Imagine checking in for a flight, doing everything by the book—declaring your legally owned handgun and ammo to the airline staff—and still ending up in handcuffs because you crossed into New York, the self-proclaimed gun control utopia. That’s the absurd reality that slammed Green Bay Packers offensive lineman MarShawn Walker this week. As he prepared to board a Delta flight at LaGuardia, Walker transparently informed employees about his firearm, packed per TSA guidelines in checked luggage. But New York’s draconian safe act doesn’t care about federal protections like the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act (FOPA), which explicitly shields travelers transporting unloaded guns through states en route to their final destination. Cue the arrest, mugshot, and a high-profile NFL player tangled in the Empire State’s web of bureaucratic malice.
This isn’t just one man’s bad day; it’s exhibit A in New York’s relentless war on the Second Amendment, where FOPA’s interstate transport safe harbor—upheld in cases like *Decastro v. New York*—gets treated like toilet paper. Walker, a Georgia native with no criminal intent, joins a rogues’ gallery of victims: remember the Marine reservist detained in 2013 for the same crime, or the countless hunters and travelers funneled through attorney David Stell’s FOPA defense fund? New York’s AG Letitia James and her crew know exactly what they’re doing—chilling interstate commerce and Second Amendment rights with selective enforcement that ignores Supreme Court precedents like *Bruen*. It’s a masterclass in nullification, dressed up as public safety, and it works because most folks fold or plead out to avoid the nightmare.
For the 2A community, Walker’s saga is a rallying cry: boycott New York travel if you value your liberty, amplify these stories to expose the hypocrisy (Delta didn’t bat an eye until NYPD showed up), and push Congress for FOPA enforcement teeth—maybe mandatory federal preemption lawsuits. Packers fans, hit ’em where it hurts: pressure the NFL to speak out, because when a 300-pound lineman can’t safely transit with a sidearm, no one’s rights are safe. This chalks up another win for gun-grabbers, but it fuels our resolve—New York’s folly is the best recruiter for reciprocity nationwide. Stay vigilant, pack smart, and keep fighting.
