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Tea Party Patriots co-founder arrested in New York

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NEW YORK | Thu Dec 15, 2011 5:19pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A co-founder of the conservative Tea Party Patriots group was arrested at a New York airport on Thursday for gun possession, authorities said.

Mark Meckler, 49, was charged with illegally traveling with a pistol after he was arrested at 5.30 a.m. at LaGuardia airport, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.

Meckler presented a locked gun box, which contained a pistol and 19 cartridges, at a Delta Airlines counter as he checked in for a flight. He has a California permit to carry the gun but not a New York state permit, authorities said.

While Meckler faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. A law enforcement source said that in similar cases the weapon was typically confiscated and the defendant fined.

Meckler allegedly told authorities that he carried the gun because he had received death threats.

Meckler co-founded the Tea Party Patriots, one of the biggest groups within the grassroots fiscal conservative Tea Party movement, which emerged in 2009 and has helped elect dozens of Republicans.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols and Edith Honan, Editing by Sandra Maler)
U.S.
Politics
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Comments (8)
NCBookworm wrote:
How much you want to bet he sues for his 2nd amendment rights. Fifteen years to carry a gun seems unconstitutional to me.

Dec 16, 2011 6:58am EST  --  Report as abuse
longun45 wrote:
Typical communist tactics. It is quite legal to travel with a gun by federal law. It was apparently legally declared and the Airline personnel have absolutely no idea what the procedure is so they called the cops who in typical keystone fashion follow heil butbergs leanings.

Dec 16, 2011 8:41am EST  --  Report as abuse
libertyswarrior wrote:
You could argue that New York’s law violates the 2nd admendment, the right to bear arms shall not be infringed. I would say that being arrested for having the gun and not threatning anyone would violate his right to own his firearm.

Dec 16, 2011 2:13pm EST  --  Report as abuse
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