Attorney Arrested For Legally Having A Firearm In A Connecticut Theater

Findlaw: Attorney Arrested for Bringing Gun to 'Dark Knight' Movie Theater

Connecticut law does not have a blanket prohibition on permit holders carrying concealed firearms in movie theaters.

The article raises quite a few questions about the constitutionality of the search - the police according to the article ordered everyone in the theater to put their hands up and then allegedly frisked everyone within the theater.

In the lawyer's arrest for bringing a gun to a movie theater, Sung-Ho Hwang had tucked a pistol into his waistband near the small of his back, police said. Hwang showed up with the gun at a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" about 10 p.m. Tuesday, and theater managers called police.

Officers entered the theater and ordered patrons to put their hands in the air as they were patted down for weapons, the Associated Press reports.

But Hwang allegedly refused, and was taken into custody by force. He faces charges of breaching the peace and interfering with police.

Barring one heck of an exigent circumstance, it's a little hard to picture how such an order was lawful, not to mention this was a blanket search that more than likely violated the 4th Amendment and that he had a right to not consent to such a search.

Mr. Hwang may just have a decent lawsuit against the theater and the police in this instance especially if he's correct that there was no notice that the theater management prohibited firearms in the theater, and I daresay he knows it:

Those charges are baseless, Hwang told reporters. "There is no posting at [the theater] that states that weapons are not permitted," he said, according to The Hartford Courant. "As far as the law is concerned, I have a right to carry there."

Even better, the Mayor of New Haven is allegedly blaming Hwang, not to mention admitting that what Mr. Hwang did is legal:

At a news conference Wednesday, Hwang told reporters he did nothing wrong. But New Haven's mayor questioned Hwang's judgment. "Sometimes just because something is legal doesn't make it right," he said, according to the Post.

This case should be interesting to watch.