Marine faces 15 years in prison for unknowingly violating NYC gun law

[Dave]

Pretty sad state of affairs when citizens doing the right thing could face prison time. Doesn't help that the laws in question didn't have these situations figured into them. The funny thing is, now that NY has gay marriage legal, the expectation is that their law should be honored in other states (in theory anyway), but a law abiding citizen that does the right thing when regarding their gun, they get faced with up to 15 years in prison. Just sillyness!

Ryan Jerome was enjoying his first trip to New York City on business when the former Marine Corps gunner walked up to a security officer at the Empire State Building and asked where he should check his gun.

That was when Jerome’s nightmare began. The security officer called police and Jerome spent the next two days in jail.

The 28-year-old with no criminal history now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three and a half years in prison. If convicted, his sentence could be as high as fifteen years.

Jerome has a valid concealed carry permit in Indiana and visited New York believing that it was legal to bring his firearm. He was traveling with $15,000 worth of jewelry that he planned to sell.

The online gun-law information Jerome read was inaccurate, however, and his late September arrest initiated what may become a protracted criminal saga. He hasn’t yet been indicted by a grand jury, but there may be little legal wiggle-room if he is.

“If he does get indicted, and they want to give him something less, then the legal minimum would be two years,” noted Mark Bederow, Jerome’s attorney. “They couldn’t even offer less if they wanted to.” (RELATED: The Daily Caller’s Guns and Gear section)

Jerome isn’t the first out-of-state visitor to volunteer that they had a gun, only to be put through the wringer. In December, Tennessee nurse Meredith Graves noticed a “no guns” sign at the World Trade Center site and asked where she could leave her weapon, only to face similar charges.

Also in December, Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler was arrested after attempting to check a pistol — for which he has a California concealed carry permit — at a New York airport.

The law in New York has the potential to wreak havoc on the lives of unwitting and otherwise law-abiding visitors, Bederow explained to The Daily Caller.

“The law itself is clear,” he said, “if you knowingly possess a loaded firearm in New York, then you are technically guilty of a serious crime. The fact that somebody in another state has a valid concealed carry permit is, legally speaking, irrelevant in New York.”

But the recent spate of tourist arrests wasn’t what was intended when the law was passed, said Bederow. “Subjecting the toughest gun laws in the country — here in New York — to subject these people to them is just not a good use of discretion.”

“The law is not equipped to deal with these situations, and they happen all the time,” he added. “Here are people trying to be responsible.”

There is a significant degree of uncertainty regarding how the case will proceed. Right now, Bederow said he’s hoping that the district attorney will use discretion and recognize that his client “is not a criminal.”

“I’ve been a law-abiding citizen my entire life, and for something like this to come down, it rips me apart,” Jerome told the New York Post. “It’s like taking a good dog and scolding him for something he didn’t do.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/01/03/marine-faces-fifteen-years-behind...

[Lisa O'Brien]

I'm not stating this to be judgmental but he should have done a little more research - not every state honors Indiana's gun permits  here is a link that shows which states do: http://www.usacarry.com/indiana_concealed_carry_permit_information....

I do hope that they overlook this transgression.

[XLFD]

Our NY representative offers us a useful link to an NRA sanctioned website.  I am surprised at the minimum sentence for this 'crime' of bearing arms, and the state's intent on prosecuting visitors who inadvertently break this ridiculous-sounding law.  This could not only imprison them but also prevent the law-abiding (at least in their political boundary outside of New York) visiting people who are charged with these transgressions from getting jobs in the future ( particularly in Kentwood, MI).

Lisa, do you approve of New York's gun control laws?  

[Lisa O'Brien]

Tough question - I've been told that since the ban and stiffer penalties have been in place, the crime rate has dramatically decreased. There is a lot of people jammed into a small area out here, I think I do feel it's safer with stricter laws less collateral damage.I do feel though if you carry a gun and are traveling to different areas it is the gun owner's responsibility to find out what the local gun laws are.Even a gun permit from NY state is not valid in NYC: Handgun licenses issued elsewhere in New York State are not valid in New York City. New York City licenses are valid throughout New York State. However, a New York State license to carry or possess will be valid in New York City in the absence of a New York City license provided that the handguns are transported by the licensee in a locked container and the trip through New York City is continuous and uninterrupted.

You would think that in order for this man to get Indiana gun permit that he would have had to taken a gun safety class - maybe they should start mentioning it in the class that these permits are not honored everywhere - or better yet when they pick up their permit they have to sign a form stating they understand that it is their responsibility to check local gun laws when carrying.

With that said I do hope they drop the charges against this man and let it be a lesson learned.

[XLFD]

Lisa, following a national trend, the amount of gun/violent crimes has went down in NYC.  But drastically?  There is less than a 10% difference between the period of 2007-2010 (the four years after strict gun control in NYC) and 2002-2005 in the murder rate NYC crime rates since 1965. 

Far more dramatic, was the advent of Mayor Giuliani's 'tough on crime' mayorship.  Before he came into power (1993) the murder rate was over 13, and this was dropped to 5.1 by 1998, and hasn't been above that since. 

There were 46 shootings in NYC over this last Labor Day weekend, so gun control in NYC is not working, and perhaps is working counter to plan, as now criminals may be figuring out they don't have to deal so often with armed victims. 

[Willy]

A simple solution would be to drop any charges which the prosecutor has the legal right to do. This doesn't have to go any further and shouldn't. On the other hand the foolish man should have checked into NY gun laws before bringing the firearm with him.

[AQUAMAN]

Gun safety course? You think a permit to carry doesn't include this in the first place? What vanity! Like I said, the Empire State is just a faint shadow of it's former self, and this episode in lunacy proves it.

[Lisa O'Brien]

I really don't think it's lunacy - if I buy fishing license/permit in NY, that doesn't mean it is valid in Michigan. So why would someone assume that a license/permit from one state is honored in another.

Yes - I do think that a permit to carry includes a gun safety course - I was pondering whether in that class it was taught that the license/permit in not honored throughout the U.S. - and if not maybe they should.

[AQUAMAN]

That's right, laws vary state to state, and maybe someday, states will reciprocate on these matters of permit to carry. Just like they do on so many other things already with a national database. It was the safety course comment that didn't ring true. As far as I have known for many years, this is a must when you take the course and get the permit. They don't want just anyone without knowledge of the weapon to have a permit to carry, that's a no brainer.