A New Jersey man gets seven years for being a responsible gun owner.

[aray]

Text removed. See content at link below.

[aray]

Reference to above from: Brian Aitken's Mistake - Reason Magazine (http://reason.com/archives/2010/11/15/brian-aitkens-mistake/)

[wyntrout]

Damn! What a waste of taxpayer money and a real travesty of "justice". New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is supposedly a sensible man and hopefully, he will at least pardon Aitken. That judge ought to spend some time behind bars. It's unusual to see a bad judge unseated. All of his "judgments" ought to be in question and reviewed.
Wynn:mad:

[rholmes69]

That is some of the most ridiculous crap I have ever heard. Sorry to our NJ board members, I hate that state. I have a sister who lives there (married "up" I guess you could say) and everytime we go to visit, I feel like I got mugged and I have to take a shower to get the dirt off. The cost of living, not pumping your own gas, etc. A pack of smokes there 3 years ago was over $7-$8. Gimme a break!!

[joje]

what a terrible, terrible story! its like some of the coastal states have gone into some bay-of-pig-like collective madness - thank God i'm not forced to live there like this poor guy.

[jlottmc]

Hopefully, this railroading gets taken care of at appeals. This reminds me of another Nifong. There are a few prosecutors that have no idea how they ruin people, then when the inevitable acquittal comes in they get all hot and bothered. Lawyers need to be vanished, as they are the bane of any civil society.

[sonofodin]

O-h-i-o !

[jlottmc]

Nah Brother, Texas. 'Nuff said.

[TheTman]

That story just makes me sick. Prosecuting law abiding citizens as though they were out gang-banging. And Purchasing permits, that doesn't even allow you to possess a gun? What the hell are you supposed to do with it then?
It really aggravates me to see how some states insist on passing gun control laws while crime continues to rise. I think every state that has passed Concealed Carry laws has shown a drop in violent crime rates. Seems like I read that somewhere.
I thank God I live in Kansas, which is becoming more firearm friendly every year.
Our latest gun rights victory was adding an individual's right to keep and bear arms to the state constitution. A state Supreme Court had ruled that the 2nd admendment applied only to militias back in the early 1900's. I pray that this poor man gets a pardon or is found not guilty on appeal.

[Roadblock]

Someone needs to make some T-Shirts that say "Free Brian" on the front, and then explain why on the back.

I'd buy one. Good way for the family to make money money to off set legal costs.

[Atilla]

I am very grateful in Ohio the gun laws are not as bad. But we do NOT get our rights from an Amendment, Constitution, legal decision, or law. We are born with our rights. Governments can only take them away or restrict them. The Bill of Rights does NOT guarantee anything, it restricts government (supposedly). This case needed jury nullification and if I was on it I would have been the holdout. It is a shame 1/12 does not have the guts to do what is right. Yes he violated the letter of the law from what I have read, but the law was wrong.

[Jim K]

I know this has been said before but it's not the weapon but the person who wields it. I cannot understand the fascination with stuff like firearms that makes some folks think that possesion makes the person dangerous. I have a motor vehicle and a bottle of whiskey. That does not make me a drunk driver. I read about the TSA scanning pilots, even federal flight deck officers for weapons!!!! Holy mackerel! I'm trying to restrain my language so I don't get banned again so guess what I'm really thinking. Now I play with some truly dangerous toys with my work and I travel alot and I'm usually armed (concealed carry permit). I am one of the good guys. It's nothing special to me but I'm am afraid some idiot in a position of authority will try to take away my liberty of firearm possesion. It's not paranoia. It seems that being responsible and good willed ain't enough. The government does not trust the people.
I suppose I just gotta get in line and shut up, watch TV and pay my taxes.
Jim K, USSA (for the moment) (NRA forever)

[ltxi]

Used to live in NJ....that was 30 years ago, but they were nuts wrt guns even then.

Got both my current and most immediate ex-wife from NJ...both times I was living out of state. I sometimes think they married me just to escape escape the damn place.

"Even the jurors who convicted him seem to have been looking for a reason to acquit him." .... Not to minimize this apparent travesty in the least, but a jury is always free to follow their conscience and aquit....despite law and despite any judicial admonition that they must follow it..

[Dietrich]

I was born and have lived in the state of North Carolina my entire life.Such draconian gun laws are totally alien to my way of thinking.How in the world did the people of this state let things get so out of hand? It is my fervent hope that the governor of NJ sees this as the travesty that it is and frees this good man.I just can`t fathom living in such a place.

[yqtszhj]

I lived in NJ 25 years ago and it was messed up then. I'm glad I'm not there any more. Don't get me wrong. I met some nice folks when I was there but I never want to have to live there again. I don't even want to visit the NE due to this same mentality. Possible exception would be New Hamshire.

[AFDoc]

Liberals!

[ltxi]

I was born and have lived in the state of North Carolina my entire life.Such draconian gun laws are totally alien to my way of thinking.How in the world did the people of this state let things get so out of hand? It is my fervent hope that the governor of NJ sees this as the travesty that it is and frees this good man.I just can`t fathom living in such a place.

That's just what happens when good people don't stand up for themselves....or become completely outnumbered. The gov of New Jersey isn't going to do anything about this. The jury sheep should have, though.

When the military stuck me with an assignment to Mass in the mid '70's, I moved to New Hampshire...Live Free Or Die....and commuted.

[aray]

Update to this story below.

Turns out this same judge who gave the guy 7 years in prison for trying to move his legally-owned guns from one residence to another, has no problems with cops sticking their "tool" into the mouths of calves:


A few weeks after Aitken's trial over the summer, Morley learned that Christie was not going to reappoint him, due in part to a 2009 case in which he dismissed animal-cruelty charges against a Moorestown cop accused of sticking his ***** into the mouths of five calves. Morley said there was no way of knowing whether the calves had been "puzzled" or "tormented" by the officer's actions.
"Brian didn't receive oral sex from calves; he only lawfully possessed firearms," Nappen said.

Family: New Jersey man serving 7 years for guns he owned legally | Philadelphia Daily News | 11/30/2010 (http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20101130_Family__New_Jersey_man_serving_7_years_fo r_guns_he_owned_legally.html)

So gun transportation merits 7 years but pedophiliac bestiality is OK?

I’ve never been asked by an officer for consent to search, but after stories like this, I have to believe that the answer is: Just Say No. How did we get so wrong?

[oldtex]

Sue Aitken called the police because she was worried about her son, Brian. She now lives with the guilt of knowing that her phone call is the reason Brian spent his 27th birthday in a New Jersey prison last month. If the state gets its way, he will be there for the next seven years.
Aitken was sentenced in August after he was convicted of felony possession of a handgun. ......[/I]

These are the salient points I took away from this: 1. This man chose to live in New Jersey. 2. I didn't notice any mention of it, but my guess is that he gave his permission for the police to search his vehicle. 3. He was convicted by a jury of his peers of committing what is in NJ a felony. 4. It pays to have a good lawyer, especially if you are ignorant of the laws in your state or choose to break them. 5. I don't like the laws in NJ, but my opinion of the laws of any state but Texas is moot.

[wyntrout]

N.J. Governor Chris Christie Commutes Gun Owner’s Prison Sentence
NRA Hails Decision, Calls for Real Reform
Fairfax, Va. –The National Rifle Association praised New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for commuting the prison sentence of Brian Aitken—a gun owner who was arrested, convicted and imprisoned for illegal possession of firearms, even though he had made every effort to comply with New Jersey’s restrictive and confusing laws. The NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund supported Mr. Aitken’s case.

“On behalf of the 4 million members of the National Rifle Association of America, I would like to thank Governor Christie for freeing Brian Aitken in time to spend the holiday with his family,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action.

Mr. Aitken was convicted last year of illegal possession of firearms, following a trial in which the judge refused to let the jury hear about exceptions in the law that allow possession of firearms without a license, while moving to a new residence. Mr. Aitken was sentenced to a seven-year prison term even though he had lawfully purchased and owned the firearms.

“While Governor Christie’s grant of clemency was absolutely the right thing to do, Brian Aitken’s case is just one example of how New Jersey's ridiculous gun laws turn law-abiding gun owners into criminals,” added Cox. “There is a serious need to reform New Jersey’s gun laws so that the full weight of the state’s law enforcement and legal system falls squarely on the shoulders of criminals, not on people like Brian Aitken.”
-NRA-

[Bawanna]

This is good news!

[BobR]

It is only partially good news.

With the sentance commuted, he is still a convicted felon. In other words, his Civil Rights are still unjustly denied him (he can't vote, I believe, in New Jersey - nevermind own a gun).

There will only be real justice when his name is cleared, and when that batza judge is removed from the bench, preferably facing some sort of charges for wrongful conviction and imprisonment.

[wyntrout]

I'm sure he's financially ruined, too... not to mention relations with his flakey mother... and how about those criminal guns that were confiscated.

I think he should have been exonerated and had all of his expenses for that crazy judges actions reimbursed by the state... by seizing the whacko judges assets and liquidating them. Governor Christie certainly didn't go far enough to "right" this wrong.

Wynn:mad:

[BobR]

All gun owners should be aware that New Jersey openly defies FOPA '86, and jails or imprisons any out of state gun owners traveling with firearms lawfully secured and stowed seperately from ammunition, as required by Federal Law. Travellers beware passing through the state, because even in complete compliance with Federal law, you may lose your freedom and your life due to unlawful prosecution and imprisonment by the State in question.

They are also famous for violating the 4th amendment in routine traffic stops. If any State in the union needs to be gone after by the NRA and the 2nd Amendment foundation legally, to see that the Cinstitution is followed, it is New Jersey. UNfortunately, we have a Federal government openly hostile to the Constitution and the 2nd Amendment with the current administration, so nothing will be done to rectify this blatant abuse of power.

[jimbar]

I heard on the news that Gov Christie "Will Not" re-appoint this judge for another term. It seems this is not his first "screw-up", and in this case he refused to allow the jury to consider pertinent facts about the defendant being in the act of moving, and had called beforehand to get info about bringing handguns into the state.
So it is great news, this judge will no longer be on the bench!