By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
John Richelieu-Booth, a 50-year-old self-employed IT contractor from England, was arrested by British police after returning home from a vacation in Florida for posing awkwardly while holding a Remington 870 shotgun in the Sunshine State.
Richelieu-Booth told the British newspaper The Telegraph that he was completely shocked by the “Orwellian” decision made by his local constabulary, the West Yorkshire Police, who first warned him about the picture he posted on his social media but then arrested him several hours later.
Criminal charges against the man changed over time.
Richelieu-Booth was first charged with “possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence” and even stalking after he posted the now infamous photo. However, these charges were later dropped.
Another charge of posting “any writing/sign/visible representation with intent to cause harassment/alarm or distress” was filed but also dropped. Apparently, Richelieu-Booth then faced what the British legal system calls a “public order offence.”
Thankfully, all charges now appear to have been dropped, and Richelieu-Booth is considering making a formal complaint against his local police department. His business was severely impacted after he spent a night alone in jail, and he is unable to work because British police seized his cell phone and computers.
“I will be filing a case against the police, I have been put through 13 weeks of hell, and I will be seeking quite a lot of damages,” Richelieu-Booth told the British media.
Takeaways
Americans should thank God and our country’s Founders that we have the protections offered by the Second Amendment and, quite frankly, a few other Amendments, so we don’t have to face the “13 weeks of hell” that this poor tourist was forced to endure.
Over the years, I have spent time at the range with dozens of tourists from all over the world, including some extended family members from Germany who had never even touched a real gun.
They all reacted the same.
They became immediately bedazzled by our freedom, especially the Second Amendment, and they realized how off-putting their own country’s strict laws and regulations actually were. Also, every single one of them wanted their own rifles, especially the AR.
A few countries such as Argentina and Finland are changing their gun laws for the better, but each has a long way to go to catch up.
America leads the entire world with its personal freedoms, at least for now. But we must constantly be on guard to stop those who want to strip us of our freedom solely because we may live in a state that supports their crazy deceptiveness.
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