ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Students learned an unexpected lesson while visiting the Statue of Liberty: It’s a bad idea to carry a gun in New York City.

Rochesterhomepage.net reports Rochester City School District teacher Diane Watkins was arrested on a felony weapons charge in May during a school field trip to the Big Apple.

The New York City Police Department says on May 31, Diane Watkins went through the X-Ray machine to go to the Statue of Liberty and a loaded gun was found in her purse.

Watkins was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, a felony punishable by 3 and 1/2 to 15 years in prison. Her bail was set at $2,500 cash and $7,500 bond. The New York City Department of Corrections has not responded to a request for information on how long she was jailed. The case is still pending.

Monroe County pistol permit records are no longer public. In New York City, gun owners have to get a permit to carry a weapon. Police said she did not have this New York City permit.

Watkins was supervising a class trip of Rochester STEM High School students. Watkins is a teacher at the school.

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The district released a statement say, “The District was aware that Ms. Watkins was detained during the trip to New York City, but she would not say why and we could not legally compel her to explain. District and school officials learned of the charges against her in a communication from her attorney received the week of July 7th. The District is instructing Ms. Watkins not to contact students over the summer and will assign her to the Alternate Work Location when school resumes until this matter is resolved.”

News 8 reports the school superintendent wasn’t aware of the issue until the media inquired about it.

Ironically, Watkins spoke at a protest this week in favor of teacher tenure, a law that would more easily allow her to keep her job despite a felony charge against her.

The teacher says she didn’t know about the New York City permit requirement.

It causes us to wonder: who will receive the harsher punishment? The kid with the Pop Tart gun or the adult with the real one?