The gun laws are uniform across the USA and the same in every state. The supremacy clause of the US constitution says that the US constitution is the supreme law of the land. Any "laws" passed by any state, county, perish or city are void and not legally enforcable if they conflict with the US constitution.

So, the ONLY applicable law to be considered in this case is as follows:

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state,
the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

If NY doesn't want to be part of the USA anymore and wants to make up its own laws, let it secede from the union. Good riddance I say.

Hahahahshhhhahahw
Power to the people !
I hope Ryan becomes a spokes man for the NRA and make a big rally to get our 2 nd amendments rights back!
Hey If crazy howard can have one, anybody can!!

Yea!!! Good for Ryan!!! That was the correct decision! Incredible! My dreams come true!!
This is a direct challenge to mammy boomburgs insane anti NYC citizen gun laws!!now hopefully some nyer who was denied a gun permit due to stringent rules and so forth can sue the city and this stupid anti gun law can be struck down due to its unconstitutionality!

So-o-o-o-o-o--eeeeee, pig, pig, pig.

We need Congress to command state reciprocity. Local pigs shouldn't be able to interfere with interstate commerce the way they tried to in this case.

I lived in Atlanta, Louisville and Tallahassee before retiring. My previous profession was not in LE but I worked with officers on a regular basis. In all that time I never met a pig with a badge. Maybe I was just lucky, or, maybe I got back the same respect I gave. I now live in an area which LE supports CCW. Thank God I live in the USA.

Dosen't Port Authority exist precisely to make sure these kind of state-to-state technicalities are a mute point?

The "responsible" gun owner drove through a bridge and tunnel security checkpoint and he didn't even think to ask if it was okay to have a gun?

The sick part of it all is how much of a FL/NY drug connection there is.

So he's supposed to ask every state in the union if it's ok that he's in compliance with the 2nd amendment? That's just stupid. If anything, the PA should have asked him if he had any weapons in his vehicle.

You're right in that it is stupid. I wish we all lived by the constitutional law and could carry in any state and city. Unfortunately, that's not the case. We must either work with the law and push to change it, as the anti-gunners have done, or break the law and provide more ammunition for the anti-gun groups. I prefer the first, but that's just my oppinion. As for changing people's oppinion of us who choose to exercise our second amendment right, it can never be done with cut down's and slander. Thank goodness it's easier to sway the antigun believers than it is progun believers.

I agree. Name calling gets people nowhere and usually just makes them enemies. The sad thing is that this is already a law, one of the first two ever in existence for this nation, and it is still being debated today. I guess Bloomberg cares as much about the Constitution as Dubya did.

If I lived in Florida and if I owned a hand gun and if I had it in the glove compartment of my car, I really don't think I'd ever forget that it was there. After all it's not like it's a pen or a flashlight, something you don't think about until you need it. It's a weapon and obviously you carry it to feel "safer." Of course personally I'd be endlessly uncomfortable knowing it was there. However, if the Florida man sufficiently proved his innocence, so be it. He didn't shoot anyone, didn't pull it out and threaten anyone and made an innocent mistake in traffic. . . Why the police searched his glove compartment on a routine traffic stop though is beyond me.

That's why people move to Florida. There are many nasty alums in Florida. But rest assured as long as you are a law abiding citizen, getting a carry permit is relatively easy!
The reason NYC doesn't have fair laws is because NYC is probably the place with the moat wealthy peoplein the world and with some of the poorest people and the richest in the world!!
A recent article stated that NYC would rank last if it were a country!
The rich and poor Is such that an article my Tim Robbins highlighted the income disparity that could be a catalyst! The top 10 per cent earn 45 per cent of the income!
the world according to glenn beck and others

Out of towers. Especially those Florida plates. Probably are a favorite target of the police! They figure that there'll be drugs and guns stashed somewhere!!

good point on the search.. Did he consent?

Good to see some common sense applied. The laws in NYC are ridiculous, perhaps the least free place in the US - one where murderers and thieves have illegal guns, but the poor schmuck citizen has to rely upon the keystone nazis for protection. Or someone like me. haha.

Any possession of a loaded firearm in this metropolitan area has the potential for deadly consequences, to our residents and visitors alike."

Yes, and that includes all the guns being toted by cops, court officers, judges, sanitation police, etc., etc.!

"thinks Ryan was in the wrong (which, even if he didn't mean to be, he clearly was)."

Clearly? Really, Garth? Maybe if you someday manage to work this Gothamist gig into being appointed to the US Supreme Court you can help make such a thing clear, but there's nothing clear about it today. If he "clearly was" breaking the law, why did the jury acquit him?

It's not clear because of the federal FOPA law (Firearm Owners Protections Act). It's a muddy, gray area; not clear at all. FOPA says that it's OK to transport a gun anywhere in the country as long as you can legally carry it where you live. The way that feds look at, that's clear. Some local jurisdictions changed their gun laws after that law's passage, to leave room for those circumstances. Other jurisdictions, like NYC, consider FOPA only to be an affirmative defense that might be invoked after charges have been filed.

That's what happened here. He violated local gun laws, and presented FOPA as a defense.

Clearly? No. There's nothing clear about this.

I think it's more likely a case of jury nullification than an application of FOPA (and Peter Rosa explained why better than I could have) -- but either way, they got it right.

FOPA provides only limited protection because it requires that guns be transported (1) unloaded and (2) in a manner that prevents them from being easily accessible to vehicle occupants. In a passenger car that means in the trunk, or in a trunkless vehicle such as a pickup (as was the case here), it means in a locked box.

Jonathan Ryan may not have met requirement (2) because the gun was in the vehicle's glove compartment. It's uncertain because glove compartments are lockable, though as a practical matter drivers seldom lock them. There's also some uncertainty concerning requirement (1) because even though the gun was not loaded, there was a loaded magazine clip in the glove compartment; inserting the clip and rendering the gun ready to fire takes literally just a second or two.

In short, FOPA sounds pretty good from a gun owner's standpoint, but it has many inadequacies and can't really be relied upon.

I'll bet Vance would be beaten to death in a fistfight with a typical 15-year-old ghetto gangbanger or 14-year-old schizophrenic.

Alright! A Manhattan jury does good. Aren't they usually the most liberal ones or conservative ones? You just can't tell nowadays. Boy times have changed.