By now, you may have head that three people were arrested at the New Jersey end of the Holland Tunnel in an SUV loaded full of a treasure trove full of weapons. The TV and newspapers are beside themselves, quivering in fear for their lives.
The first helpful bit of information is the owner runs a shooting range south of Allentown Pennsylvania
The SUV is painted neon green and has “indoor shooting range – higher ground tactical” in large letters on the side along with a “We the People” Constitution graphic. They were pulled over for a cracked windshield (uh-huh, right)
A few things to sort out first… I am not an expert in weapons and the related laws, but
– body armor is not illegal
– knives are not illegal in any quantity as long as they aren’t switchblades, too long, etc
– night vision goggles are not illegal. Apparently they are nothing but ordinary goggles
– police report “drugs” were found in the car. Missing is the word “illegal”
– guns can be transported across state lines as long as they are in a locked box inaccessible to people inside the vehicle.
– shotguns are not rifles
It is significant that this happened on the New Jersey end of the tunnel. All of the guns are illegal in New York City, but not in New Jersey. “Intent to take guns into New York City” while in New Jersey would be interesting to see in front of a judge.
The police spotted a handgun and ammunition inside the passenger compartment. Even if the gun wasn’t loaded, that’s against the law in NJ. Carrying an unloaded gun inside the vehicle is not illegal in Pennsylvania – as long as the gun is in plain sight – but they were not in Pennsylvania.
Nothing I can find suggests Higher Ground is a FFL (Federal Firearm License) permit holder. They do rent 150 different weapons for use inside their range, which is available for firearm training and police use.
The man’s daughter died of a heroin overdose in New York City, and he and his two passengers were headed to Queens to “rescue” a 16 year old young girl being held by a drug dealer, which likely means prostitution as well.
The new President of the Phillipines is encouraging police and civilians to kill drug dealers. Maybe he should go there, or at least use the Tappan Zee bridge next time.
Meanwhile, in a subway station in Harlem, a stampede started just because people thought someone had a gun. They’re winning.
And yes, I do know that Queens is part of New York City
The drugs found are a marijuana pipe and three prescription pills
Let’s see what the Governor does on this one. He waited a long time to act on the one below:
http://articles.philly.com/2015-04-04/news/60790722_1_gun-laws-shaneen-allen-bersa-thunder
Apparently the guy from Pennsylvania was arrested by Port Authority Police. I don’t know if that puts any wrinkles in the prosecution. Better hope there are no traffic jams on the GWB or heads are going to roll!
The latest scam is to generate revenue from safe drivers that do not drive while texting or talking on a cell phone. They install cameras at red lights and snap pictures of people in their fully stopped vehicles when the people pick up their cell phones to read the text message that came in while they were driving.
I have an issue with this for several reasons, including but not limited to the fact that I use my wireless device to stream music in my car and I wait until I am fully stopped before changing radio stations.
Applying the drunk driving logic, if the police see you in a parking lot behind the driver’s seat with the ignition off, you should get a ticket.
If you have a gun without permission, you get arrested because you obviously intended to rob a liquor store sometime after midnight tonight.
If you are possess more drugs than you the average user would use in an single session, you are charged with selling.
etc
And having more than $100 in cash means you must be doing something illegal
The issue about who is on the $20 bill is a non-issue for me. I was running around with $8 in my wallet for probably 4 months. The only things I use cash for would be glad to take my debit card, I just don’t trust them.
I was just reading up on the topic of Federal Court jurisdiction on enforcing state laws – in the event our “boots on the ground” Iraqi person actually wants to engage in a conversation.
It turns out to be a very messy area in the law. The general principle is that Congress decided a few decades ago that where it has joint jurisdiction but no laws, the US courts will incorporate State law into the Federal law. That’s a problem because law is more than just the statutes, it is the rules of evidence, right to counsel, precedents. So in theory, if you are texting while driving on Indian land, you could wind up in Federal Court fighting a law that was not written by the Congress. Don’t be drinking a 32 oz soda at the Statue of Liberty!
Changing stations when listening to iHeart Radio when driving is not the only issue. How to listen is also an issue. In some states, it if legal to drive while deaf and legal to drive with the cars souped up stereo and woofer making deafening noise, but it is illegal to drive with headphone playing soft music. Earbuds while driving have similar but different restrictions,
http://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/headsets/
The year I lived in Oklahoma, my next door neighbor was deaf and drove a car. One afternoon, the tornado sirens went off and turning on the police scanner confirmed the town was being clobbered by a tornado and it was headed right toward our neighborhood on the East side. While I felt some responsibility to let him know, I was at a loss what to do. He was totally deaf and I don’t know sign language. Maybe with pointing and hand gestures I could get his attention (his doorbell made a light flash), but in the end I opted for self preservation. The tornado “lifted up” as it crossed the river, but still did damage to our neighborhood. You haven’t lived until you see the glass in your doorwall bend
http://examiner-enterprise.com/news/local-news/tornado-1982-worst-past-50-years