Tennessee tourist arrested for bringing pistol into 9/11 Memorial

By JAMIE SCHRAM, C.J. SULLIVAN and DAREH GREGORIAN

Last Updated: 8:01 AM, December 29, 2011

Posted: 1:43 AM, December 29, 2011

A tourist from Tennessee waltzed into one of the most secure sites in the city — and politely asked a cop if she could check her weapon.

Instead, she was dragged out in cuffs.

Now, Meredith Graves, 39, is facing at least three years in prison for thinking New York’s gun laws are anything like those in the Bible Belt.

Graves, a fourth-year medical student, showed up at the memorial on Dec. 22 to pay her respects during a trip north for a job interview.

She didn’t realize that the loaded .32-caliber pistol in her purse would be a problem until she saw a sign at the site that read, “No guns allowed,” sources said.

“She remembered she had the gun on her,” a source said. She walked up to a security guard and said, “I have this gun. Where can I check it?”

The guard told her that she was in luck because of “law enforcement day” — and led her to another area.

When she got to that section, she asked another cop, “We have this gun — can we check it in here? We [my husband and I] are not law-enforcement.”

That’s when she was arrested.

Graves, who has a full legal carry permit in Tennessee, was locked up on a weapons-possession charge and held on $2,000 bond that she posted yesterday. She is due in court on March 19.

She’ll soon find out exactly how serious New York City is about illegal guns. The Manhattan DA’s Office is pursuing a conviction on felony gun possession — carrying a minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years.

Mayor Bloomberg, with the help of the five district attorneys, has crusaded against the flow of illegal guns, especially from the South.

Out-of-state weapons have been used in a slew of homicides, including the murder of NYPD cop Peter Figoski on Dec. 12.

Sources don’t believe Graves’ intentions were sinister.

She and her husband, Richard Disharoon, drove to New York because Graves, a registered nurse, had an interview for a residency at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital on Long Island, sources said.

“You’d think states would reciprocate with the Second Amendment. She has a license to carry in Tennessee,” said her mother-in-law, who lives in Manchester, NJ.

“Everyone down there carries, and she just forgot,” said the woman, who would not give her name. “She was being honest, and this is the treatment they give innocent people.”

Graves, who has no prior criminal record, could not be reached for comment, and her Legal Aid lawyer did not return calls.

The case resembles the ordeal of Jonathan Ryan, a Florida man who was arrested for gun possession in 2010 after driving up north to help his girlfriend move — and ended up beating the rap at trial.

Ryan’s lawyer, Mark Bederow, said yesterday New York’s gun laws are too tough on people like Graves and his client.

“There may be technical guilt in some of these cases, but the law is not designed to deal with them,” he said.

Meanwhile, a loaded .38-caliber handgun was discovered Tuesday on the ground near the metal detectors at the memorial, sources said.

Additional reporting by Philip Messing

Is the TN Permit valid in NY? I think this is something that CCWers should find out when they travel aboard. i don't really know not being one.

Ryan Jerome was enjoying his first trip to New York City on business when the former Marine Corps gunner walked up to a security officer at the Empire State Building and asked where he should check his gun.

That was when Jerome’s nightmare began. The security officer called police and Jerome spent the next two days in jail.

The 28-year-old with no criminal history now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three and a half years in prison. If convicted, his sentence could be as high as fifteen years.

Jerome has a valid concealed carry permit in Indiana and visited New York believing that it was legal to bring his firearm. He was traveling with $15,000 worth of jewelry that he planned to sell.

The online gun-law information Jerome read was inaccurate, however, and his late September arrest initiated what may become a protracted criminal saga. He hasn’t yet been indicted by a grand jury, but there may be little legal wiggle-room if he is.

“If he does get indicted, and they want to give him something less, then the legal minimum would be two years,” noted Mark Bederow, Jerome’s attorney. “They couldn’t even offer less if they wanted to.” (RELATED: The Daily Caller’s Guns and Gear section)

Jerome isn’t the first out-of-state visitor to volunteer that they had a gun, only to be put through the wringer. In December, Tennessee nurse Meredith Graves noticed a “no guns” sign at the World Trade Center site and asked where she could leave her weapon, only to face similar charges.

Also in December, Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler was arrested after attempting to check a pistol — for which he has a California concealed carry permit — at a New York airport.

The law in New York has the potential to wreak havoc on the lives of unwitting and otherwise law-abiding visitors, Bederow explained to The Daily Caller.

“The law itself is clear,” he said, “if you knowingly possess a loaded firearm in New York, then you are technically guilty of a serious crime. The fact that somebody in another state has a valid concealed carry permit is, legally speaking, irrelevant in New York.”

But the recent spate of tourist arrests wasn’t what was intended when the law was passed, said Bederow. “Subjecting the toughest gun laws in the country — here in New York — to subject these people to them is just not a good use of discretion.”

“The law is not equipped to deal with these situations, and they happen all the time,” he added. “Here are people trying to be responsible.”

There is a significant degree of uncertainty regarding how the case will proceed. Right now, Bederow said he’s hoping that the district attorney will use discretion and recognize that his client “is not a criminal.”

“I’ve been a law-abiding citizen my entire life, and for something like this to come down, it rips me apart,” Jerome told the New York Post. “It’s like taking a good dog and scolding him for something he didn’t do.”

“If he does get indicted, and they want to give him something less, then the legal minimum would be two years,” noted Mark Bederow, Jerome’s attorney. “They couldn’t even offer less if they wanted to.” (RELATED: The Daily Caller’s Guns and Gear section)

Yes, yes, she should know the law, BUT...

If an individual walks up to a police officer and says what amounts to, "Hello, officer, I think I may be inadvertently breaking the law. Can you help me comply?" You shouldn't be arrested. I mean, what is the law's INTENT? Is it to catch and punish people like this?

Firearm licensing is dramatically different state to state and each state has reciprocity only with the states that states decides.

I can travel into West Virginia only on my Pa License to Carry Firearm but not NJ, NY, Ohio, DE.

If I had a Florida CCW (which I can because they accept out of state license applicants) I can then carry in Ohio and De.

Although I believe last year Ohio updated its laws to accept Pa I don't think many lists have changed to reflect this.

Here is a map generator:
http://www.handgunlaw.us/LicMaps/ccwmap.php

New York is worse because it isn't even really controlled by the state but by each County. Thus northern NY might just be fine with your carry but NYC doesn't recognize anyone but its own and out of state LEO's - because it has to by Federal law.

Yes, yes, she should know the law, BUT...

If an individual walks up to a police officer and says what amounts to, "Hello, officer, I think I may be inadvertently breaking the law. Can you help me comply?" You shouldn't be arrested. I mean, what is the law's INTENT? Is it to catch and punish people like this?

Use some judgement.

Well, actually, it's not over yet. If she gets a non-conviction fine or what amounts to a "stupid tax", then I'll be happy.

This is exactly why every state needs their own version of the FDA.