Constitutional Law

FOPA protections for travelers

Over at his conspiracy, Eugene Volokh discusses the recent Third Circuit ruling in Revell v. Port Authority of New York. I once heard Mr. Revell describe his experience, and it was pretty appalling.

He's flying from Salt Lake City to Allentown, PA, with a firearm properly stowed in his checked-in baggage. The flight connects in Newark. But his flight's arrival is delayed, and he missed the connection. He booked on the next flight, then the airline announced it would bus the passengers to Allentown. But it didn't get his baggage on the bus, and the bus left while he was looking for the baggage. He finally caught a courtesy bus to a local hotel, and returned to the airport the next morning; upon checking in, he was questioned and arrested. He wound up spending three days in jail before charges were dropped, and then sued under §1983.

He invoked the protections of 18 USC §926A, added by the Firearm Owners' Protection Act of 1986 -- I helped draft that section, many years ago. 926A generally protects a person who is taking a gun from a State where its possession is allowed, to a State where its possession is allowed, provided the firearm inaccessible during the transport. The Third Circuit holds that Revell's stay in the hotel, where the firearm was accessible to him, takes him outside the protections of the statute.

Full post as published by Of Arms and the Law on March 31, 2010 (boomark / email).