Posted on 04/25/2005 8:28:01 AM PDT by Cagey
The gun was supposed to be safely tucked in the trunk of her car. Or at least that's where Rebecca Solomon thought she had put it Wednesday morning, right up until the guard at the Essex County Courthouse started looking at her strangely.
"Is this your bag?" she remembered him saying as she passed through the metal detector.
"Yes," Solomon replied.
"There's something that looks like a gun in there," the guard said.
"Oh my," Solomon said.
The guard was quick to determine the gun, a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson, was not a threat. It had never been removed from its original box. Solomon didn't seem too dangerous either.
She's 87.
"I asked the guard if he could just keep it until I got back from court," Solomon said. "He said, 'I can't do that. I'm afraid I'm going to have to call my supervisor.'"
That's when Solomon's trip to Landlord/Tenant Court in Newark hit a snag. While Solomon has a permit to own the gun and can keep it in her house, she does not have a permit to carry it in public. The Essex County Sheriff's Office charged her with unlawful possession of a handgun.
"We had no choice," Sheriff Armando Fontoura said. "We felt bad about it. But there was nothing we could do."
Unlawful possession is a third-degree crime that carries a three- to five-year prison sentence.
"I hope the prosecutor will see this for what it is and either downgrade the charges or just dismiss them," Fontoura said. "She's 87, for goodness sakes. She didn't mean any harm. And she's such a nice lady."
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
What, are they forbidden to use their brains and not file charges in the first place?
When an 87 year old is not allowed to protect herself we are all doomed.
Yea, but the law is the law.... I know it sucks, but if it was you or me, we'd be shackled up too. Gotta get that permit to carry.
Is that the same set of laws that allowed the city to kick her out of her home of 52 years for a Home Depot?
Is that a gun in your... Oh, never mind.
actually for certain charges brains are strictly forbidden. no joke. very serious.
It is common knowledge that for certainthings a not guilty by jury is more "safe" than dropping the charges.
(perhaps we should have a looser pays system for criminal cases)
Our justice system protects the guilty and prosecutes the innocent.
Well, she may be surprised to learn that in the formerly great state of New Jersey, she is not allowed to have the gun in her trunk either, unless she is taking it to a range or a gunsmith for repair.
They'll probably go easy on her because she is old and a resident of the city of Newark. You or I? We'd be in deep trouble right about now.
As per usual, gun laws are designed to make criminals out of law abiding citizens.
That said, these idiots didn't need to charge her. They could have put gun into the trunk of her car for her and advised her not to do it again.
Permit to OWN? WHAT?!!!!
Permit to have in a HOUSE WHAT?!!!
Talk about Nazi's.
they will go easy IF she abandons the gun, otherwise they will put her in jail to make an example of her.
Then they will arest the gun and feminists will march against guns because it has something to do with men.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
true, the law is the law. however, why should we have to ask permission from the gubmint to protect ourselves?
She broke the law and got caught, they had to charge her. The prosecutor will likely just drop the charges if she promises to be more careful in the future.
Many NJ gun laws carry mandatory penalties, I hope that's not the case here. Leads me to relate a NJ gun law story for your comment. Happened 15 years ago so NJ gun laws have been this tough at least this long.
Electric company shows up at a NJ home to turn off the power for failure to pay the bill. He is at the wrong house, but doesn't believe the resident and proceeds to go up a ladder to turn off the power on the second floor. The electric man feels a sting in his buttocks and finds he was shot in the rear end with a BB gun. The resident claims his kid misfired the BB gun by accident, but he is convicted. Under NJ law the resident received a 7 year mandatory prison sentence with no parole for assault with a firearm, as a single parent his kid had to be raised by an uncle. Comments?
Did you know that ALL firearms are banned in NJ? One can legally possess firearms by exemptions only. Under N.J.S. 2C:39-5, possession of ALL firearms is prohibited unless one has a NJ permit to carry a handgun or a NJ Firearm Purchaser ID card for long guns. Even if one possesses these licenses, under N.J.S. 2C:39-2b one is presumed not to be licensed until proven otherwise. It is up to the law abiding gun owner to prove later in court that he/she was in lawful possession under an exemption. So, in NJ, GUN OWNERS ARE GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT!
Actually no INFORMED jury would convict her. Unfortunately todays jurors just blindly follow the instructions of judges and attorneys.
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