Rasheed Walker thought he was following the law when he declared he had an unloaded Glock 9 mm pistol in a locked case to a Delta Air Lines employee at LaGuardia Airport in New York City on January 23.
Walker is a 25-year-old, 6-foot, 6-inch, 324-pound offensive tackle for the Green Bay Packers. He has been in the NFL for four years. He also has a concealed-carry permit from the state of Wisconsin. His ammo—36 rounds of it—was in a separate case in his luggage.
A federal law, the Firearms Owners Protection Act (FOPA), supports the ability of citizens to travel interstate with firearms. Yet, Walker didn’t appear to know that some jurisdictions—none more notorious than the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey—don’t recognize the letter and spirit of this federal law or the Second Amendment’s protections from government infringement.
The Delta employee alerted authorities. The police soon came and arrested Walker. Police say Walker did not have the required credentials—a New York City carry permit—when presenting a firearm for inspection.
Walker’s attorney, Arthur L. Aidala, later told The Athletic that “Walker mistakenly believed he was allowed to travel with his firearm that is legally licensed in Wisconsin.”
Despite the Second Amendment, New York does not recognize carry licenses from other states.
Under New York law, individuals must have a New York State-issued license to legally possess or carry a handgun. Licensing requirements are governed by the more than 11,000-word Article 400 of the New York Penal Law.
So, Walker found himself being charged with criminal possession of a weapon. He has been ordered to appear in court on March 16.
More than 30 million people watched Walker play in the Packer’s post-season loss to the Bears on January 10. Now he will appear in court and hope to stay out of jail for running afoul of a jurisdiction in the “land of the free and the home of the brave,” as is sung in the U.S. national anthem before his football games, that does not recognize his Second Amendment-protected rights.
Ending situations like this, reported NRA-ILA, has been a top-priority of the NRA for decades. National reciprocity legislation, which recognizes the rights of citizens as they lawfully travel interstate with firearms, is clearly needed to protect a basic civil right of Americans as they travel.
“The confusing gauntlet that remains for lawful gun owners in parts of the United States is often referred to as Draconian, but it is worse than that,” reported ILA. “It is a traumatizing, criminalizing, and expensive legal nightmare for innocent Americans that has been tolerated by federal officials for far too long.”
