American arrested in Turks and Caicos over ammo found in bag gets suspended sentence of 52 weeks*
American arrested in Turks and Caicos over ammo found in bag gets suspended sentence of 52 weeks*
Bryan Hagerich was one of several Americans facing a potential mandatory minimum sentence of 12 years in prison in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
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Smuggling weapons into other countries is a great way to ruin your own vacation.
But do it in a tropical island and congresspeople will be tripping over each other to take a 'fact-finding' trip down there to help you out.
This is the dumbest take. Most crimes require an element of intent. Using the same bag you use to take shooting or hunting is not intent to smuggle weapons. The quantities of the items found demonstrate no ill intent.
Just because you personally disagree with the 100 million gun owners doesn’t make this a moderate take. Imprisoning people for years because of a loose round in luggage is moronic politically and a waste of tax money.
The casual implication here that a round of ammo in your luggage doesn't imply you are an unsafe gun owner is insane. Lost rounds don't just happen, they are a sign that the person didn't account for all their ammo and secure it properly. There's no reason to give these people a pass.
I didnt say it wasn’t irresponsible and I didnt say give them a pass. I said don’t give them years in prison for an honest harmless mistake. Maybe ban them from returning? Something less extreme…
They didn't get years in prison, look up "suspended sentence".
I understand what words mean, thanks. I’m responding to the hordes of teenagers frothing at the mouth for severe punishment in these cases. There are 5 now.
I wouldn't call 5 teenagers "hordes," but you do you.
5 legal cases so far. Hordes of people in this and similar threads trying to hang tourists from the nearest tree because they enjoy guns.
5 cases is not very many, considering how long guns have been legal in this country and illegal in others. Doesn't seem like a problem at all to me, just check your shit if you commonly carry murder implements around. 🤷♂️ Idk what else to tell you, these people didn't even get punished.
This change is like a month old in T+C. It’s 5 in a short period.
And I bet they never forget to check their bags for tools of death before international travel ever again. I really don't know how you could, if that's something you commonly carry around. It would be on mind constantly.
Can't you see? The dude is fighting for their life. He's literally spearheading the defense of those poor american. He might also be the one who will change the law of another country. 😄🫡
ammo
harmless
lol
Do you realize there are 5 cases already like this? Do you know why? Because this mistake is super common.
Do you realize that means this probably happened dozens of times a year before this recent change took effect? And that all those people in the past returned home with their ammo completely undetected by anyone, including themselves?
You know what something’s called when nobody even notices it happened?
Harmless. Absent of harm.
Do you realize there are 5 cases already like this? Do you know why? Because this mistake is super common.
Maybe it's common for Americans to be this lax with their weaponry?
I don't see the citizens of other countries making the same "common" mistake.
Smuggling is always the smugglers fault.
That he’s an irresponsible gun owner too is just the cherry on top.
You keep using that word. It isn’t smuggling, it is forgetting a round of ammo in a bag. Your view on this is extreme. There is nuance in the world..
And this is why drug cartels use cute white women as mules - to skate by on "It's for personal use" excuses if they get caught.
Also a really fucking stupid take? It should always be based on the facts of the case, not the color of skin or gender. If a cute white woman is carrying guns and hundreds of rounds of ammo punish away.
Why are you so certain that the people in this case weren't intentionally smuggling ammunition?
Because of the quantity and having a brain.
Then you're naive.
Have you ever been to the range? How much ammo did you use? If you wanted to smuggle and sell ammo into another country for money, how much would you bring? Would you bring your wife and book a vacation stay?
Yea, but I don't have solid evidence either way since I'm not on the ground there - what makes you so certain these people weren't smugglers? What part of this story has you so willing to go to bat for them?
Then you should try reading the article. It describes 4 of the recent cases. In those cases people were not found with guns and had 2, 2, 4, and 20 rounds of ammo respectively.
Go to the gun range once and you’ll understand that’s not smuggling ammunition for criminal use. That’s an oopsie I forgot that was in that bag.
He packed his own contraband in his own bag and brought it to a foreign country.
That’s the definition of smuggling.
No, it isn’t.
The Oxford dictionary definition:
smuggling noun
the illegal movement of goods into or out of a country. "cocaine smuggling has increased alarmingly"
You see how it says “illegal” there? In smuggling cases there has to be this other thing called “intent” for it to have been illegal.
If a Mexican gets some codeine at a Mexican pharmacy, forgets it in their bag, and flies into the USA we don’t pay tax money to imprison them for years. We take it, ban them, and send them back.
Why? Because they are careless, not smugglers.
The law does not universally require "intent", I might not intend to speed in my car or fuck a 17 year old, but if it happens I am still responsible.
You missed the part where I wrote “in smuggling cases”.
ETA: you also listed examples that do require intent… like omg I accidentally fucked a 17 year old.
Or omg my car just drove itself too fast.
What? Think then type.
But why would you ban them, if they didn't do anything illegal?
You basically confirm that it is illegal. Now it's just about the punishment.
Try getting busted entering the US with half a gram of weed stuck in some fold of your bag, and see how they treat you.
Try that in Singapore or Iran.
The only thing that would happen is confiscation and denied entry.
And what is your point? That imprisoning those people for 4 years is good and fair policy and other countries should do it too?
If this happened in the States, they would be imprisoned as well. No country is going to let that shit slide, champ.
You are wrong, that is not true at all. We confiscate the items, sometimes deny entry, and sometimes ban future entry. It happens all the time with pharmaceuticals, produce, and any number of other goods that are legal elsewhere but not here. Spending tax money to imprison people for years over minor cultural differences and misunderstandings is absolutely brain dead policy.
There are already 5 cases like this because this is a super common mistake and T+C recently implemented a change in their policy for handling it.
Bring a little cannabis to Texas and see how they feel about your cultural misunderstanding.
If you’re from elsewhere it will go as I said.