Americans arrested in Turks and Caicos--thoughts?

I do think 12 years minimum is a lot for "just" ammo, but it is their law and you should research the laws where youre going

I think that someone should send Marjorie Taylor Greene and her political idol on a hunting trip to T&C.

well.. if you can't follow the rules in other countries.. stay home.

they get to make the laws they wish to have.

Rhondito I agree with you. I wasn’t very sympathetic before, and the wife’s comment made me less so.
Can you imagine the commentary if he wasn’t a white guy in cowboy hat?
My sons knew to check every pocket after a camping trip so they didn’t accidentally take a pocket knife to school. Shouldn’t be too hard for an adult.

I'm so tired of the cavalier attitudes about guns in this country. It's not fucking toothpaste, idiot!

When you consider that one mass shooting could all but end Turks and Caicos’ tourism industry for years, the 12 year sentence doesn’t seem as harsh.

Surprise! Some countries actually take gun control seriously.You're going to trust THOSE guys to keep you out of prison? How about don't be a dumb@$$ and carry ammo around. Have fun in prison.

No, every time we have traveled with a checked gun we have to declare it and they marked it and took it to wherever they take them, then once our plane landed we had to go get it from a airline security person.

I had trouble  in Belgium. I had a box with pen refills in my carry on, and suddenly I had five sternly looking security guards around me wanting to know what it was. No idea if they thought it was detonators in the box or something else, but no, it seems their machines aren’t that sophisticated. 

The article you linked says: The Virginia man is facing up to twelve years in prison. That IS NOT the same as a mandatory 12 years minimum. 
You may still think it's too long, but there is a difference between a minimum and a maximum sentence.

No sympathy here. Especially when about 50% of the time, I'm getting my hands swabbed for trace explosives just for wearing an insulin pump (even in TSA Pre-check).

I'll be in T&C next week and someone posted the restricted items in our travel group. Some of the items are interesting - mostly related to "adult" products. Would love to post but I'm at work.

I didn't read the responses, but I'm pretty sure I can guess

I actually had something terrifyingly similar happen to me, but it was in the US- flying to a different US destination.

I have a concealed carry permit. As I usually do, I'll preface with- I believe in VERY thorough background (criminal, domestic AND mental health) checks, red flags, etc etc. which I have gone through for 2 of the 4 states in which I've had my permits. BUT I also believe that the reciprocity crap needs to go away. It should be like a drivers license. If I'm legally able to own and or carry in one state- that should translate to all other states. No local and municipality laws unless they are clearly posted, and even then, I don't think local and municipality laws should be used lightly....... that's all aside from the point of this thread...

Anyway................ for hiking, camping, walking and (sometimes) daily carry I like to carry a small, two shot 22 caliber handgun. It's itty bitty, fires every single time, has two safeties, and is a small enough caliber with a loud bang to make angry 4 legged animals run away. It is also small enough caliber to be able to stop a 2 legged animal, but not kill or go through cars and structures if in serious danger (because imminent danger requires shooting the aggressor and a warning shot is illegal in most situations)- hey, I don't make the rules, and I'm not sure I disagree with that one anyway...

Anyway, because there are plenty of places that even cc (concealed carry) holders aren't allowed to go, I sometimes have to lock my handgun in my car. I don't like that, at all (I feel theft is a great way for a legal gun to end up on the illegal market..) but, again, hey, I sometimes don't like the rules, but I don't get to make them.

So, often I remove the two (tiny) bullets from the gun, and lock it in the gun safe I have installed in my console. I put the bullets in my purse. My father in law likes to borrow some of my hand guns to go to the range, and he cleans them. But I don't hand him a loaded gun. (He uses his own ammunition.) A week or so later, I went to the airport (major US) and he was going to use my itty bitty and clean it while I was gone.

I still had the two little bullets in my purse. Anyway, I went through security at one airport- no one noticed anything. But on the way back, security noticed them. They gave me the option to mail them home, or they would dispose of them. I had them dispose of them. Thank goodness they didn't choose to make an example of me.

*****Also---------- different calibers are illegal in some states, hollow points are illegal in some states, having ammo without a permit is illegal in some states (not many), and the two states I was traveling between the bullets were totally legal (but not to take through TSA, I get that- it was a genuine bone headed moment.) I'd like to think it would have never happened had I been traveling between US and International, or states that had differing laws or with ammo that was illegal in one of the two places, because I would have had to *think* about it if that makes sense. Also, this was pre-covid, and I no longer carry a purse, so it definitely wouldn't happen that way. In fact, now I just hide the bullets in the car somewhere. But there are lots of pitfalls there too.

Just sharing that there are humans out there that this could happen to and they weren't up to "no good." I think it's absolutely ridiculous to treat this guy as if he smuggled in a howitzer. But I suppose the rules are the rules. I just see this as being made an example.

First of all, it's 2A... but tell me your bias without telling me your bias Also, not all people that believe in the Bill of Rights are MAGA...

I get your frustration about the disparity of donations for causes and I agree that it's not the way I'd like to see the money donated, but it's not my money.

It's quite a leap to go from a man who mass murdered his family, and another that perpetrated a drive by shooting (both intentional, illegal, clearly against the law acts of violence intended to fire a weapon and harm someone....) to a person who (probably) head spaced literal bullets (objects that cannot fire themselves) in his luggage (if that's the case.)

These aren't the same thing- they aren't even related things.

Since we have opened a can of unrelated worms, I'm also a person that actually believes that parents can horrifically, tragically actually forget their children in their car without it being a "clear case of intentional neglect or abuse." No one is 100% mindful all the time of all things and mistakes do happen. Sometimes they are horrific, tragic mistakes. *Mistakes happen. * Period. This mistake harmed literally no one.

Ironically, my MAGA mother believes there's no way someone can leave their child in the car accidentally and they should pay with their lives. I simply don't feel as if a truly inadvertent crime with no victim should be punishable by 12 years imprisonment.