A man attempted to board a bus in Battle Creek, Michigan, with an SKS rifle in his carry on baggage. The rifle was longer than the bag, so the butt stuck out and was visible.
Some people called 911. I was not there, so I do not know the totality of the circumstances. It is clear that that no one was threatened by the man, and that the rifle was unloaded. The police showed up and arrested the fellow... for what? From wkzo.com:
The City’s Gang Suppression Unit responded and took the 25-year-old into custody seizing the gun and a fully loaded magazine.
He has not yet been charged. It wasn’t exactly a concealed weapon and it wasn’t loaded but it quickly could have been.
This sounds like the beginning of another false arrest settlement to me. There have been a number of them in Michigan over open carry incidents. I wonder what is meant by "a fully loaded magazine"? Most SKS rifles have a fixed magazine and use 10 round stripper clips such as this one:
Some SKS rifle variants were made with detachable magazines, and some magazines were made that could be fitted in place of the original magazine, so it is possible that the "fully loaded magazine" actually was one.
I am reminded of how Justice Scalia recounted his experience of carrying a rifle on New York City mass transit as a boy, and how no one considered it a problem.
I do not believe that there is a law prohibiting the carry of firearms on buses, but a number of carriers prohibit the transport of weapons on their buses. That might be a breach of contract, but I doubt that it would warrant an arrest.
©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch
I did the same in the mid-90s, but I removed the barrel and wraped both together in brown shipping paper.
ReplyDeleteGrayhound buses require that weapons go into checked luggage under the bus.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I don't see a problem.
A long rifle is a lousy weapon in the close quarters of a bus.