A quick thought on gun control gone awry

Saw this article about a woman who apparently was trying to check in her loaded gun (for which she had a permit in her home state) when she realized she shouldn't have it and, instead of trying to help her figure out where to keep it, the police promptly arrested her. I hope for her sake (not to mention the increasingly embattled second amendment) that the charges are dismissed once she has her day in court. But it does make me question where common sense has gone in this world.

As a funny aside, I'm sure those who know me would laugh at that last statement since common sense has never been one of my strong suits. But hey, even I can recognize it sometimes...  :-)

Back to the topic at hand, though, surely someone would have understood when the woman asked where she could check in her loaded pistol that she was not trying to do anything wrong but instead to follow the posted rules. There could have been a conversation to explain the laws in New York forbade the possession of such gun and arrangements could have been made to resolve the issue without arresting her. Instead, they took the route of "the letter of the law" and arrested a tourist for illegally possessing a gun in the state (or site, the article isn't entirely clear on this fact). Technically, they were right to do so. But I can imagine this will only make the state and its law enforcement look autocratic at best - or like Seattle's.

Should people have guns at the Sept 11 memorial - maybe not the smartest move on her part. But I can understand accidents. I've been known to have my little Swiss army knife on me when entering theme parks or other areas where it's not permitted and they have simply asked me to turn it in and I can retrieve it on my way back out. I hope we are not reaching the point where "security" (and yes, I use that term very loosely) is overriding all other concerns (like common sense).