EMERGENCY – We have been dealt a huge injustice of our 2nd Amendment Rights.

We are retired and live on a fixed income. We supplement our income by sailing professionally. For the summer of 2016 we flew into New York state to do an advertising (Branding) sail campaign. This job would have us in the New York area from May through September of 2016.. . . . .

We are retired and live on a fixed income. We supplement our income by sailing professionally. For the summer of 2016 we flew into New York state to do an advertising (Branding) sail campaign. This job would have us in the New York area from May through September of 2016.

Our plan was to live aboard the boat we would be sailing. The marina we were staying in did not have any security. For those that don't know a boat is not as secure as a house. We have lived aboard a boat for the last 12 years. During that time we have been boarded 3 times by people with criminal intentions. Needless to say as senior citizens we had security concerns regarding our stay in the New York area.

For self defense reasons we have a firearm aboard our boat in California. With our security concerns about the New York area marina we wanted to bring our pistol with us. We researched airline and TSA requirements to legally accomplish this. Considering our 2nd amendment rights as US Citizens we mistakenly assumed having a firearm aboard the boat would be legal in the New York area as it is in California. We flew into JFK Airport in New York with no incident.

We had a successful summer of sailing / working. While checking into JFK International for our return flight to California we declared our firearm as directed. I was almost immediately arrested and charged with transporting a firearm and being in possession of a "loaded" firearm. It's important to note that the firearm WAS NOT LOADED, also that the pistol was in a locked, TSA approved gun case in a bag that was being checked, NOT a carry on.

What happened of the Second Amendment?

We need to fund our defense. In our eyes as United States citizens we have committed no crime. We're asking for your help to generate a defense fund to finance travel, attorney fees, and lodging. We will we will be forced to travel back-and-forth from California to New York to defend ourselves. We appreciate your help and hope to help eliminate this problem for others in the future.

Thank You,

God Bless America

Karen & Captain Rick Silverman