A South Korean immigrant who arrived at federal court on Wednesday to become a U.S. citizen took her right to bear arms a little too seriously, authorities said.
Mal Soon Jin, 49, was arrested after an X-ray machine at the entrance of the Brooklyn courthouse revealed she was carrying an unloaded .22-caliber pistol in her handbag, authorities said.
The arrest forced her to miss a swearing-in ceremony in favor of an arraignment in the same court on a charge of knowingly possessing a firearm in a federal facility. She was released on $100,000 bond.
Her brother-in-law Francis Jin said the family was mystified by the incident.
The defendant, who has been in the country 20 years and ran a fruit stand with her husband, "doesn't even know how to shoot a gun," he said. "She's scared about those things."
She could face up to 16 months in prison if convicted.
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