Why People Get Arrested at Airports with Firearms

 

When I’m teaching my concealed carry classes I always cover how to properly fly with a firearm so you don’t end up behind bars with a 400lb roommate named Bubba. However, after I explain this there are often one or two people who tell me the story of the poor gun owner who got arrested at a New Jersey or New York airport, even though he was following all the rules.

Well, I’m going to tell you why he was arrested, but remember I’m no lawyer and furthermore I don’t like lawyers, even though my sweet and lovely wife graduates from law school in less than two weeks. But let’s get back to why gun owners get arrested in these pain-in-the-butt states.

Federal law allows us to fly all over this great nation as long as our guns are properly secured in our checked luggage. This means the guns are unloaded, in a hard side case and have a lock on them.

And this is exactly what I do as I fly all over the country for training.

However, I have never flown to New York or Jersey and I don’t plan to. But there are a lot of gun owners who do have to fly to or have a layover in these crazy states and some get arrested and some don’t, so what gives?

Well, as I just mentioned, Federal law allows us to fly all over. So, if John Doe was flying from Florida to Maine and had a connection in New Jersey, he would be fine and have no problem at all if he simply went from one plane to the next and the airlines transferred his luggage as they always do.

But, let’s say John Doe flies into Jersey and he misses his connecting flight. Let’s say there are no other flights out that night so he decides to get a hotel room. And since John Doe is a responsible gun owner he goes and retrieves his bag from the ticket agent because he doesn’t want his bag containing a gun left in the airport until the next day.

Well, the next day arrives…

And John Doe walks up to the ticket counter in the New Jersey airport and declares his firearm and ammunition, as he should. And as soon as he does this the ticket agent picks up the phone, calls airport police and John Doe is arrested for having possession of a weapon.

Now, John Doe will get all charges dismissed and nothing criminally will happen to him. But, he will have several hours of his day wasted and the hassles of getting his gun back. So why was he arrested? Because he took possession of the gun. In other words, if John Doe had never taken possession of his luggage and just left it where it was with the airline until the next day all would have been well.

But when he went and retrieved the gun he violated the crazy laws of places like New York and New Jersey. Again, remember that I am no lawyer, but this is the way it has been explained to me.

So if you happen to fly through cities or states that are not gun friendly and you have a longer layover or something happens I wouldn’t take possession of your gun if I were you. I would simply let the airline transfer the bags as they are supposed to, that way you shouldn’t have to worry about running afoul of any laws.

What Gun Accessories Do You Need?

Open up any gun magazine and you’ll see companies selling almost every imaginable accessory for guns. In fact, I know plenty of guys that spend more on accessories than on the actual gun itself. But is this necessary?

Well, first off, there are few accessories that I would consider necessary. The rest of them are for “the fun of it.” In other words, there is a big difference between accessorizing a gun for self-defensive purposes, versus competition shooting, versus accessorizing them for no good reason except for the fact that they make a new whiz-bang part for your gun.

Thankfully, I have escaped the “accessorize” disease. I’m a pretty simple guy when it comes to my guns and don’t like to add a bunch of junk to them. My Glock 19 pistol is completely stock. I haven’t changed a thing on it.

In fact, the only accessory I think you need for your self-defense handgun is a light.

And not a light that attaches to the gun, a light that sits next to your gun in case you have to deal with an intruder at 3am. And no matter what, please don’t do a trigger job on your self-defense gun. You don’t ever want to find yourself facing a prosecutor trying to explain why your gun has a 2-pound trigger.

And although my concealed carry gun is simple, I do have a lot more items on my home defense shotgun. First, it has a light on the end of it. I have a SureFire flashlight that is built into the forend. It also has a sling, a side-saddle to hold extra shells, a pistol grip and an extended magazine tube.

All of those accessories are good on a shotgun, but if I could only have one, it would absolutely be a flashlight. So before you add all of the other stuff to your home defense shotgun, make sure the flashlight comes first.

Rifles are probably where the majority of people get out of control with all of the add-ons.

I saw an Internet posting once where one fellow said “You can go broke adding one $10 accessory at a time to your .22 rifle.” He’s right. On my Ruger 10/22 I have a sling and I installed better sights, but that’s it.

As far as an AR-15, I recommend a sling, light and iron sights at the very least. Yes, you can spend a small fortune on optics, but for defensive purposes with the AR-15, the iron sights are all you need.

In fact, the most important thing with the AR-15 or any gun for that matter is that

you know how to properly operate it without all of the add-ons. If you don’t know the fundamentals, the accessories are pointless.

And if you need one more reason not to go crazy with accessories, consider this: When you read the instructions that say “easily installs” you may spend hours putting it on and you’ll never want to accessorize again.

Pistol courses and Profanity

Today, I’d like to tell you about pistol courses… profanity… and what they have to do with keeping you out of jail.

You see, this past Saturday I held a CCA Defensive Pistol course. It was a beautiful spring day and there’s just something special about shooting on an outdoor pistol range surrounded by the (small) mountains of West Virginia. We had a great class and it’s always amazing to see how much improvement folks make in such a short period of time.

I could tell you all about what we did at the course and how they became such better shooters, but instead, strangely enough, I want to tell you about one thing that I didn’t do during class and that I didn’t hear any of, and that is foul language.
Stay with me on this one because this is an important lesson…

At my pistol courses you will never hear any profanity coming out of my mouth. I don’t believe in foul language and try to never say it. Personally, I don’t think it’s professional. However, some of my friends who are top instructors let the F-word fly like crazy, so obviously to each his own.

However, in addition to religious or professional beliefs about the use of profanity, I think there is an important reason not to use foul language that most people over look. Instead of trying to explain it, let me give you an example.

Let’s say you cuss all the time and it’s become a habit and the F-word is no big deal to you. You’re walking away from the ATM one day and a man comes at you with what you believe is a knife. You quickly draw your gun and you shout “You Mother F*****” as you fire a few rounds. He falls backwards and you again shout, “Don’t you F***** move.”

Well, the cops arrive and it turns out the “knife” was really a shiny key and the guy was asking you to jump his car. And there happens to be a few witnesses around that you didn’t see. These witnesses tell the cops that you were an angry man and called the guy a “Mother F*****” and were cussing frighteningly at him. How do you think that’s going to look when you have 4 witnesses testifying against you?

I realize this is far-fetched…

But my point is, if you’re confronted with a deadly force situation you don’t want witnesses who’ll say something like “I heard him scream “I’ll blow your f****** head off.’” You don’t want to sound like the aggressor and have it look bad for you by using language that people expect criminals to use.

You also don’t want to let this language slip when the cops are talking to you either. You don’t want a cop on the stand reading his notes saying, “When I interviewed Mr. Johnson he said ‘yes, I shot the mother f***** because he was going to kill me.’”

And if you’re really having trouble breaking your language habit you can do what my mother used to do to me growing up when I used bad language. Let’s just say a bar of soap doesn’t taste very good.

10 things to never be cheap about

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m definitely cheap about certain things. For instance, you’ll never see me putting anything but 87 grade in my gas tank. It will be a cold day in you-know-where before you seem me putting in premium… or until I’m driving a Ferrari and I’m not sure which one is going to come first.

Also, when it comes to a white t-shirt, the ones they sell at Wal-Mart are all I need and so are Levi’s jeans. I know some folks who spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of jeans, but not me. However, there are many areas in my life where I am not cheap and believe it is rather foolish to be so.

For example, every once in a while I’ll be doing consulting where someone will tell me about their brand new gun they spent $600 on, yet they thought it was a good idea to buy a cheap $15 holster that doesn’t work because they didn’t want to spend $70 on a quality holster.

Or the person who thinks any type of firearms training that doesn’t have the price of free costs too much. And it’s for these folks, and many others who are cheap when it’s a bad idea to be that way, that I’ve created the below list of 10 things you never want to be cheap about:

10. Toilet Paper – Need I say more? Having cheap toilet paper can lead to loss of friendship because nobody wants to come to your house. Plus, it’s cruel to the rest of your family.

9. Brain Surgery – Let’s say you find out you have a brain tumor. It’s probably not a good idea to run over to your friend’s house with your pocketknife and say “Hey John, I remember that ER used to be your favorite TV show. You mind slicing me open real quick?”

8. Your anniversary – To tell you the truth, my wife and I have been married less than a year. However, I think I’ve already been reminded 1,847 times about our upcoming anniversary. Therefore, it seems to me it would be a good idea to plan something quality for your spouse on this particular day.

7. Razors – When’s the last time you shaved with one of those cheap hotel razors because you forgot your blade at home? You almost died from blood loss, didn’t you?

6. Your personal protection equipment – If someone kicks down your door at 3am and is trying to harm your family, are you going to think to yourself, “Gosh, I’m glad I bought this $150 Russian gun that jams every other shot” or will you have a gun that you can bet your life on, such as a Glock, Smith & Wesson M&P or Springfield XD?

5. Garbage bags – This is as bad as cheap toilet paper. Do you really want all those holes appearing as you’re trying to tie up the trash and take it out?

4. Your Attorney – Heaven forbid you ever get in trouble with the law and need an attorney. I would not recommend calling the creepy guy on the billboard with the bad toupee. Find the best attorney you can so you don’t end up in jail cuddling with Bubba.

3. The Tax Man – The two worst return addresses you can see on an envelope: Your in-laws and the IRS. If the IRS is auditing you, it’s probably not a good idea to trot down to H&R Block and talk with the college kid who knows about as much about doing taxes as you do. Find a C.P.A. ASAP.

2. Tattoos – No, I don’t have any tattoos and I don’t plan on getting any. But if someone is coming at me with a needle and they’re about to put permanent ink on me, I don’t think I want the drunk college kid at the party doing it to me.

1. Your training – This includes all types of training in life, but for this articles purpose, your personal protection training. I don’t know about you, but if I wanted to fly a plane, I wouldn’t go spend a lot on a plane and then pay some TSA agent who’s only seen a plane to teach me how to fly. So why do some people spend hundreds on a gun and then think they don’t need to learn how to use it or they go to a friend who shot a gun one time, 20 years ago to teach them? I don’t know because I’ve never had a problem investing in any type of training in life because I know it will pay dividends many times over. So whether you need firearms training, piano lessons, or want to learn how to scuba dive, pay for quality training, your life is worth it.

The Trayvon Martin Killing

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the Travyon Martin killing down in Florida. Today, I’m going to discuss that incident, along with how it relates to what I wrote about last week (jumping on top of a dumpster to escape a pack of dogs.)

First off, it seems there are still a lot of facts that we don’t know. When I first heard about the incident, it appeared Zimmerman (the shooter) made the wrong decision and I thought he was definitely going to jail.

But yesterday, I was reading about how Martin had pushed him to the ground and had tried to take the gun. Supposedly, Zimmerman was bleeding and had bruises to prove it and another eyewitness saw Martin push Zimmerman to the ground. I also found out that even though Martin was only 17 years old, he was 6’3” and a pretty big guy.

Now, if Martin did try and take the gun from Zimmerman and Zimmerman was in fear for his life, then I believe he was justified in shooting Martin. However, if Zimmerman simply chased Martin down and shot him for no good reason, then obviously he should go to jail.

Again, I think there are still a lot of facts to come out and we don’t know the full story.

But here’s what I do know: Zimmerman could have walked away. He didn’t have to follow Martin and he could have listened to the dispatcher who told him not to follow the boy.

In other words, if you’re so worried about a suspicious person that you feel the need to call the police on them, then you should not follow them and you should wait for the police to come and do their job. I’m sure if you asked Zimmerman today if he wishes he had waited, he would no doubt answer “yes.”

The problem is, there are a lot of people (men) in this country who are insecure and feel the need to act tough. When I wrote last week about how I ran from the dogs, I had a few people use inappropriate language to discuss how they felt I reacted to the situation.

Yes, I realize I could have faced the dogs and they might have backed down, but why would I take that chance when a better option would be to get on top of a dumpster? I am highly confident in my abilities to defend myself, but any day of the week I will get out of a situation (if it’s an option) so that I don’t have to put those abilities to the test.

The fact is, all of us are human and have “macho” urges we need to learn how to resist.

If you see a suspicious person, don’t try and be a hero and go confront them. If somebody flips you the middle finger on the highway, you have to force yourself not to yell at them and flip them off in response.

I realize this isn’t easy. Trust me, when someone cuts me off in traffic, I would love to give them a piece of my mind too. But I remind myself that I’m carrying a gun and that I need to act responsibly and let it go.

I guess what I’m really trying to say this week is to have self-discipline… to not be a hero… and to be secure with yourself so you don’t feel the need to show others (and yourself) how tough you are. Had Zimmerman shown self-discipline and let the police do their jobs, a 17-year-old boy may not have lost his life.

How I was almost mauled by a pack of dogs

When I walked in the door this past Friday, I told my wife she was almost a widow. (Seriously.) Let me explain...

I'm out in California right now visiting the in-laws. They live at the end of a dirt road and right next to their property is an Indian reservation. I run 2.5 miles everyday, so about 10am I decide to head out for my run. Because I'm in the nutso state of California I do not have a gun on me.

Well, I'm huffing and puffing along this dirt road when all of the sudden a big black dog comes out of nowhere and starts charging at me while barking ferociously. My first instinct is to go for my gun, which, of course, is not there. And, since I'm in the middle of the desert, there is nothing around. Luckily, there happens to be one of those Waste Management dumpsters nearby.

I sprint towards the dumpster and hurl myself on top of it, as the dog barely misses taking a chunk out of me. The dog stands on its hind legs, scratching the side of the dumpster and continues to bark. Almost immediately, four more dogs appear so there are five dogs surrounding this dumpster, all on their hind legs, trying to get to me.

For about five minutes...

My head is on a swivel as I look around to make sure that one of the dogs isn't suddenly going to make the leap of a lifetime and get to me. Finally, I see a little old Indian woman walking towards me. She looks like she's about 109 years old and I'm hoping she doesn't die before she gets to me.

When she’s within 20 yards of the dumpster she says to me, "those dogs won't hurt you, don't be afraid, you can get down now." Keep in mind, as she says this there are still five dogs trying to climb up the side of the dumpster to get to me, barking like crazy. I told her I didn't think it was a good time for me to get down and I would wait for her to get her dogs.

She ended up getting all five dogs and took them into a fenced-in yard. I then hopped off the dumpster, noticed a huge bruise on my shin from my Olympic-like leap onto it, and headed back to home.

Now, to tell you the truth...

There have previously been two times in my life where I thought I might end up meeting my maker. This is the third time. When I was standing in the shower afterwards I kept thinking about what would have happened if that dumpster wasn't around. (One of my thoughts was that if I'd survived, I might be first man in history to kill a pack of dogs with a tactical pen.)

I was also a little ticked off that I was in California. I wasn't ticked off that California is a state full of crazies, I was ticked off that I had chosen to go there and I had chosen to go running without a gun. The fact is, I hear people all of the time complain about living in New Jersey, or Maryland, or New York, but each one of them makes the choice to live there.

The beauty of living in this country is we have the freedom to live where we want. Anyway, not that I needed the reminder, but I think it's pretty safe to say it will be a cold day in you-know-where before I move to California.

Beyond not moving to California, the moral of the story is to have a gun with you when exercising (if you legally can) because there are numerous incidents every year where people are mauled by dogs.

Why I’m the World’s Best Husband

Today, you’re going to see why I’m pretty much the world’s best husband. You see, for a long time now my wife’s gun has been a revolver. However, for the past several months she’s been using my Glock 19 and I’ve been using my 1911 or my snub-nosed revolver when she did so.

Well, the other day she finally decided that she needed her own Glock 19 instead of taking mine. And even though she has shot many different guns, we decided that it would be a good idea to go to the range and have her test out a bunch of different guns just to double-check that she indeed wanted her semi-automatic to be a Glock.
So, we headed over to the range and started renting several guns.

My wife is a good shot and my guidance consisted of switching out gun rentals as she would tell me: “I don’t like the grip on this one” or “too much recoil.”

Other than switching out the guns when she asked for a new one, I didn’t say a thing. I didn’t try and influence or bother her, I just sat back as she tried out gun after gun after gun. Finally, she decided the Glock 19 was still the gun for her and the one she likes best.

And that’s when I re-confirmed my status as the world’s best husband because I selflessly gave her my gun and went out and bought a brand new Glock 19 for myself. After all, I wanted to give her a gun that I know works, and not take the chance of giving her a gun that’s untested.

Now my wife and I both carry the same gun. I have already heard a few jokes about how I carry the same gun as her and that’s alright with me because she made the decision on her own and what I care about most is that she has a gun she is comfortable with.
Also, back to my new gun for a second…

In all seriousness, I have not started carrying my new gun yet because I haven’t been to the range to shoot it. Although it is a Glock and it should be the most reliable gun on the planet, it’s still a man-made device, which can have problems.

So please do not start carrying a new gun until you’ve put a few hundred rounds through it and you’re sure there is nothing wrong with it. And if you want to be selfless like me and get a new gun, why don’t you give your wife a chance to shoot your gun this weekend? You never know, she might just fall in love with it like mine did.