Society’s dangers are vastly older than folk suffering from BDS admit. Bush/Cheney had nothing to do with New York, Washington or Detroit murder rates in the 1970’s and 1980’s. They had no effect on Florida’s out of control homicide and violent crime rates in the mid 1980’s. The solution also had nothing to do with either politician but with cities and states deciding enough was enough and with the public demanding carry licenses. Do your history. Look at Florida before and after must issue concealed carry. Look at the UK before and after their absolute gun ban in 1997….their gun crime rate doubles and violent crime shot up several hundred percent.

Let me say first of all that my mistake was monumentally stupid, and should be (and was) heavily penalized. But I’d like to explain my circumstances in a bit more detail, (hopefully) to show that this was a one-time boo-boo and not the actions of someone for whom a lackadaisical attitude is the norm in regards to firearms.

I travel quite a bit. I make sure my laptop bag’s contents are security checkpoint friendly and make it a point to never modify said contents without some scrutiny. The idea is that if I’m in a hurry, I can pick up the bag containing all the things I need for work without checking, and be reasonably assured that I can walk through airport security without incident.

This process served me in good stead for some time, and I became less vigilant – more often than not, I would pick up the bag and run without checking.

A few weeks prior to the incident, I went on vacation and stayed in a remote cabin. I brought a large bore revolver with me for a bit of extra protection from the worse case scenario (encounters with hostile people or animals, many minutes or hours from nearest law enforcement response). I also brought my laptop on the trip. The gun was in a separate bag.

When I left, the bag that I’d originally had the gun in was full of wet clothes, so I unloaded the gun, wrapped up the loose ammo, put both inside a gun rug and jammed it in a deep inner pocket of my laptop bag. In the back of my mind I remember thinking that I’d just violated my own rule, but I was in a hurry and figured that I’d remember. I did not.

On the day of the incident, I left the house in a hurry and picked up the laptop bag without checking, just like I’d done many times in the past. The oversight cost me months of angst and nearly $5000 in fines and legal fees.

You guys tell me whether something similar could possibly happen to you. I like to think that I’m not generally inept – I know I’m often in a hurry and prone to laziness, I made provisions to offset this, and it backfired on me because I failed to follow my own procedures.

My understanding is that the charge is not firearm specific – someone who carries a knife with a too-long blade can be charged similarly, for example.

The form firearm purchasers fill out (ATF 4473, http://www.atf.gov/forms/4473/) asks about felonies, not misdemeanors, so I should be able to buy a gun in the future.

I’m not sure about concealed carry permits. Not a big deal for me though, since I wouldn’t be able to carry most of the time and I think if you’re going to carry, you should make a habit of doing it as often as possible.

Having a concealed carry permit used to expedite NCIC checks when purchasing firearms, so that was a good reason to have one even if you don’t plan to carry regularly. I don’t know if that’s the case anymore, and the few times I’ve purchased firearms in Idaho have been fast and trouble-free so I don’t see a pressing need to apply for one.

Somewhat related topic – my attorney told me that in Idaho, it is legal to have a firearm in plain view inside the car without any permits. However, if the gun is in the glove compartment or center console, for example, then it is considered ‘concealed’, and you would need a concealed carry permit.

Explosive decompression is indeed rare. However, I wouldn’t want to be on any aircraft where a firearm was accidentally discharged, regardless of my seat placement.

I tip my hat to you Sir, as you are apparently far braver and more trusting than I.

Regardless, all of this detracts from the conundrum(s) presented herein by the good and diligent Mr. Frazier.