Impact of Firearms Laws on Airports (2016)

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42 X. WHETHER THE CARRYING OF A FIREARM IN AN AIRPORT IS A DISTURBANCE OF THE PEACE OR VIOLATES OTHER STATE OR LOCAL LAWS Depending on a person’s conduct or demeanor or other circumstances when a person is carrying a firearm in an airport, the person could be in viola- tion of a state statute or local ordinance prohibiting disorderly conduct439 or the creation of a public nui- sance.440 Elsewhere the individual may be violating a state statute that proscribes aiming a firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, at another person;441 brandishing a firearm;442 creating a hazard to In Arkansas, a license to carry a concealed hand- gun does not authorize a person to carry a concealed handgun in “[a]ny portion of an establishment, except a restaurant as defined in section 3-5-1202, licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages for consump- tion on the premises” or in “[a]ny portion of an estab- lishment, except a restaurant as defined in section 3-5-1202, where beer or light wine is consumed on the premises….”433 It is unlawful in Illinois to carry a firearm or other deadly weapon in any place licensed to sell intoxicating beverages.434 Louisiana law pro- hibits the possession of a firearm while on the prem- ises of a commercial establishment selling alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises.435 The statutes reviewed for the digest are not always clear as to whether they apply to persons carrying a firearm openly, as well as to persons having a license to carry a concealed firearm. The Oklahoma and Texas statutes, however, explicitly address whether firearms may be carried openly or in a concealed manner in an establishment selling liquor, wine, or beer for consumption on the premises. In Oklahoma, although it is unlawful to possess a firearm in an establishment where “low-point beer” or alcoholic beverages are consumed, a person possessing a valid handgun license under the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act may carry a concealed or unconcealed handgun into an establishment when the sale of low-point beer or alcoholic beverages does not constitute the pri- mary purpose of the business.436 In contrast, in Texas a license holder is prohibited from intentionally car- rying a handgun, knowingly or recklessly, regardless of whether the handgun is concealed, on or about the license holder’s person…on the premises of a business that has a permit or license issued under [the]…Alcoholic Beverage Code, if the business derives 51 percent or more of its income from the sale or service of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption, as determined by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission….437 Washington’s statutory approach is somewhat different. The law prohibits a person from entering an establishment carrying a firearm that is “classi- fied by the state liquor control board as off-limits to persons under twenty-one years of age.”438 433 Ark. Code Ann. §§ 5-73-306(12), (13), (19)(A)(i) (2015). Ark. Code Ann. § 3-5-1202 (2015) defines the term “restaurant” to mean any public or private place where complete meals are “actually and regularly served” and having a seating capacity for at least 50 people. 434 720 ill. Comp. stAt. Ann. 5/24-1(a)(8) (LexisNexis 2015). 435 lA. rev. stAt. Ann. §§ 14.95-5(A), (B) (2015). 436 oklA. stAt. tit. 21, § 1272.1(A) (2105). 437 tex. penAl Code Ann. § 46.035(b) (2015) (emphasis added). 438 WAsh. rev. Code Ann. § 9.41.300 (LexisNexis 2015). 439 gA. Code Ann. §§ 16-11-39(a)(1), (c) (2015) (disorderly conduct); kAn. stAt. Ann. § 21-6203 (2015) (prohibiting dis- orderly conduct); md. Code Ann., Crim. lAW §§ 10-201(a)(3) (ii)(11), (12) (LexisNexis 2015) (disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct applicable to a public place that includes an airport terminal and parking areas); minn. stAt. §§ 609.72 (2015) (disorderly conduct to alarm or disturb others) and 609.705 (2015); neB. rev. stAt. Ann. § 14-102(22) (LexisNexis 2015) (disorderly conduct); neB. rev. stAt. Ann. § 16-227 (LexisNexis 2015); N.H. rev. stAt. Ann. § 644:2(II) (LexisNexis 2015) (applicable to the disruption of the “orderly conduct of business in any place or governmental facility….”); N.J. rev. stAt. § 2C:33-1(b) (2015) (applicable when there are five or more persons “participating in a course of disorderly conduct” as defined in § 2C:33-2(a)); N.Y. penAl lAW § 240.20 (Consol. 2015) (disorderly conduct); vt. stAt. Ann. tit. 13, § 1026(a) (2015) (disorderly conduct); Wis. stAt. §§ 66.0409(2), (4), (6) (2015); Wis. stAt. § 947.01(1) (2015) (disorderly conduct); see also Wis. stAt. § 947.01(2) (2015) (stating in regard to alleged disorderly conduct that “[u]nless other facts and circumstances that indicate a criminal or malicious intent on the part of the person apply, a person is not in violation of, and may not be charged with a violation of, this section for loading, carrying, or going armed with a firearm, without regard to whether the fire- arm is loaded or is concealed or openly carried”). 440 minn. stAt. § 609.74 (2015) (public nuisance to annoy or endanger “considerable number of members of the public”); vt. stAt. Ann. tit. 24, § 2291(14) (2015) (power of governmental entity to define what constitutes a public nuisance). 441 W. vA. Code Ann. § 61-6-19(a) (LexisNexis 2015) (unlawful to interrupt or molest the orderly and peaceful process of any unit of government or one of its political subdivisions). 442 miCh. Comp. lAWs serv. § 750.234(1) (LexisNexis 2015) (unlawful to “brandish” a firearm willfully and knowingly in public); miss. Code Ann. § 97-37-19 (2015) (unlawful to bran- dish deadly weapon in the presence of another); S.C. Code Ann. § 16-420(B) (2015) (unlawful for a person to enter the premises of a publicly owned building and display, brandish, or threaten others with a firearm); S.C. Code Ann. § 23-31- 520 (2015) (allowing county, municipality, or political subdi- vision to regulate “public brandishment” of firearms); vA. Code Ann. § 18.2-282 (2015) (unlawful for any person to “point, hold, or brandish any firearm…as to reasonably induce fear in the mind of another”); W. vA. Code Ann. § 61-7- 11 (LexisNexis 2015) (unlawful to “brandish” firearm).

43 free use of property;449 interrupting the peaceful pro- cess of any unit of government or a political subdivi- sion;450 obstructing a building entrance;451 possessing a firearm at a public demonstration;452 or carrying a firearm at an unlawful assembly.453 Whether there is a violation of state law by a per- son carrying a firearm in the nonsterile area of an airport depends, of course, on the language of the applicable statute and the circumstances attendant to the person’s carrying or exhibiting a firearm. In some states, the mere possession of a firearm may not be a sufficient basis for a charge of disorderly conduct or other violation of state law. In Arkansas, in the opinion of the attorney general, unless a stat- ute prohibits a loaded handgun, whether or not con- cealed, “unlawful intent may not be presumed simply because [a] person possesses a handgun.”454 Montana states that governments may not “prohibit the legitimate transportation of firearms through any jurisdiction, whether in airports or otherwise.”455 In Wisconsin, unless there are other facts and cir- cumstances that indicate a person’s criminal or malicious intent, a person may not be “charged with a violation of, an ordinance of a political subdivision relating to disorderly conduct or other inappropriate behavior for loading, carrying, or going armed with a firearm, without regard to whether the firearm is loaded or is concealed or openly carried.”456 A law that may be of interest to airport authori- ties is Louisiana’s statute prohibiting the “negligent carrying of a concealed handgun.” Negligent carrying of a concealed handgun is the inten- tional or criminally negligent carrying by any person, whether or not authorized or licensed to carry or possess a concealed handgun, under the following circumstances: When it is foreseeable that the handgun may discharge, or when others are placed in reasonable apprehension that the handgun may discharge. When the handgun is being others;443 creating a public annoyance;444 displaying a firearm in a threatening manner;445 doing a willful and wanton act endangering others;446 engaging in other action that purposely creates a risk of harm to others;447 interfering with a transportation facility or a public street or passage;448 interfering with the 443 N.H. rev. stAt. Ann. § 644:2(I) (LexisNexis 2015) (appli- cable when one “knowingly or purposely creates a condition which is hazardous to himself or another in a public place by any action which serves no legitimate purpose….”); N.J. stAt. Ann. § 2C:33-2(a)(2) (2015) (creating a hazardous or physi- cally dangerous condition by any act that serves no legiti- mate purpose); S.C. Code Ann. § 16-23-410 (2015) (unlawful to point loaded or unloaded firearm at a person); tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-305(a)(3) (2015) (disorderly conduct whenever a person in a public place with intent to cause public annoy- ance or harm “[c]reates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act that serves no legitimate purpose”). 444 W. vA. Code Ann. § 8-12-5(13) (LexisNexis 2015) (stat- ing that “every municipality and the governing body thereof shall have plenary power and authority therein…[t]o pre- vent injury or annoyance to the public or individuals from anything dangerous, offensive or unwholesome….”). 445 CAl. penAl Code § 417(2) (Deering 2015) (prohibiting the drawing or exhibiting of any firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, in a rude, angry, or threatening manner); del. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 1301(1)(a) (2015) (prohibiting certain threatening behavior); del. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 1301(1)(f) (2015) (prohibiting the creating of a hazardous or physically offensive condition); flA. stAt. Ann. § 7790.10 (LexisNexis 2015) (unlawful to exhibit a firearm or other weapon in the presence of one or more persons in a rude, angry, or threatening manner); idAho Code Ann. § 18-3303 (2015) (unlawful to exhibit firearm in a threatening man- ner in presence of two or more persons); miCh. Comp. lAWs serv. § 123.1103(d) (LexisNexis 2015) (applicable to the display of a pneumatic gun in a threatening manner); mo. rev. stAt. § 571.030.1(4) (2015) (exhibiting firearm in a threatening manner); mo. rev. stAt. § 79.450(2) (2015); nev. rev. stAt. Ann. § 202.320(1) (LexisNexis 2015) (exhib- iting deadly weapon in a threatening manner). 446 nev. rev. stAt. Ann. § 202.595(1) (LexisNexis 2015) (performing any act in “willful or wanton disregard of the safety of persons….”) W. vA. Code Ann. § 61-7-12 (LexisNexis 2015) (prohibiting any wanton act with a firearm creating a substantial risk of death or bodily injury). 447 ioWA Code §§ 723.4(1), (2) (2015) (providing that “[a] person commits a simple misdemeanor when the per- son…[e]ngages in…violent behavior in any public place” or “[m]akes loud and raucous noise in the vicinity of any…public building which causes unreasonable distress to the occupants thereof”); N.H. rev. stAt. Ann. § 644:1(I) (LexisNexis 2015) (applicable when one “purposely or recklessly creates a sub- stantial risk of causing public alarm” in presence of two or more other persons); tex. penAl Code Ann. § 42.01(a)(8) (2015) (“stating that “[a] person commits an offense if he intention- ally or knowingly…displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm….”). 448 AlA. Code § 13A-11-7(a)(5) (LexisNexis 2015) (pro- hibiting the obstruction of a “transportation facility”); gA. Code Ann. § 16-11-43 (2015) (obstructing streets or “public passage”); R.I. gen. lAWs § 11-45-1(a)(1) (2015) (threaten- ing behavior or obstructing highway, building entrance, and other areas “ordinarily used for the passage of per- sons, vehicles, or conveyances”). 449 idAho Code Ann. § 18-5901 (2015) (unlawful to obstruct the free use of property “by any considerable number of persons”). 450 WAsh. rev. Code Ann. § 9.41.230 (LexisNexis 2015) (unlawful to aim any firearm, whether loaded or not, at another person). 451 R.I. gen. lAWs § 11-45-1(a)(1) (2015) (threatening behavior or obstructing highway, building entrance, and other areas “ordinarily used for the passage of persons, vehi- cles, or conveyances”). 452 md. Code Ann., Crim. lAW § 4-208 (LexisNexis 2015) (regulating possession of firearms at public demonstration). 453 kAn. stAt. Ann. § 21-6202 (2015) (prohibiting unlaw- ful assembly); tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-314 (2015) (appli- cable to public disturbance involving acts of violence by an assemblage of two or more persons). 454 Ark. Att’y Gen. Op. No. 2015-064, supra note 157, at 3. 455 mont. Code Ann. §§ 45-8-351(1), (2)(b) (2015) (empha- sis added). 456 Wis. stAt. § 66.0409(6) (2015).