How serious was that LAX gun discovery?

Remember the guy arrested at LAX on Friday after police discovered a cache of weapons in his trunk? Well, he's speaking out to the O.C. Register and insists he did nothing wrong:

Phillip Dominguez, 47, was arrested on suspicion of transporting an assault rifle, said airport police Sgt. Jim Holcomb. "I will be vindicated of this," said Dominguez, of Orange. Dominguez said he was about to pick up a friend at the airport and go to a shooting range. Police said they stopped Dominguez, driving a gray Chevrolet Silverado, about 10:50 a.m. Friday at a security checkpoint. Dominguez told police he had firearms in his vehicle and gave the keys and combinations to the locks for the containers carrying his weapons, he said.  Police said they found 15 handguns, five rifles, a black-powder musket and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition. One of the guns was a semiautomatic rifle, Dominguez said. Dominguez violated a state law requiring assault rifle owners to transport the weapon from their home to the shooting range without making a stop, said Holcomb.

Comments

[John Madison]

What in the world is happening on the Left Coast? This man's actions would be completely legal at any airport in Michigan. Turning law abiding citizens into felons is not my idea of what government's role is.

[sean truitt]

i wish the giant-baby media would report officers' names and badge numbers. i hope dominguez fights this law all the way to the supreme court.
"Dominguez violated a state law requiring assault rifle owners to transport the weapon from their home to the shooting range without making a stop."
ridiculous.

[M Schrader]

On a scale of 1 to 10 this rates a 0.5

This was a law abiding citizen picking up his friend and heading to the shooting range. LIke it or not, what he was transporting was completely legal and a fairly normal amount of hardware for a range day.

The reaction of the airport police was unwarranted, and a significant violation of civil rights.

What I don't understand is how the camera crews got there so quickly, and who deemed this to be newsworthy. Involving the media spotlight insured that honoring this citizen's rights took a backseat to media grandstanding.