The articles aren’t clear on this point. The airline’s lawyer says the airline was legally obligated to report this. Benedetto’s lawyer says the airline was following its own policy.
Without knowing the specifics, I’m guessing there’s no specific law mandating an airline report somebody carrying a weapon. The airline was probably legally obligated to report this only in the same general sense that you or I would be obligated to report it if we knew somebody was breaking a law.
What if the passenger had been flying to another country, rather than to another state? Is it the airlines responsibility to inform passengers of weapons/alcohol/porn etc laws for all destinations? How about a passenger train company, a bus company, or if I want to rent a car in one jurisdiction and drive to another?
There is no way that transportation providers can know all of the circumstances and laws. The airlines didn’t know if the passenger was actually leaving the airport in NY, or maybe he had a license to carry/transport a gun in NYC.
It was Mr. Benedetto’s responsibility to know the laws of the place he was going. He neglected to do that.
It’s unrealistic to expect an airline employee to know all the local laws for every destination their planes fly to. It’s realistic for the NY employee to know the local laws for his own locality.
So what was the NY employee supposed to do? He clearly couldn’t tell Benedetto not to bring the firearm to NY , as he had already done that.The NY employee clearly did know the local laws- as he reported the incident to the Port Authority police. Only a South Dakota employee could have warned him not to bring the gun to NY- but the SD employee can’t be expected to know the NY law.
Of course, Benedetto, being a university president and all, might have been well- informed enough to have an inkling that some states might have different restrictions on firearms than South Dakota and that it is extremely difficult to obtain a concealed carry permit in NYC.
And let's not forget- he left SD on 9/28 and presumably arrived in NYC and picked up his luggage with the firearm inside on that same date. After spending 5 days in NY, he went to LaGuardia for his return flight on 10/2 and that's when this incident occurred. It's not like Delta had him arrested when he arrived at LaGuardia from South Dakota, or while he was on a layover.
I completely agree, which is why I think his case has absolutely no merit.
Delta did everything reasonable in this case. I was agreeing with them. There’s no reasonable way they could have warned him, and once they were aware of things, they followed the law.
I have to disagree. I’ve had multiple airlines tell me that I would be breaking the law in the place I arrived. (The fact that the airlines were usually (almost always) wrong doesn’t negate the fact that the airlines went out of their way to inform me that I would run afoul of the law where I landed.)
That’s a nice thing to do, but not their duty, and as you experienced directly, an unreliable favor.
I’ve had multiple friends give me rides to places when I didn’t have a car. I cannot sue my current friends for failing to give me a ride when I ask for one.
I believe in personal responsibility. Since the passenger is the one who will suffer the consequences of his illegal actions, it is his responsibility to research the local law regarding guns.
Nice of them, but not a duty. And the fact that they were almost always wrong bolsters the argument that it’s unrealistic to expect TSA agents to know the laws of every destination in the world.
100% correct, is what you are.
Except that’s not an accurate account of what happened. He flew from SD to NYC on the 28th - is it reasonable to expect the SD agent to know NYC gun laws? Then he checked in at NYC on the 2nd - the gate agent there knew the NYC gun laws and claims to be required to report (no idea if that is true). But either way, it’s the traveler’s responsibility to know the local laws about transporting guns.
What’s inaccurate about it?
I said: Their staff let him fly with the gun, and then another member of their staff called the New York cops on him.
Both statements in that sentence are true. It is not a complete account, but it is not an inaccurate one.
Well…
It leaves out a number of details, oversimplifies the situation. Not the least of which is the apparent requirement that their ticket agents need to know, off the top of their heads, laws from across the country&world regarding who the hell knows what type of illegal activity travelers might engage in.
The difference is that pkbites is a police officer who was able to get his weapon into NYC because he’s a cop.
That being said, I’m not entirely clear on why Benedetto thought he needed a bring a gun along on his trip. If he’s responsible and knowledgeable enough to pack the gun in his checked baggage, surely he’d be responsible enough to research NYC’s gun laws, especially since those are somewhat notorious among gun buffs. I’d think the prosecutor (or whoever) would be able to use that against him.
It is crafted in a way to leave an inaccurate impression. The separation in time and physical location makes it pretty clear that the airline could not be reasonably expected to warn/protect the traveler. Your account makes it look like the airline set him up for arrest. It is inaccurate because important key details are left out.
My point was accurate for the purposes of my argument. I don’t care very much what you got out of it.
I was simply arguing that if the airline takes no legal position on a person carrying a gun, then that policy should be consistent. If they’re not going to warn people, they shouldn’t report them either. And if they’re going to report them, they should go out of their way to warn them. I don’t care that one agent was in SD and the other was in NY; the company’s policy should be consistent.
According the the first story (no idea if it is true) the airline staff in NYC is required to report it. I still don’t see where the airline is in the wrong. Some people (like our own Loach) carried his gun legally through the same procedures. Is the airline supposed to verify which passengers have the right paperwork?
From the Delta website:
It’s possible that the declaration you sign has a similar disclaimer.