[NEWwoman]

I know these days we check our Constitutional Rights at the airport gate. That said ... I feel a bit angry that his Wyoming man was treated this way. Clearly, he had forgotten about his firearm and was no real threat to anyone. I'm sure if it had been calmly pointed out, he could have unloaded it and checked it into baggage. (Though that clearly is not the policy anymore. He has to be made a criminal.) Also, I wish this man had been aboard one of the jets that flew into the WTC or Pentagon. He could have really stopped the hijacking and saved many lives.

[montomike]

How do you forget that you have a personal protective device in your luggage? The guy deserves to spend the night in jail for being so brain dead.

[Dog Gone]

I don't know. Anyone dumb enough to accidentally carry a loaded gun onto a plane is probably too dumb to be trusted with one.

I mean, sheesh. If you have a loaded gun, it's your job to know where it is.

[j.havenfarm]

Which reminds me. The recent renaming of San Jose International for Norman Mineta makes me proud to be a FORMER San Jose resident.

[dawn53]

Sounds to me like he wasn't in the mood to be calmed down.

Simmons was uncooperative with police and had to be forcibly arrested,

[spodefly]

Sorry, no sympathy from me. Every time I hear about someone doing something stupid with a firearm I cringe knowing that it is one more instance that can be used to broad brush all gun owners as careless and un-thinking.

No excuse for having a loaded firearm in carry on baggage at an airport. None. It should have been unloaded, declared, and placed in checked baggage.

[1rudeboy]

I wonder how he got to California with the gun. If my suspicion is correct, he's batting .500 and you shouldn't be so upset.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Poor guy.

He forgot that he no longer lives in the free country in which he was born.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

LOL! So which would you rather have? Someone with a box cutter or handgun? You want to take your chances on the results being the same?

Guns are not allowed on aircraft, period, unless authorized! I guess people don't realize what an airplane is! The man was asinine! He should have checked it in at the ticket counter. it has NOTHING to do with your "rights". It is the AIRLINES "rights". It is MY right to safety that the airline provides by securing it for me (and others).

I suppose you reserve the "right" to run red lights, hit pedestrians, and drive the wrong way down a highway, since it is the FEDS who have told you that you can't!! What the heck is wrong with you people?

[AppyPappy]

Clearly, he had forgotten about his firearm and was no real threat to anyone.

Then why did he freak on the cops? I can't believe someone "forgets" a loaded gun in a carryon bag.

[CaptainK]

Maybe he has a child who is trying to get into UC Berkeley and needed a tramatic event for their entrance essay.

[HairOfTheDog]

His forgetting the gun in his bag is dumb, but his real stupidity was displayed when he was uncooperative with the authorities when it was discovered. Good grief, you can find a better hero than this!

[VaBthang4]

"I know these days we check our Constitutional Rights at the airport gate. That said ... I feel a bit angry that his Wyoming man was treated this way. Clearly, he had forgotten about his firearm and was no real threat to anyone."

As a former Marine and avid Gun owner I ask you "are you nuts"?

If it was a simple mistake as you assert then he should have freely admitted his mistake and gone away with the Police quietly...he was uncooperative and as a result of his actions, was treated the way he was.

"I'm sure if it had been calmly pointed out, he could have unloaded it and checked it into baggage. (Though that clearly is not the policy anymore. He has to be made a criminal."

He was a criminal the minute he put the weapon in his luggage, loaded and put it through one of the machines.

It was by definition a concealed weapon.

"Also, I wish this man had been aboard one of the jets that flew into the WTC or Pentagon."

Grow the Hell up.

[gaffin]

Anyone stupid enough to try and get on a plane with a loaded handgun probably shouldn't have one. He must live a cave to have tried. He needs to learn something of the world before he gets more than 2 miles from his home. I have no sympathy for him.

[Hank Rearden]

Mineta San Jose International Airport

God, I'm so glad I abandoned California years ago. What a stupid 'Rat place!

[Myrddin]

This guy was careless. I carted by S&W 686+ between San Diego and Denver while assigned to a lengthy contract. Airline policy requires the firearm to be unloaded, locked in a box for which you have the key and declared to be unloaded before being placed in CHECKED baggage. You can't carry ammo in the same suitcase as the one containing the firearm. Ammo is generally limited to a maximum weight of 2 pounds and must be in a locked, hard shell, checked bag. I generally just check the firearm and buy ammo at the other end of the trip.

If the guy had a valid CA concealed carry permit, he would have been permitted to have the loaded firearm inside the airport. Once he decided to pass it through a security checkpoint enroute to the aircraft, he would have required another fairly lengthy form to be filled out and approved. You can take a firearm if you are carrying classified material with a briefcase cuffed to your wrist. The guy from Wyoming met none of the criteria for passing a loaded firearm through the checkpoint. Felony dumb.

BTW, I sign the declaration and lock it inside the box containing the firearm. That box is then locked inside the suitcase. NEVER attach the declaration to the outside of the suitcase. It says "STEAL ME" loud and clear.

When I have a firearm in my luggage, I make a bee line to the claim area and grab the suitcase ASAP.