## Facts

- Gregg C. Revell, a Utah resident, traveled by air with an unloaded handgun and hollow-point ammunition packed in checked luggage and declared to the airline.
- His itinerary required a connection at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey; delays caused him to miss the connection.
- The airline instructed passengers to claim checked baggage; Revell retrieved his luggage containing the firearm and ammunition.
- Revell left the airport, stayed overnight at a nearby hotel, and kept the luggage in his hotel room.
- The next morning, during airport screening after he returned to Newark to continue travel, security detected the firearm and ammunition; Port Authority police were called.
- Officer Scott Erickson questioned Revell and arrested him under New Jersey firearms laws based on possession of a handgun and hollow-point ammunition without the required New Jersey permits.
- Revell spent about three days in jail; the state charges were later dismissed.
- Authorities retained the firearm and ammunition for more than two years before returning them.
- Revell sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging violation of 18 U.S.C. § 926A (FOPA safe passage), unlawful arrest/seizure under the Fourth Amendment, and denial of procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment due to the prolonged property retention.

## Issues

1. Whether 18 U.S.C. § 926A protected Revell when his travel was interrupted and he took possession of his luggage and stayed overnight in New Jersey.
2. Whether § 926A created an enforceable federal right supporting a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on these facts.
3. Whether the arrest lacked probable cause, making it unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, in light of Revell’s asserted § 926A protection.
4. Whether the more-than-two-year retention of the firearm and ammunition stated a procedural due process claim against the Port Authority and the arresting officer.

## Decision

- The Third Circuit affirmed dismissal and judgment on the pleadings for the Port Authority and Officer Erickson.
- Section 926A did not apply because Revell’s overnight stay after reclaiming baggage broke the continuity of protected interstate transportation and left the firearm readily accessible.
- Because § 926A did not protect Revell’s conduct, he failed to allege deprivation of a federal statutory right cognizable under § 1983.
- Probable cause supported the arrest under New Jersey law based on possession of a handgun and hollow-point ammunition without New Jersey authorization; the asserted federal safe-passage defense did not negate probable cause on these facts.
- Revell did not plead a viable procedural due process claim against these defendants for the prolonged retention, given the role of other state actors and the existence of state procedures for seeking return of property.

## Legal Principles

- 18 U.S.C. § 926A provides a limited safe harbor for interstate firearm transport only when the traveler is moving from a lawful origin to a lawful destination and the firearm is unloaded and not readily accessible (or is properly secured as the statute requires).
- An interruption in travel that results in the traveler taking possession of the firearm in the forum state (including an overnight hotel stay with the firearm accessible in luggage) can place the conduct outside § 926A’s protection.
- A warrantless arrest is consistent with the Fourth Amendment when officers have probable cause to believe state firearms offenses are being committed; an asserted statutory defense does not defeat probable cause where its applicability is not established by the known facts.
- A procedural due process claim for retained property requires a showing of a deprivation without constitutionally adequate process attributable to the defendants; the availability of state remedies and the defendants’ lack of responsibility for continued retention may defeat § 1983 liability.

## Conclusion

The Third Circuit held that FOPA’s safe-passage provision did not shield a traveler who reclaimed checked luggage and stayed overnight with an accessible firearm in New Jersey, and it therefore upheld dismissal of § 1983 claims because the arrest was supported by probable cause under state law and the pleadings did not establish a due process violation by the Port Authority or the arresting officer.


Revell v. Port Authority of N.Y. & N.J., 598 F.3d 128 (3d Cir. 2010)