Guns Trials updates
Further south, Turks & Caicos sentenced two of the tourists imprisoned there on ammunition possession charges.
Bryan Hagerich, a Somerset County, Pennsylvania resident, was released from custody on Friday and ordered to pay a $6,700 fine, according to a News Nation article.
The island cracked down on firearms and weapons within the country after implementing harsher gun laws in 2022. This was emphasized in a September 2023 alert issued by the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas.
No ammunition, firearms or other weapons are not permitted in the Turks and Caicos. If a traveler is found with any of these items, they will have to serve a minimum sentence of 12 years, the embassy said. USA Today
American Tyler Wenrich was sentenced to three weeks in jail and fined Tuesday after he had pleaded guilty earlier this month to possession of ammunition while traveling to Turks and Caicos.
The Virginia resident was fined $9,000, Kimo Tynes, the director of communications for the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands, said in a news statement. Since he had already served three weeks in jail, the court recognized it as time served so his prison sentence is complete, the release said.CNN
While they seem to be prosecuting Americans, another article said they have arrested 170+ on these charges since the law was passed, and only a handful are Americans. None have received the full 12 year sentence.
Not our country, not our rules. As a former business traveler, I have little sympathy – these cases have been headline news since at least December, yet people headed to T&C keep getting arrested. Ferchrissakes, people, when you are headed somewhere with laws like that, inspect your luggage! I know shooters who very carefully never fly with their range bags just because of the residue TSA might find. Entire rounds? It’s like they want to be arrested. (Disclaimer – at least one defendant traveled there on a cruise ship, so TSA might not be involved?)
For the ones who did fly there, it’s worth noting that they were found with ammo in T&C… so they blew through TSA in the US. Bet some folks at TSA are ‘curious’ about that.
Category: "Teh Stoopid", Crime
A county enforcing borders and laws?
Isn’t that rayciss?
County?
Some of those Southern Sheriffs in the 1970’s drive in films ruled their counties as they were El Presidente. Now, let’s see your license and registration. Real slow, Yankee.
Some of those arrests make me wonder, “Rich American tourist. Let’s plant one in his luggage…..”
All in all, a good place to NOT go to. Ever.
Yep…to both. And if one does have to travel, go light. Carry on luggage only that you keep in your possession until you clear security and make damn sure you’re not carrying anything that you shouldn’t be. I used to have to travel by air quite a bit, pre 9/11, and I had a “designated flight bag” that I kept packed with the essentials. I still checked and rechecked before heading to the airport. I think that’s called “taking personal responsibility”.
“NO ammunition, firearms or other weapons are NOT permitted….”
One of those negatives needs to be removed. Who was the writer of that abomination, and the editor that let it slip into print?
Where’s our Lioness of TAH, Ex-PH2, when you need her, with her knuckle cracking wooden ruler and cast iron pan?
(How I miss that woman……)
Department of Redundancy Department.
Inspect your bags before departure. If contraband is found, venture to the snack area, toss the contraband in the microwave, and set the timer for 10 minutes. If you’re gonna serve some time or pay a hefty fine, might as well make a statement…
But all the local drug lords and their guns…
About 12 years ago I was getting some range practice in with my 1911. I then switched over to my 22 rimfire conversion. I simply threw a box of 22s into my jacket pocket to keep it loaded. Unknown to me there was a little hole in my pocket and some of the rounds slipped down inside of the jacket liner.
The next day I had to fly to DC for work and I wore the same jacket. I cleared TSA no problem. This was in the pre-scanner days. It wasn’t until I got to the hotel and took my jacket off that I realized that there was something in there. And I was quite surprised to find 10 rounds of 32 grain hollow points in my jacket liner. It occurred to me that firstly I was glad I wasn’t flying international, and secondly if I had got caught with that they never would have believed my story.
I’m pretty cautious about checking my stuff, but mistakes do happen. That is why there are consequences to our actions. I believe we are strictly responsible for our own actions or inactions. If I had got caught I would have expected to punished for my mistake.
The Problem we have these days is that our justice system is so dysfunctional that nobody expects there to be any consequences for their actions. Some parts of the legal code involve intent and some do not. Walking through a TSA checkpoint with ammunition does not require intent to be a crime.
“Wisdom includes not getting angry unnecessarily. The Law ignores trifles and the wise man does, too.”
— Robert A. Heinlein
Unfortunately, our two tier (in)justice system is so broken that there is no wisdom any more. There are no more Peace Officers, everyone is a LEO. Strict ones.
A few years ago I flew to South Carolina. Cleared TSA Indianapolis no problem. However, going back I knew something was up the third time they ran my bag through xray. Turns out a single .45 round had somehow wedged itself under the hard bottom inside of my carry-on bag. It was weird looking at the xray, and looking at my now empty bag, and not finding the round. It took 3 TSA agents, a LEO, and myself to finally figure out where it was hiding. After a “stern lecture ” I was sent on my way.
I now have a bag strictly for flying. Absolutely no other uses.
What’s the lesson here, boys and girls? Don’t use your range bag as carry-on luggage.
My dad went through the check at St Louis airport back in the day. His old Carhart jacket set something off. A single 22 round had worked its way into the liner and was in the back of the jacket. It took them awhile to work it out of the jacket, they didn’t get to mad at him and were all proud that they eventually found it.
That’s the “wisdom” that I was referring to above.
Turks and Caicos has some great diving. Not worth jail time, but I’ve seen a couple nurse sharks there.
Nurse sharks? The kind in the water or at the bar?
only the water….
I have been caught with ammo in a carry-on bag at the airport that I was unaware of being in a side pocket. I also was caught by the x-ray machine at the courthouse with a gun in my file case; I had forgotten to remove it after an out-of-town court appearance that was an overnighter. (Out of town trips always caused me to bring a handgun.)
Both occurred before 9/11, so no one made a big deal out of either incident. At the courthouse, I was simply told to take the revolver back to my car before I could proceed to my courtroom.
Courthouses is tend to be a little bit more liberal, especially if you’re not on trial. I had a co-worker who accidentally took a Glock into federal building where he worked but was not authorized to have a firearm. The metal detector did not catch it. When he realized his error he called the security desk and they told him to come down so they could do a report. He never gotten any trouble over it though.
I was working at 6th Aerial Port at Udorn in 1975. An Army Captain was going through the boarding process. And in his small shaving tote bag was a 1911. They told him he needed to dispose of it in the ordinance disposal box. They argued about it for a while, and his claim was he was issued the firearm and needed to account for it. They let him get on the C-141 with it and they left. No big deal at that time. I had a key ring that was made from an empty .45 casing and I was not allowed to enter a rally for Trump. Times have changed.