An American airline pilot has admitted to carrying a high-voltage stun gun in his luggage at Edinburgh Airport.
Ryan Cecil, a captain with United Airlines, initially claimed it was a torch but later admitted it was a stun device, which is legal in most US states.
The pilot, a lieutenant colonel in the US military, has been a commercial pilot for 23 years.
He claimed he had accidentally carried it with him and was ordered to pay a fine of £8,500 as an alternative to a prison sentence.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the pilot had flown from Newark Airport in the US two days previously and was flying back home when he was stopped on 20 January.
Prosecutor Matthew Miller said a security officer discovered the stun gun hidden inside a pair of gloves, but Cecil had taken hold of the weapon and claimed it was just a torch.
Police were called after it was identified as a stun gun.
Cecil returned to court on Tuesday, where he pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited weapon that was designed or adapted to discharge a noxious liquid, gas or electricity.
Lawyer Mathew Nicholson, defending, told the court: “He was completely unaware it was in his bag. That bag went through security checks and went undetected, and he spent two nights in Edinburgh before planning to fly back.
I would suggest Mr Cecil knew full well he had the device in his luggage, it is incredulous to believe that what is a clever man didn’t know what he was packing and the “I forgot” excuse is as about as intelligence insulting as the defence of the chap in my previous article who claimed his victim threw himself at the knife he was holding!
It also shows something else that we, as nationalists in the UK, need to bear in mind.
Although we are genetically very similar to Americans of European heritage, we need to be mindful that culturally we are very different.
Americans, in my experience, are very proud of their right to bear arms whilst, in many cases, scoffing at our gun control laws.
I remember Americans on old wristwatch forums proudly displaying their arsenal of weapons, saying, ” Anyone who breaks into my home to steal my watch is getting this,” and then asking how we defended ourselves and our luxury timepieces.
The point I am making here is that the difference in our culture and ways is big—not massive, but big enough that what Americans say and do is irrelevant to us in the UK.
Ryan Cecil found out, to his cost, that you cannot arrogantly go to another country and think its laws don’t apply to you. It’s the same as if you were to turn up in Tehran with a bottle of Scotch in your bag.
The Homeland Party would ensure that anyone from abroad would know in no uncertain terms that they can not bring the rules of their native land here.
We would also suggest to any nationalist on this side of the pond to be wary of American nationalists and their rhetoric; you also can’t get away with things they get away with over there.
Oh, and the simple answer to my American friend’s question about home defence was to insure my valuables and let an intruder take them if need be.
