or anybody and do whatever they wanted, but properly packed away and stored they really can't do anything about the firearms. And think about it, in this case we are not actually involved in INTERSTATE TRAVEL since these trips start and stop in Virginia.
The FBI and CIA agents who go there for training carry their own personal weapons on and off the base, and may actually go to restaurants in Quantico VA ~ whether they are on duty, off duty, or whathave you, the rules on the base are one thing, and the rules in Virginia are another, and the situation the soldier faced in DC never arises because the Virginia cops and the DOD cops know the rules.
I thought Walter Reed was closed and moved to the Naval Hospital grounds in Bethesda, Maryland.
Another good reason to not say nothin' except "no."
He was not arrested on federal property, he was arrested by DC cops within their jurisdiction. Walter Reed is way the heck off the interstate, and isn’t exactly a sprawling institution.
It is good you have not been stopped while carrying contraband on federal property, but if you continue, you just might get that chance.
I have driven all over several military bases with loaded weapons, guns, ammo, etc. I had reason to be in some areas, but not all. Had I been stopped and searched (consent to search is automatic on military property) I would have been arrested, even though I meant no harm.
This guy screwed up and needs to do what his lawyer tells him to do. If he wanted to do business in DC, he needed to pick up his weapons after he was done with his appointments. Traveling “through” does not include local stops, case law abounds on this.
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