The governors of Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Virginia wrote a letter Tuesday asking the territory to show mercy to the Americans arrested on the island.
The full story is that Turks and Caicos Islands has struggled against gun violence for years, so it passed much stricter gun laws in 2022. American tourists were violating this law by bringing guns and ammunition in their bags, but the courts in all of the previous cases recognized that prison was a harsh punishment for lapses like this, so they’d reduce the sentence to a fine. But it just kept happening, and perhaps in frustration, in February an appeals court ruled that the lower courts could not exercise that kind of discretion.
Given that those courts had been lowering the penalty to a fine, it seems unlikely that they’ll sentence people to long prison terms. (Any prison time does seem like an overreaction, but it also seems that the country got frustrated and wants to send a message about following its laws.)
Somebody goes on a hunting trip. Among other things they pack ammunition. The cardboard box of ammo breaks open and 100 rounds spill all over the inside of their bag. A year later they go on a different trip and bring the same bag with them, and there’s a loose round in the folds of the bag they don’t know about, but the dog sniffs it out.
That’s why I have separate bags and cases specifically for traveling with ammunition.
honestly they should be securing their fucking ammo better. cardboard boxes aren’t meant for travel. the packaging it’s sold in isn’t meant to stand up to abuse. stop pouring casings around your luggage and you’ll have an easier time with this.
You recognize the injustice of it, but still some individuals, who have not wronged anyone with their acts, should receive lengthy prison terms because you don’t like the perceived policies of the us.
Also let’s point out that there is absolutely zero evidence that these people are ‘ignoring’ the law. It seems they are just idiots who made dumb and careless mistakes. You just need to paint it way to justify the completely unjustifiable position of thinking individuals should be punished for the actions of their state.
If I go to the US, I have to obey US law or go to jail. Similarly, if a US citizen goes to another country, they have to obey THEIR laws. If their laws say you go to jail when you break them, then what are you crying about?
No one is saying they shouldnt have to follow the law because they are Americans. People are pointing out that this law is clearly unjust and ridiculous that someone would spend over a decade behind bars for making a dumb mistake. the law isn’t just regardless of what country it is. This is one of the times I have zero problem with the us throwing it’s weight around to protect it’s citizens around the world: to save them from ridiculous punishments for making a mistake.
You just need to paint it way to justify the completely unjustifiable position of thinking individuals should be punished for the actions of their state.
Top level poster was saying noone in the us gets a break, so these people from the us should not get a break.
They think that because the us has bad policies, these people should be punished.
Their position had less ( or even nothing ) to do with whether these actions should be punishable because they themselves are bad, their position is about them being punished as some kind of pay back for us policy.
Yeah, no.
It seems that these Americans have discovered that they can’t just ignore the rule of law in other countries.
Let them deal with the consequences. Let them lose that American exceptionalism.
Nobody gets a free pass for breaking laws in America, so these Americans shouldn’t get a free pass for breaking laws in other countries.
I agree, but on the other hand 12 years? This sounds more like a 12 days crime…
The full story is that Turks and Caicos Islands has struggled against gun violence for years, so it passed much stricter gun laws in 2022. American tourists were violating this law by bringing guns and ammunition in their bags, but the courts in all of the previous cases recognized that prison was a harsh punishment for lapses like this, so they’d reduce the sentence to a fine. But it just kept happening, and perhaps in frustration, in February an appeals court ruled that the lower courts could not exercise that kind of discretion.
Given that those courts had been lowering the penalty to a fine, it seems unlikely that they’ll sentence people to long prison terms. (Any prison time does seem like an overreaction, but it also seems that the country got frustrated and wants to send a message about following its laws.)
You might want to check your notes on that one…
Loose ammo can creep into all kinds of nooks when a box spills open. I’ve found rounds tucked into the fold of a range bag years after the spill.
It’s exactly why my range bags and my travel bags nexer mix.
Are we talking about gummy bears or explosives?
If you let ammo lose around the house, you have MUCH bigger problems than travelling
Somebody goes on a hunting trip. Among other things they pack ammunition. The cardboard box of ammo breaks open and 100 rounds spill all over the inside of their bag. A year later they go on a different trip and bring the same bag with them, and there’s a loose round in the folds of the bag they don’t know about, but the dog sniffs it out.
That’s why I have separate bags and cases specifically for traveling with ammunition.
honestly they should be securing their fucking ammo better. cardboard boxes aren’t meant for travel. the packaging it’s sold in isn’t meant to stand up to abuse. stop pouring casings around your luggage and you’ll have an easier time with this.
You recognize the injustice of it, but still some individuals, who have not wronged anyone with their acts, should receive lengthy prison terms because you don’t like the perceived policies of the us.
Also let’s point out that there is absolutely zero evidence that these people are ‘ignoring’ the law. It seems they are just idiots who made dumb and careless mistakes. You just need to paint it way to justify the completely unjustifiable position of thinking individuals should be punished for the actions of their state.
No, this has nothing to do with the US.
If I go to the US, I have to obey US law or go to jail. Similarly, if a US citizen goes to another country, they have to obey THEIR laws. If their laws say you go to jail when you break them, then what are you crying about?
This is the only objective point to illustrate. Laws aren’t monolithic across countries. We wouldn’t have countries if they were.
No one is saying they shouldnt have to follow the law because they are Americans. People are pointing out that this law is clearly unjust and ridiculous that someone would spend over a decade behind bars for making a dumb mistake. the law isn’t just regardless of what country it is. This is one of the times I have zero problem with the us throwing it’s weight around to protect it’s citizens around the world: to save them from ridiculous punishments for making a mistake.
Being an idiot doesn’t mean you’re exempt from the law. Who the fuck packs ammo to go to a different country?
Noone is saying they’re exempt from the law, only that it is clearly an injustice that someone go to jail for a decade for making a dumb mistake.
Do you really think the intent of the law is to send people to jail for accidentally carrying some ammo?
This isn’t punishment for actions of their state lol, this is punishment for their own actions.
The state didn’t tell them to put bullets in their luggage.
Yes, I understand this, and it’s not what I said at all. Not even remotely.
Let me break it down for you:
Top level poster was saying noone in the us gets a break, so these people from the us should not get a break.
They think that because the us has bad policies, these people should be punished.
Their position had less ( or even nothing ) to do with whether these actions should be punishable because they themselves are bad, their position is about them being punished as some kind of pay back for us policy.