FOPA Doesn't Apply in NY/NJ!

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This is why relying on FOPA or HR218 in NY/NJ is foolhardy. You can end up with an arrest record for life and it will cost you a fortune (and perhaps your life . . . in a jail cell with Aides infected inmates and killers/rapists) to prove your innocence!

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From: http://www.anjrpc.org/fopalawsuit.htm

ANJRPC SUES NY/NJ PORT AUTHORITY FOR JAILING HONEST GUN OWNER

February 27, 2006 - The Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, Inc. (ANJRPC) announced that it has commenced a lawsuit against the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and one of its police officers for wrongfully arresting and imprisoning for nearly five days a 57-year old Utah man delayed at Newark Airport by a baggage error while traveling from Utah to Pennsylvania.

The lawsuit seeks more than $3 million in damages for civil rights violations and a permanent injunction forcing the Port Authority to follow Federal law on interstate transport of locked, unloaded firearms that have been secured in luggage and declared by law-abiding citizens.

The Utah man, Gregg Revell, a real estate broker and family man with no criminal record and a Utah firearms permit, was flying alone from Salt Lake City, UT to Allentown, PA to retrieve a car he bought and drive it home. He was travelling with a firearm for personal protection. As required by Federal law, the firearm was unloaded, cased, locked and inside his luggage when he declared it at check-in in Salt Lake City on March 31, 2005.

Due to an airline-caused baggage error, Mr. Revell missed his connection from Newark to Allentown and had to stay overnight in New Jersey. When he checked in at Newark Airport the next morning to complete his travels, he again declared his firearm, as required by FAA regulations. He was then arrested for possession of a firearm without a New Jersey state license, and imprisoned in Essex County jail for five days until his family arranged bail, which had been initially set unusually high at $15,000 cash (no bond).

But Mr. Revell’s travels were protected by the Firearms Owner Protection Act, a Federal law passed in 1986 to protect law-abiding citizens who travel with firearms. (See 18 U.S.C. § 926A.) That law trumps state and local gun laws and protects interstate travel with firearms under certain circumstances, all of which were present in Mr. Revell’s case. Several months after the arrest, all charges were withdrawn and the prosecutor’s case administratively dismissed.

"The Port Authority blatantly violated Federal law when it arrested Gregg Revell," said Scott Bach, President of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs and a member of the NRA Board of Directors. "Those charged with enforcing the law have a special responsibility to follow it themselves," Bach continued. "Mr. Revell’s arrest is part of a pattern of similar misconduct by the Port Authority throughout the New York-New Jersey metropolitan areas."

"This lawsuit is intended to send a signal not only to the Port Authority but to every agency and officer responsible for policing our airports and highways: if you violate the rights of law-abiding gun owners, you will be held fully accountable." The lawsuit also names the arresting Port Authority police officer, Scott Erickson, as a defendant.

Once inside Essex County prison, Mr. Revell was subjected to numerous atrocities. He was thrown into a holding cell with 28 inmates, many of whom were admitted murderers and rapists. He endured a repulsive vomit-covered bed and toilet, was denied his blood pressure and migraine medication, innoculated against his will, given inedible food, strip-searched, and left only with his wits to survive.

"I did nothing wrong yet was arrested and subjected to the worst treatment imaginable for almost a week," said Mr. Revell, who has 8 children, 8 grandchildren and has been married for 36 years. "I brought this lawsuit together with the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs because I want to stop this kind of abuse from ever happening again," said Revell. "No one should ever have to experience what I experienced," he said. "I paid the price, but I’m committed to making sure no one else does."

--------------------------

A copy of the lawsuit Summons & Complaint:

http://www.anjrpc.org/ANJRPC-vs-PortAuthority.pdf
 
eye-popping.gif



Are you kidding me?

I hope that he takes them for all that they are worth. This just isn't correct.

They are trying to make it for people that are following the law, be too scared to do what's right to be able to protect themselves.



SR's blood pressure is going to go off the scale when she reads this...
 
The one thing I hate about living in NY is the atmosphere of us vs them. It is a shame that a law abiding citizen in NY will feel like criminal even when following the law, let alone actually be arrested and charged. The anti's have seriously taken over, and the stench is dispersing throughout the state, flowing from NYC and Albany.
 
Any time I get upset at the gun laws here in MA, I just have to think about where I escaped from - the People's Republik of New Jersey.

Beautiful state (where we haven't put things like refineries), but the government SUCKS. Sort of like MA.
 
Gee, I'm surprised that the ACLU hasn't leapt to the fore in this blatant trampling of a citizens rights. /sarcasm

Seriously, this could end up being a major case and could actually benefit lawful firearms owners.

Gary
 
dreppucci007 said:
Wow, that's just absurd...Like C-pher said, I hope he takes them for every goddamn penny they're worth.


Maybe if takes enugh, we can all pool our funds and BUY New Jersey!!

A little less lofty than my plans to take over Australlia hehhehehe


-Weer'd Beard
 
Weer'd Beard said:
Maybe if takes enugh, we can all pool our funds and BUY New Jersey!!

A little less lofty than my plans to take over Australlia hehhehehe


-Weer'd Beard

Australia, huh? Put anutha shrimp on the bahbee!
 
Sad to see ...

This is sad to see …

I was born in USSR were freedom and democracy was only on fake piece of paper so called “Constitution”, in reality it was Government “Dictatura” suppression on everything. Is that the way we are going now?
It is sad to see that this great country slowly but surly slides down to the communist-socialism bedlam.
Democratic country supposes to obey its own constitution and laws. Is that right?
Are we still live in Democratic country???
Are we?
[sad2]
 
The last notation in this case was a denial by the courts of a request by the plaintiff to amend the complaint due to a failure to meet the statute of limitations. That was August 2007. Nothing since that date.
 
IANAL

The last notation in this case was a denial by the courts of a request by the plaintiff to amend the complaint due to a failure to meet the statute of limitations. That was August 2007. Nothing since that date.

What does that mean? Did he drop the ball and run out of time, or does it mean that the gov didn't respond within the required time?
 
They did not file the motion within the two year statute of limitations guideline. The motion was denied. No idea where the case stands. No moving at a brisk pace. If PA of NJ/NY isn't settling the case, money might be an issue. Real deep pockets on the PA.
 
I've always feared this when attending the MA shoots. While I know the law itself covers me, I have no faith that the officer pulling me over will be familiar enough with the Federal law to keep me from being pulled from the car, thrown to the ground and put in jail. I always print out the law and keep it with whatever flyer for the shoot. The NJ thing is absurd...its not even like he got pulled over for reckless driving and had it with him...he was just trying to do the right thing when declaring.
 
They did not file the motion within the two year statute of limitations guideline. The motion was denied. No idea where the case stands. No moving at a brisk pace. If PA of NJ/NY isn't settling the case, money might be an issue. Real deep pockets on the PA.

PA? Pennsylvania? Plaintiff's attorney?
 
I've always feared this when attending the MA shoots. While I know the law itself covers me, I have no faith that the officer pulling me over will be familiar enough with the Federal law to keep me from being pulled from the car, thrown to the ground and put in jail. I always print out the law and keep it with whatever flyer for the shoot. The NJ thing is absurd...its not even like he got pulled over for reckless driving and had it with him...he was just trying to do the right thing when declaring.
The federal law has NOTHING to do with attending MA shoots (unless you drive thru NY or NJ to get here), as FOPA86 does not allow for the use of a gun at a match in a prohibited state as that would almost certainly not be a continuous an uninterrupted trip. The possession of firearms for matches in MA is covered by MGL ch 140 section 131F and in NY by penal code 265.20-13b.

Cops generally want to do the right thing, but once you're "in the system" they generally won't notice their error, go "ooops", tear up the records and send you on your way. Carrying the law is always a good idea since the reference to the specific section and chapter will make it easier for the officer to look up the law in the book that is often in the patrol car and, failing that, at the station for reference - it' sort of like the PDR of police work, used to look up what charges to file.

And there is, of course, the benefit of getting lost in a crowd of one.
 
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Ticket agent called the cops. Ummm, they are turning in their customers? Inquiring minds want to know which airline.

B
 
Does anyone know what happened with this law suite?
Gary

http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/092029p.pdf

PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
_____________
No. 09-2029
_____________
GREGG C. REVELL;
ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY RIFLE & PISTOL
CLUBS INC.
v.
PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY;
SCOTT ERICKSON
v.
PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY,
Third Party Plaintiff
v.
CONTINENTAL AIRLINES; COUNTY OF ESSEX;
ESSEX COUNTY JAIL; ESSEX COUNTY PROSECUTOR;
JOHN DOES 1-10,
Third Party Defendants
Honorable John * R. Padova, United States District Court
Senior Judge, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, sitting by
designation.
2
Gregg C. Revell,
Appellant.
______________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of New Jersey
(D.C. No. 06-cv-402)
District Judge: Honorable Katharine S. Hayden
_______________
Argued
January 26, 2010
Before: RENDELL and JORDAN, Circuit Judges,
and PADOVA*, District Court Senior Judge
(Filed: March 22, 2010)

It says in part:

According to Revell, his
arrest was unlawful because he was in compliance with a
provision of the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act (“FOPA”), 18
U.S.C. § 926A, which allows gun owners licensed in one state
to carry firearms through another state under certain
circumstances. Because we conclude that, at the time of his
arrest, Revell's conduct did not bring him within the protection
of that statute, we will affirm both the dismissal of his § 926Abased
claim and the grant of summary judgment to the Port
Authority and Erickson on Revell’s closely related Fourth
Amendment claim. We will likewise affirm the grant of
summary judgment against Revell on his due process claim
under the Fourteenth Amendment.
 
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