Tea Party member arrested on gun charge at NY airport

From CNN News.com - A leader of a Tea Party group was arrested Thursday at New York's LaGuardia Airport while in possession of a handgun, prosecutors said. Mark Meckler, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, was detained Thursday morning during preflight check-in, according to a Queens District attorney statement. Brian Stapleton, an attorney for Meckler, issued a statement saying his client abided by the law. "Mark Meckler, an attorney and National Coordinator for Tea Party Patriots, who holds a concealed-carry permit from the state of California, today was charged with a firearms violation at LaGuardia Airport in New York City," Stapleton said in the statement. "While in temporary transit through the state of New York in possession of an unloaded, lawful firearm that was locked in a (Transportation Security Administration)-approved safe, he legally declared his possession of the firearm in his checked baggage at the ticket counter as required by law and in a manner approved by TSA and the airline, yet was arrested by port authority for said possession." Read more

Tea Party member arrested on gun charge at NY airport