Over the last 30 years thousands of forgetful people have brought firearms inside carryon bags to the checkpoints and have been arrested.
Today despite the fact that there is not a single known case where airport guards stopped a hijacking by uncovering a weapon, there is a zero tolerance policy for anyone with a gun in their bag.
Under American laws there must be actual knowledge and intent to carry or bring the gun on the plane in order to gain a criminal conviction. Forgetfulness is a valid defense in court.
If a gun owner wants to travel with a gun there is a simple procedure that allows for the gun be placed in checked baggage. Gun owners all know they don’t have to sneak their guns on to the planes.
Because prosecutors allow these cases to be litigated, a jury must decide if the defendant truly forgot.
After a court acquittal the defendant is in debt for bail bonds, lawyers and time off from work, to get his or her day in court. In other words, the defendant was innocent but still punished.
Should investigation reveal the gun carrier is a felon or the weapon is stolen that’s a different matter that should be prosecuted. Of course that is rarely the case at our airports.
The TSA guards look for and find the weapons and nobody is ever in danger. These bogus prosecutions must end.
Los Angeles--The Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney filed a three count complaint against retired Chicago police burglary detective turned actor, Dennis Farina.
Los Angeles City Prosecutor, Rocky Delgadillo wants to follow an unreasonable path of zero tolerance for gun possession rather than seeking justice.
It seems prosecutors want to somehow convince a jury that Farina Knowingly and willfully, violated the laws involved. That’s where prosecutors lost their way on this one. If Farina forgot he had that gun in his briefcase the required elements of the offense of, knowingly and willfully are just not present.
My sincere hope is that Farina does not cave in to some plea deal just to avoid the process. Farina should have no problem going to court and simply telling a jury he forgot he had that gun in the briefcase he brought in from Arizona.
Although there is a possible penalty of jail time it’s doubtful that would ever happen in this case even if Farina were to be convicted.
Farina was charged with: Count One, possession of a weapon in a sterile area of an airport. Count Two, carrying a concealed weapon on his person. Count Three, carrying a loaded weapon in a vehicle.
The wild card in this case is the Supreme Court ruling due to be delivered on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in the case of D.C. vs. Heller. That will happen on any Monday morning before June 23, 2008.
It may turn out that Farina was merely engaging in constitutionally protected activity if he indeed has the rights spelled out within the Second Amendment of our Bill of Rights.
The court discovery process will begin along with pre-trial motions made by the defense. These cases are never settled quickly unless the defendant chooses to simply fall on his sword.
Farina is represented by one of the finest criminal lawyers in all of California, Blair Berk. Ms. Berk keeps a low profile and carries a really big stick. I can’t think of a better lawyer for Farina. Berk is making her first appearance at The LAX Superior Court June 5, 2008 on Farina’s behalf.
Dennis Farina has never before been charged with anything more serious than a minor traffic violation in his entire life. There is no way this career lawman would have ever willfully, knowingly or intentionally brought any prohibited item on an airplane.
Update: Denis Farina’s arraignment was continued until July 18, 2008. It’s expected that Farina will enter a plea of not guilty and the slow process to a trial may begin.
Of course all manner of issues may affect the progress or direction of this case. None the least of which is the Heller case that’s ready to be unloaded by the Supreme Court. Stay tuned…
Los Angeles—L.A. County District Attorney Steve Cooley’s office has declined prosecution of retired Chicago police burglary detective, turned actor, Dennis Farina on that felony gun charge.
The case was referred for review to the Los Angeles City Attorney, Rocky Delgadillo for review of any potential misdemeanor prosecution against Farina.
The requirement of intent for such a gun possession charge must be present in any misdemeanor violation prosecution. Perhaps Farina will be cleared altogether very soon. Let’s hope that happens.
According to the Travel Industry Association, 41 million airplane trips were avoided last year by fellow Americans. That in turn dealt a $67 Billion cumulative cost to our economy.
A landmark survey revealed shocking information that points directly at the TSA and the misery they pile on to travelers with mindless security screening games and indignities that do nothing more that provide an illusion of security.
Flying today is a truly miserable experience.
This well researched report reveales the devastating impact the TSA's pretend security is having on our entire economy. Add to this prohibitive fuel costs and you more airlines will soon be asking for bankruptcy protection along with restaurants, hotels and other tourism generated businesses.
The tax man has been suffering too but don’t worry they will be given new tools to raid our wallets soon.
Retired cop, now film actor Dennis Farina’s reputation and future is in the hands of Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley. The former Chicago police burglary detective turned actor forgot he had a small handgun in a briefcase as he routinely began the boarding process for a flight out of LAX. TSA workers discovered the gun to his major embarrassment and put the ZERO TOLERANCE enforcement policy into action.
Zero tolerance for similar acts of forgetfulness does not further the cause of fighting terrorism or a prosecutor’s duty to seek Justice. That’s especially true for these similar violations that overwhelmingly snare off duty or retired cops rather than terrorists.
As of today Cooley’s office has not filed formal charges against the popular career lawman and actor. I take that as a sign that prosecutors understand the allegations that brought the arrest of Farina require that actual intent to violate the law must be present. Bringing a case forward to a trial when it’s so obvious that intent does not exist is horrible public policy.
On or off screen Dennis Farina has always been a genuine crime fighter. Farina’s reputation deserves to remain unsullied.
Los Angeles--According to what one LAX Police official told the L.A. Times the vast majority of them are off duty cops and such.
Cops carry guns everyday of their lives and don’t dwell on that fact. They are comfortable in knowing they are supposed to do so. Cops are absent minded too.
An example is when a cop is getting on a plane to attend the funeral of a family member or dear friend. Grief and devastating news can consume any normal person who is allowed by law to carry weapons. Remembering that the gun in a bag you drive around with by automobile every day is suddenly contraband on the airplane escapes many. The same goes for retired cops, security people such as bodyguards and private eyes.
The sad news is that many of our law enforcement officers caught up in the TSA dragnet have their careers and in some cases lives shattered by these monumental and embarrassing events.
For safety of all passengers it’s better that trained, vetted cops and retired cops carry their firearms without questions, beyond their official credentials.
It’s mindboggling when you know that two of the four doomed planes on 9/11 had disarmed cops on board who could have stopped the hijackings but for an insane and stupid FAA policy backed by a dumb federal law.
Personally I believe the Second Amendment does not end at a TSA passenger screening checkpoint and neither does the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable search and seizure.
Accordingly, I don’t think it’s too much to ask our government to leave the cops and all American citizens alone if investigation reveals that there was no intent to do harm.
Los Angeles--It seems that Dennis Farina forgot he had a little .22 pistol in his briefcase as he went through an airport checkpoint at LAX this morning. The TSA weenies saved us from yet another hijacking!
Farina honorably served as a Chicago cop spending most of his career as an Area Six burglary detective until he and and a former robbery sergeant, Chuck Adamson were discovered by legendary film director and Chicago native Michael Mann. Soon Farina took his leave of absence and early retirement to portray a cop in scores of projects on the small and large screen.
Farina has returned for many funerals of fellow officers and never missed a chance to help one of his own.
The TSA called LAX Police who booked Farina at the LAPD Pacific Division on a felony charge. Farina’s gun was allegedly not registered in California. California gives their residents a 60 day grace period in which to register firearms imported from other states. Farina told police he had recently brought the gun in from his home in Scottsdale.
Farina owns and lives in properties in Michigan, Illinois, and Arizona that I know about. Farina spends the least amount of time in Los Angeles and should not be considered a resident subject to local gun registration laws. Federal law lets retired officers carry firearms and another federal law protects non-residents from state and local registration laws where simple possession is involved. Police chose to charge Farina with a felony. Bail was set at $35,000.00, I never knew Farina was such a flight risk or so dangerous to the public.
Normally I avoid harsh language on my blog but this arrest is beyond CHICKENSHIT. What the Hell is going on in America?
The United States Supreme Court will be ruling on whether Americans have a right to keep and bear arms any Monday in D.C. vs Heller before the summer recess.
As I have always said, gun laws only impact the law-abiding. Will Farina get punished for being absent minded? I hope not. For now he is being punished with bad publicity, the Hollywood Perpwalk, court appearances and wasted time and money dealing with lawyers.
Through his publicist, Lori De Waal, Farina said "I apologize to anyone and everyone that I have caused any embarrassment or inconvenience to. It is my own stupidity to find myself in this embarrassing situation. I don't put the blame on anyone else but myself. I want to apologize to my friends, family and business associates who I'll explain to privately later. I'll be spending the next few days kicking my own ass. No one is more embarrassed than myself."
Here’s where Farina and I disagree. Obviously Farina did not intend to bring the gun onto the plane or hurt anyone. The police investigation should have uncovered that and they could have used discretion by releasing rather than booking the actor.
Farina obviously showed real class despite being subjected to an unnecessary trip through the criminal justice system as a defendant.
Farina’s latest movie, “What Happens in Vegas...” just had a premier at the Mann Village in Westwood, Los Angeles. Maybe the LAX Police are “helping” sell tickets?
An Update: Farina was released on bail after 12 hours in custody from the Van Nuys jail. I can just imagine fumbling around for cash on a Sunday when all the banks were closed for a bail bond from a jail cell must have been quite a challenge. Here is KTLA-TV's top story at 10:00 PM
In case you are wondering just who the patronage hack is that's mismanaging America’s airport and air line security, it’s a career railroad, government contractor boss and bureaucrat named, Edmund S. "Kip" Hawley.
Appointed by President Bush in 2005 to head the troubled agency Hawley has wasted our money faster than it can be printed on things and programs that at best give a really poor illusion of security.
How can a man with no law enforcement training or experience be appointed to run such super sensitive operations as America’s Aviation Security?
Hawley obviously hates pilots as he has fought arming them and done everything possible to obstruct and or destroy the Flight Deck Officer program.
I question Hawley’s allegiance to America despite his long history has a Republican political creature. Hawley has done everything possible to keep America’s air transportation a soft target for our enemies.
The TSA is a rogue government agency and Hawley is at the helm. Rather than take suggestions from law enforcement officials Hawley finds a way around them. The stonewall attitude and arrogance of any agency begins with its lack of leadership.
US Airways has started termination proceedings seeking the dismissal of veteran pilot James Langenhahn according to Flight Deck Officer’s Association Vice President, Mike Karn.
The firing is in connection with the gun accident in the skies over Charlotte, NC last month as Langenhahn was stowing the gun contained inside a padlocked holster. The TSA dangerously dictated that pilots place a common padlock across the trigger of a loaded gun. The inevitable happened when the gun went off as a result.
I warned of this problem here at Crime, Guns and Videotape last December.
The pilots were and are precluded to publicly talk about or criticize the holster or insane locking procedures that were the obvious cause of the accident.
The TSA has been able to cloak their incompetence and other failings under National Security. That is until I learned about the foolish procedures and exposed them
After the accident I have placed my video recreation of the actual accident that has been viewed thousands of time and shown on national television.
I fully expect Langenhahn to sue his airline for any contract breech and the TSA for their negligent administration of this most sensitive and important area securing our skies from terrorists.
The pilots need to stick together on this one since it’s a matter of safety. Perhaps a job action is in order to get the program taken from that rogue government agency, The Transportation Security Administration.
May I be the first one to suggest that fellow pilots and concerned citizens contact the Federal Flight Deck Officer’s Association and donate money for all of Capt. Langenhahn’s legal Expenses and lost wages.
Until Langenhahn in reinstated to his job with back pay I will avoid booking flights on UA Airways.
To become a law enforcement officer you need two things, academy training and experience with handling criminals. State and local police departments include several weeks of field training in busy areas before academy graduation. Then you are only a green recruit for a year or two until you become the real police.
The most difficult part of police work is dealing with violators. Police work is the art of not turning littering into armed robbery and not missing dangerous tricks pulled by career criminals.
Unless air marshals have prior police experience their effectiveness will be limited significantly. The air marshal candidates and applicants lack the basic tools to handle the job even after training.
Do you really want to see a green air marshal engaged in close quarter combat with a trained and experienced terrorist? Of course the rub here is that this may well be the first time the air marshal ever had a real fight. Cops on the other hand deal with the best of street fighters and barroom brawlers.
The job of air marshal is boring, and swallowed in lots of government bureaucracy.
Remember the air marshal is the man or woman that is not listening to IPOD, watching DVDs, chatting with other passengers, reading or sleeping. The air marshal is breathing bad air and eating too much expensive and really bad airport concession food. This has to be a lonely and miserable life.
Years can go by before an air marshal is called into enforcement action. An air marshals experience on the job is as worthless as being unemployed everywhere in the American job market.
The truth is they air marshals are quitting as fast as they’re being hired. It’s so difficult to find qualified candidates they lowered hiring and training standards and are giving the jobs to the screeners these days.
We have a much better force and that’s encouraging trained, certified and fit off duty cops to fly armed for free or at greatly reduced ticket prices.
I’d set up a one day training session and vetting process for the volunteer cops wanting to participate.
Armed pilots and off duty armed cops are the best prospect for keeping Americans safe where air travel is concerned. It’s not only cost effective but the only effective way to deal with these issues.
Today CNN’s investigative correspondent, Drew Griffen reported on the unsafe holster padlock procedures that I believe caused the accidental discharge of a pilot’s weapon on that UA Airways flight late last month.
Here again I demonstrate just how the the TSA turned a safe and reliable defensive weapon into a deadly booby-trap.
The TSA has muzzled their trainers and administrators as they throw good money after bad. Rather than give up their obstructionist ways the TSA is searching for yet another unorthodox, Rube Goldberg style gun locking contraption.
The TSA is hoping for anything at all, regardless of cost to separate FFDO pilots from their guns or a way to claim the program should be scrapped as unworkable. They just refuse to adjust to the law of the land that mandated armed pilots.
TSA officials will do anything and everything they can to aid terrorists and leave the public unprotected. I know and they know that we are no better off than we were on September 10, 2001.
The TSA has their head in the sand as they know full well that there are explosives that will defeat their screeners and technology. They are also aware just how passengers can improvise deadly weapons with legal everyday items once onboard planes.
The TSA has no reliable contingent plans to deal with a terror attack from the tarmac level at our airports. Their entire program is only very expensive smoke and mirrors. The scam is to fool the public with their privacy and dignity invasions.
As always, we can count on government’s arrogance, incompetence and ineptitude rather than a real solution like fully trained and armed pilots to protect lives and assets entrusted to them.
They need to retire the booby-trap holster padlock idea and instead rely the experience of millions of law enforcement officers that have learned how to safely retain their weapons and deploying them only to save lives.
The TSA is set to bring their findings and excuses for the accident to the Congressional Homeland Security Committee next week. The question is, will the TSA accept responsibility for the accident or make a scapegoat of the pilot?
In December the Crimefile News blog broke the story about the unorthodox, padlocked holster required for armed Federal Flight Deck Officers. The holster in conjunction with a common padlock was adopted and mandated by the TSA for transportation and storage of loaded guns on commercial aircraft by flight deck officers.
The problem is that long standing safety rules mandate that trigger locks, fingers and foreign objects don’t belong on the trigger of loaded firearms. The holster alone is a well made and safe item but the same cannot be said for the utilization of a padlock with the holster.
A video written and produced by Crimefile News has been seen in hundreds of airline, government and Congressional offices and has been heralded by gun safety experts for exposing the danger. The video replicates the actual discharge of the weapon by the padlock shackle. Pilots, flight deck officers, and TSA employees are precluded from talking about the holster or firearm handling procedures.
Congressman John Mica of Florida is convinced after a briefing by TSA officials that the accident was caused by the TSA mandated procedures and padlock.
So far the TSA remains silent on the cause of the incident or plans to prevent similar accidents in the future.
Let’s hope that the responsibility for the FFDO program is shifted away from the politicized TSA to a competent law enforcement agency where it belongs.
US Airways pilot James Langenhahn’s gun went off as he was stowing it away. Placing the TSA mandated padlock through a hole in the holster against the trigger of a loaded gun was a deadly idea that the TSA ordered all FFDO pilots to do after entering and before leaving the cockpit. That action was the apparent cause of the pilot’s gun discharging.
Firearms trainers all over the country were shocked to find out about this very risky policy from my December revelations of the secret and unorthodox procedures created by the TSA. The fact that there are not similar accidents every day with this policy is a monument to the pilots who have volunteered for the training and duty.
Revealing classified information was the only way to expose the danger and force the TSA to eliminate the unnecessary and dangerous handling of the FFDO’s service weapons. With last weeks’ accidental discharge and exposure of the problem there’s a good chance the TSA will see the error of their way and retire those padlocks. Thankfully nobody was killed or injured.
I expect to see some quick Congressional action on this issue. I also expect to see the involved pilot cleared of negligence, returned to his job with an apology and any back pay in light of the failed TSA procedures.
Under poorly thought out directives this padlock shackle must rest across the trigger of every flight deck officer’s service pistol. This lock clearly causes accidental discharges.
No trigger lock maker has ever made a device for use on a loaded gun. Using this padlock as a trigger lock was a poor and dangerous idea for anyone much less pilots of our air carriers. Requiring pilots to lock and unlock the padlocks on airplanes is very risky. The locks turn the FFDO's defensive weapon into a deadly booby-trap.
Must someone be killed first? This is really very simple to correct by recalling the padlocks and ordering the FFDO pilots to quit using them.
The proper way to insure that the pilot’s guns stay safe and secure is for them to keep them in a belt or shoulder holster at all times. That would end the unnecessary handling of the firearms altogether. It’s such a simple concept even a TSA director should be able to understand.
The TSA public relations spinners are out in full force defending their deadly, booby-trap FFDO holster design. They want to suggest that the solid week of intense training does not qualify the pilots to carry and retain guns like other federal officers.
One weeks training is shorter than agencies like the FBI but pilots don’t need the additional training on criminal law, evidence collection, rules of evidence and investigative functions. The actual FFDO firearm and tactics training is equal to that of any other federal officer’s.
I can’t even imagine a real firearms trainer teaching FFDO pilots to use any piece of equipment that allows or invites a foreign object like their “safety padlock” to come into contact with the trigger of a loaded firearm. Any self-respecting trainer would walk off the job first. The only reason this danger was not leaked to the public and press sooner is because the TSA classified the procedures as National Security. Nobody wants to risk prison. Pilots and trainers were all quietly holding their noses and going along with a dangerous and unworkable program.
Any self-respecting law enforcement firearms trainer would want the FFDOs to carry their weapons concealed and handle them only in an emergency just like any cop. The TSA's insane locking and unlocking procedures with a dangerously designed and unproven “safety padlock” was asking for a failure.
The FFDO holsters are otherwise well constructed but the padlocks must be recalled and used elsewhere. FFDO rules must change so they can carry their firearms while at work and commuting. This will also reduce thefts and the loss of the pilot’s weapons along with accidents.
Watch the video of the recreated accidental discharge...
I got this comment on my TSA booby-trap holster video and it was too good not to share with all of my readers.
I guess the fine folks at the TSA don’t like the First Amendment any more than the others in our Bill of Rights!
Mr. Huebl. Your disgraceful and insulting remarks about the fine men and women who keep you safe at the TSA should be a federal offense.
Releasing classified information as you have is a serious offense. I think you should be taken to Guantanamo Bay detention camp and water-boarded until you confess just who provided you with that TSA Flight Deck Officer’s, gun, holster and safety padlock.
You and your gun-slinging pilot pals all need a long vacation in a federal cooler for treason.
The FAA and TSA have been doing a fine job of protecting Americans from the National Rifle Association. Sincerely, The TSA
TSA officials released pilot, James Langenhahn’s name to the media by accident. As they were redacting sensitive information they left his name visible on a police report provided to the Charlotte Observer.
The TSA is working hard to evade their own responsibility and turn the career pilot and Air Force veteran into a scapegoat for the accident. The video I made shows just how a FFDO following the goofy TSA gun handling regulations can have a deadly accident.
The TSA and the other opponents to the armed pilot program are spinning this incident to absolve the agency and destroy Langenhahn’s name and career. Read the news story here.
This video will show you the obvious cause of the accidental discharge of a Federal Flight Deck Officer's Service weapon. The cause was a flawed and dangerous policy requiring redundant and unnecessary firearm handling by the pilots and an equipment design disaster. You don’t place foreign objects next to a trigger of a loaded gun!
TMZ.com is reporting that the Queen of Legal Bottom Feeders is finally going after a worthy target on behalf of a client. It seems that the weenies hired by the TSA forced a woman to use pliers in order to remove a pair of nipple rings before she could board her flight.
I say this is just another horrible example of millions of unnecessary privacy invasions that the TSA loves to get attention for doing. It’s their twisted public relations move to convince the flying public that we are somehow safe through their serious Fourth Amendment violations
Over the last 30 years thousands of forgetful people have brought firearms inside carryon bags to the checkpoints and have been arrested. 
