Posted on 12/02/2010 12:16:26 PM PST by onyx
In New Jersey, residents who want to transport firearms legally must request a permit from a local law enforcement office and produce a letter stating why it is necessary for them to carry a gun. In other words, New Jerseyans have to prove need before exercising what many Americans consider a constitutional right.
Twenty-seven-year-old Brian Aitken is learning that the hard way. Arrested in 2009 when police officers found two handguns locked and unloaded in the trunk of his car, Aitken was just sentenced in August to seven years in prison.
Now, protesters across the state are organizing a push for an appeal for the court’s ruling. A “Free Brian Aitken” Facebook page has almost 7,000 fans, the website briandaitken.com was built and a rally will be held Dec. 12, in Towns River, N.J. Aitken’s family is asking Chris Christie to grant clemency — gun control just might be the next test conservatives throw at the New Jersey governor.
A pardon from Christie is far from assured, even if he does have fairly established, conservative credentials.
During his 2009 campaign, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity, “Listen, at the end of the day, what I support are common sense laws that will allow people to protect themselves. But I also am very concerned about the safety of our police officers on the streets. Very concerned. And I want to make sure that we don’t have an abundance of guns out there.”
Nothing about Aitken’s past or history suggests he was a threat to the safety of police, or anyone else for that matter. After separating from his wife in 2008, Aitken moved from Colorado to his native home of New Jersey the end of that year, to be closer to his son.
Shortly thereafter, in January 2009, Aitken – according to one account – “became distraught, muttered something to his mother, and left his parents’ home in Mount Laurel, NJ,” after his ex-wife canceled a visit with their son.
At that point, his mother, who is a trained social worker, called the police out of concern. That’s when things went downhill for Aitken. After the police caught up with him, they determined he wasn’t a threat to his or anyone else’s safety, but proceeded to search his car anyway. Upon finding the guns, police pressed weapons charges against Aitken.
His family and supporters are arguing that not only did Aitken obtain the guns legally, but he was also exempted from New Jersey’s guns laws because he was simply moving residences. They also say the judge who tried the case, Justice James Morley, ignored supporting evidence of that.
No comment...
Pardon him immediately. Even if this law were valid (and it certainly isn’t) seven years amounts to cruel and unusual punishment in a gun law case where no one was using the weapon to hurt anyone or commit a crime.
The fat Giuliani better get busy deconstructing NJ’s unconstitutional gun laws. I won’t hold my breath.
Way. To. Go. MOM!
Blowing up an embassy and having an unloaded pistol in your trunk should merit the same penalty. /sarc
He may get a pardon...but I wonder if he could ever forgive his mother.
"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
What part of that is not understood?
...and to those that need a sarc tag on my post, please don’t open any satire threads. Your poor heads might explode.
Same guy who drove TSA/Constitutional rights to the top.
Yeah, if he lets this poor young man rot in prison he can forget about any potential Presidential run...
Even if he pardons him, he needs to get a clue on the 2A before he’d ever get anything from me except my staunchest opposition
LOL.
"That Barney Rubble, what an actor!
Nightshift
Christie knows all about the case, so why is he stalling?
Aitken deserved an immediate pardon.
Calling the police on your son and making a claim that he might be mentally disturbed is a good way to get him SHOT.
They are all lucky he is ONLY serving a seven year sentence after that little bit of idiocy.
What a freeking MORON! He doesn't deserve to be in jail, yet she definitely deserves to have her son in jail for seven years -as a lesson to her that the Cops are NOT there to help.
What a dummy!
In politics, everything is seen as a potential weapon. The question is always how best to use it. If Christie pardons him now, he stands alone. If he waits until the new Congress is sworn in, he's seen as supporting the new wave of conservatism, and can use that to start a campaign. In the mean time, he lets the guy rot and calls it careful thought about upholding the law. And if he never pardons him, it's because he's protecting the safety of the people of New Jersey, and the political winds don't support a pardon helping him run for higher office.
The actual guy in jail, and the actual obscene law he's jailed under, do not matter at all. To even bring these issues up would just get a laugh from Christie at your naivete.
Christie wouldn’t even need to do anything regarding the 2nd amendment on this (although he should). Just pardon the guy - period. “I looked into it, the guy was in the process of moving - and did nothing illegal”.
She’s a “trained” social worker whatever that means. I know it doesn’t mean a professional. Her concern backfired and then some.
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