Days before the end of the Giuliani Administration, Tony Carbonetti and I attended a movie screening at the Ziegfeld. Although we had come in our own cars, Tony told me to dismiss my driver as he and his driver would give me a lift home. Tony lived just two blocks from me.
After the movie we got into the back seats of his Ford Expedition. After a minute, he said, "I have something to show you." He reached into the cargo area and pulled out a large, polished wooden box. "What is that," I said. "Open it," Tony responded. Opening the lid I observed a large - at least to me - very new handgun. Now I know nothing about weapons. I am a staunch advocate of the 2nd Amendment and applaud the recent Supreme Court decision. But I was raised in an extremely anti-gun household and with the exception of once firing a .22 rifle at sleep-away camp, I had never seen a gun - or handled one - this close. Certainly not a handgun.
"What are you doing with this?" I asked. "It's mine," he answered. "What do you need a gun for?" "You know how impossible it is to get a gun permit in New York City? He asked. "Yea, it's near impossible," I said. "Well, if I didn't do it before the end of the administration I would never get one." He then named the deputy police commissioner as having arranged this for him. "Did you get a carry permit, too? "Yup," he said.
Jesus, I thought. I held what seemed like a very large gun in my hand. It was beautiful as was the wood case it came in. But, what was he going to do with this? Carry it around? Some of you reading this in Utah or Texas may think my question bizarre, but in NYC most people do not walk around with concealed weapons, at least not legally. I am actually for much looser gun laws and believe it is a citizen's right, even in NYC or D.C., to posses a firearm if that is their choice. But none-the-less, I was raised in a culture that made this practice seem aberrant. It was definitely not the norm. And the fact that he felt he needed to have this struck me as odd. And although I know nothing about guns, even after having served time in prison, this sure seemed like a large gun to me for just everyday personal protection.
Tony asked me if I liked it and I told him it was a beautiful piece. It was. I could certainly admire it on an aesthetic level. But the question stayed with me, what did he need this for and what was he going to do with it? I also immediately thought about the paperwork. To get a handgun, let alone a carry permit, in New York City requires an awfully good reason for the NYPD that issues them. What, I thought, was the reason they had put down on the form? He doesn't carry diamonds, his life hadn't been threatened, and Rudy certainly had his own police detail that protected him. I didn't ask Tony because I didn't want to appear to be spoiling his moment. Questions would have dampened what he believed to be an otherwise joyous occasion. He was smiling from ear to ear at the mere presence of that weapon. But the whole thing left me with a queasy feeling.
I do not know what happened to that gun and we never spoke of it again.
