New York criminal defense law firm Tilem & Campbell announced that all charges were dismissed against a client charged with possessing a loaded firearm in Bronx County, New York.
The firm relied on the largely unknown federal travelers’ defense, which grants a defense to state gun charges for those traveling interstate with their firearms. The client was originally charged with a class “C” violent felony and was facing a mandatory minimum sentence of three and a half years in state prison and up to fifteen years in state prison if convicted.
The Federal Travelers’ Defense permits a citizen who is not barred from possessing guns to legally transport one or more guns from one state where he legally possesses that gun to another state where he may lawfully possess that gun, without regard to the gun laws in every state he passes through on the trip. The defense is only available if the gun is unloaded, and if neither the gun nor ammunition is accessible from the passenger compartment of the vehicle.In 2006, New York State amended its gun laws, increasing the penalties for possessing a loaded firearm outside a person’s home or place of business to a minimum sentence of three and one-half years and a maximum sentence of fifteen years.
The law firm of Tilem & Campbell, PC is based in White Plains, New York and handles a variety of criminal defense and other litigation cases. Senior Partner Peter Tilem spent more than 10 years as a prosecutor in the New York County District Attorney’s Office where he was a member of the Firearms Trafficking Unit.
