Marine veteran thrown in jail for bringing gun to 9/11 memorial

A Marine Corps veteran from Texas found out the hard way that her concealed-carry permit is useless in the Big Apple.

31-year-old Elizabeth Enderli – who did a tour in Kuwait in 2004 – says she was looking forward to visiting Ground Zero with her friend from Houston. The two were visiting New York to celebrate the friend’s birthday.

But when Enderli asked Ground Zero security on Saturday where she could store her 9mm and .380 caliber pistols, cops arrested her.

Enderli, who apparently is never without her trusty firearms, didn’t think twice when she popped the two pistols into her backpack before heading to the city, according to the NY Post.

Enderli’s husband was at a National Rifle Association gun show when he found out his wife was arrested. “It’s a big culture that we all very strongly believe that we have the right to carry,” he said.  He added that his wife thought New York had a reciprocal agreement for concealed carry permits, since New Yorkers have been allowed to carry in Texas for almost ten years.

The mother of three told the Post, “Our husbands don’t give us a hug and a kiss, they pat us down to make sure we’re armed. We’re not allowed to go out without them.”

Enderli says she followed procedures by keeping the guns in a lockbox on the flight to Philadelphia, before driving to New York in a rental car.

According to Enderli’s traveling companion, she would have worn them on her body but she didn’t want to upset “gun-squeamish” New Yorkers.

Enderli was arraigned on weapons-possession charges and released on her own recognizance on Sunday. She could face up to three years in prison, but others who have made the same mistake in the past have reportedly gotten off with fines.