American arrives in Germany with mini arsenal

[tocqueville]

American arrives in Germany with mini arsenal
Reuters

34 mins ago

BERLIN (Reuters) – German police stopped an American at Duesseldorf airport on Friday for carrying a pumpgun, two pistols and a combat knife in his luggage.

The 38-year-old man, en route to Switzerland from Florida, said he was not aware European security regulations required him to have special permission to transport the weapons.

Police found a .12 calibre pumpgun, a .357 magnum revolver, a Smith & Wesson "Long Rifle" and a combat knife.

The man told police he had alerted the airline that he would be carrying the weapons and was not aware he needed further permits. The police confiscated the weapons and fined him 450 euros ($633.1) before releasing him.

A police spokesman said they were investigating how the man managed to get the weapons through security checks in the United States.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090612/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_germany_guns

[MADem]

1. In his checked bags, maybe?

Can't people carry guns in checked luggage?

[Auggie]

2. He's lucky all he got was a fine. And a cheap one at that.

[charlie]

3. Taken from his cold, dead hands, no doubt

No? Wuss.

</NRA>

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Americans are at times SO DAMN STUPID... when it comes to traveling abroad

ah yes fond, not really memories of a colt .45

This guy was lucky to get out with a fine. The wielder of that 1911 is JUST NOW getting out of jail...

[Hoopla Phil]

5. The last time I went on safari we had to make arrangements

for a specially licensed "gun bearer(sp?)" to transport our firearms from plane to plane in Europe. Talk about an expensive hassle. I wish our European cosines were as progressive on firearms ownership as we Americans.

[tocqueville]

7. progressive ? you must be kidding

next time a Yemenite arrives with his luggage full of guns to the States because he wants to hunt a little, I'll think they'll ask him some serious questions... the rules must be the same for everybody.

[Hoopla Phil]

8. Yes, progressive and liberal and proud of it. And there ARE procedures to bring guns into

America for hunting.

[baldguy]

9. And Europe has procedures to bring guns along for hunting also

AS YOU DESCRIBED.

You can't deny they exist simply because you don't like them.

[Hoopla Phil]

15. What is the purpose of your post? I do not understand why you responded.

[tocqueville]

12. wtf do you hunt...

with a 12 calibre pumpgun, a .357 magnum revolver, a Smith & Wesson "Long Rifle" and a combat knife ?

besides clay pigeons or cardboard targets ?

Normal hunting season opens between second Sunday of September till second Sunday of January. There can be exceptions for Cheney's like "hunts" but you hardly use the weapons above. Maybe he was after some elderly lawyer.

[benEzra]

14. Target shooting is more common in Europe than hunting.

"12 calibre pumpgun" is gun-404 clueless-speak for an ordinary 12-gauge shotgun (which can, in fact, be used for hunting, but may also have been carried for shooting skeet or clays).




.357/.38 revolvers are popular for target shooting (that is actually the most common revolver caliber).




A "a Smith & Wesson 'Long Rifle'" is likewise dolt-speak for a Smith & Wesson target pistol (or revolver) chambered in .22LR, the most common target caliber:




All of the above are legal in Europe, but he apparently didn't have all his paperwork in order. I suspect this is an innocent but naive shooter who didn't do his homework about his destination, with the story hopelessly garbled by a gun-404 reporter who doesn't know what the word "Google" means.

To call the above a "mini-arsenal" is laughable. A whole lot of European gun owners would put that to shame.

[tocqueville]

18. The "holocaust" shooter had less "arsenal" than shown above

to kill a guard

[Hoopla Phil]

20. And your point is? The "holocaust shooter" was in violation

of the law by his possession of the firearm as he was a convicted felon and was intent on doing bad things with it. This guy declared his firearms per TSA regulations but failed to insure his compliance with the law at his destination. He was not a convicted felon and as far as I know was not intent on doing bad things with them. So how are the two related?

[benEzra]

21. The Holocaust Museum shooter didn't have an "arsenal" either.

The museum shooter didn't have an "arsenal" either; he illegally owned a 100-year-old squirrel rifle (Winchester Model 1906) and a 19th century deer rifle (lever-action .30-30, probably also a Winchester), and that's it. The 1906 squirrel rifle was the murder weapon.

This is a Winchester 1906:



That doesn't make the small collection described in the OP any less innocuous, or any more of an "arsenal."

[Hoopla Phil]

16. And maybe he was after the blue cheese on the moon. What does it matter?

[tocqueville]

17. it matters that you don't carry guns on a plane

even in luggage, without doing your paper work first. I could imagine the outrage if a Frenchie had done the same thing entering the US, specially under the Bush period.

It's always the same thing : some rules are OK for Americans, not for others.

[Hoopla Phil]

19. You may want to re-read up thread a little. I've never said a damn

thing about not doing paperwork. I noted up-thread about going on safari and what I had to go through. I did not imply that I, or any American, was exempt from it. Then the question was posed about what you "hunt" with the firearms he had and I noted that that didn't matter. Now you say "it matters that you don't carry guns on a plane even in luggage, without doing your paperwork first" and we seem to have come full circle.

Yes it matters that you not only do the paperwork when checking your luggage but to make sure about your destination also - just as I described doing up-thread when I went on safari. And I also noted that there ARE procedures to bring firearms into the U.S.

[benEzra]

22. His having the guns on the plane wasn't the problem; he was legal there.

His paperwork for his destination (Switzerland) may have also been in order, for all we know. He may not have realized he needed separate paperwork for the country where his flight connected.

[baldguy]

6. John Wayne never had to deal with crap like this!

What's a REAL MAN to do if he don't have his guns?

[ColbertWatcher]

10. Ignorance of other country's laws is an American tradition!

USA! USA! USA!

[aikoaiko]

11. One really has to be careful about gun regs when traveling

I once made an error like that and only learned in hindsight that is was an error after I returned home and was doing research online.

[Bucky]

13. Oh great, and *now* what is this poor guy supposed to do if he's attacked by ninjas?

Or gun toting mariachis? What should he do then, call the freakin' cops? Sheesh.