NFL player accused of having gun at N.Y. airport

[alp227]

A defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was arraigned late Monday night after being accused of having a semiautomatic weapon in his suitcase at New York's LaGuardia Airport, according to the Queens District Attorney's Office.

Da'Quan Bowers, 22, was charged with second-degree criminal possession by Judge Toko Serita in New York Criminal Court late Monday night, according to Meris Campbell of the Queens District Attorney's Office.

Bail was set at $10,000, Campbell said. Video recorded outside the courthouse Monday night showed Bowers getting into a car and driving away after the arraignment.

Bowers was arrested at an airport ticket counter with a .40-caliber handgun, according to Rudy King, a spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport.

full: http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/18/sport/new-york-nfl-player-gun-airport/index.html

[Are_grits_groceries]

1. Bowers is a good person.

That won't matter much, but I really hate this! Why he even needs to have a handgun is beyond me. If he thinks he needs protection while in SC, I know he knows people who have more guns than gawd here. I know people like that.

[CanonRay]

2. Why would a guy that big think he needs a gun?

Sometimes I'm just baffled by people.

[hack89]

8. Very strong gun culture in professional sports

it is part of their "image".

[Blue_Tires]

13. I'm guessing because his watch and earring are worth more than

the combined total income of everyone in this thread...

[LeftyMom]

3. A lot of pro athletes carry guns. They tend to gamble among themselves, so they carry cash,

and their salaries are widely publicized, so obviously they're targets for robbery. And stalkers exist, and death threats are constant if you're in the public eye.

[dembotoz]

4. seems that some pro athletes live in an entirely diferent world than us mere mortals

sometimes they are shocked to find that some rules apply to them as well.

[S_B_Jackson]

5. Sad, but this should be used as a teachable moment....

1) if travelling with a firearm in checked luggage, it must be unloaded in a locked cases in one's checked luggage - ammunition may be loaded in a magazine, but at all times kept separate from the firearm (though it can be in the same piece of luggage.
2) always make sure to print out the airline's policies with regards to firearms, and it is best to discretely walk to the desk and ask to speak with a supervisor as you have a firearm that will be in your checked luggage. This will often get you moved faster through the process.
3) UNLESS YOU HAVE A NY concealed carry permit DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT try to travel with handgun into or out of NY airports and a NY permit - unless validated by NYC - is not valid in NYC. Without a legal NY permit, there is no legal way for you to get to or from the airport legally and the police in NY and NYC are notorious for their vigilance on this issue. (The same holds true for NJ, by the way, and flying into and out of Chicago.

For solid information about traveling with handguns in particular, and firearms in general a good resource to use is:
www.handgunlaw.us

[davidn3600]

7. Teachable moment about what? That it's obviously better to sell it on the black market?

I mean if a person in NYC accidentally brought a gun in a bag that ended up getting through security...he can't go to the cops because he'll get arrested and put in prison. So I guess his best option is to throw it away or sell it on the street and a buy a new one when he gets home.

Right?

[jmg257]

10. "accidentally brought a gun in a bag" into NYC...& to an airport??

Does he have a NYS Permit for it? NYC permit?
I guess he a NYS resident?

He forgot there was ammo in the bag too apparently.

[S_B_Jackson]

15. In most jurisdictions - NY, NJ, and IL being exceptions - there is nothing at all illegal

or even objectionable about traveling with a firearm in checked luggage, which from the OP is what was attempted. I've traveled several times with firearms, and it's usually no big deal. The firearm is unloaded (I put a zip-tie through the action, and remove the magazine which I keep loaded); the firearm is placed in a locked container in one of my pieces of luggage. I carry my luggage into the terminal (perfectly legal, btw, outside of the secure zone), walk up to the airline counter and advise the counter-clerk that it might be best to summon a supervisor as I need to check a bag which has a firearm. They usually call over a TSA agent who verifies unloaded, and locked, it's placed in checked luggage, and I usually then escorted through the TSA security, often being jumped through the line. No muss, no fuss,

The "teachable moment" is that it is the responsibility of the traveller to know the law that is applicable to their actions and to always, always, always be aware of where you are. It didn't "get through security" and there is no indication from the story that the firearm was illegally owned or obtained.

[Capt. Obvious]

6. Now the Pats can get him for a 4th round pick

[Ganja Ninja]

9. The story here in Tampa from what I gather is ..

He got to the Airport and realized the gun was in his bag and then notified security who then promptly arrested him. But he's being charged like Plexico Burress anyway.

[jmg257]

11. He legally owns the gun in New York State-its on his CCL? But took it to the airport by mistake?

[Ganja Ninja]

12. Yeah the details are kinda fuzzy.

He apparently got through security in North Carolina without realizing it was in his checked bag, spent time in NY and then reported it to security in NY at the Air Port trying to fly it back home in his checked bag. His crime in NY is having possession of it at all. He should have just broke it down and tossed the parts in the trash in NY. It would have been cheap to replace compared to what he'll go through now.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bucs/will-daquan-bowers-get-the-benefit-of-the-doubt-from-prosecutors/2106106

[jmg257]

14. Ahh - got ya - thanks for the info! nt