7 year prison sentence for legal purchases of firearms

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usmarine0352_2005

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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/12/0...tchwork-state-gun-laws-relatives-experts-say/

New Jersey Gun Case Exposes 'Patchwork' of State Laws, Experts Say

By Joshua Rhett Miller

Published December 02, 2010

The case of a New Jersey man who is serving seven years in prison for possessing two locked and unloaded handguns he purchased legally in Colorado is a perfect example of how a law-abiding citizen can unwittingly become a criminal due to vastly differing gun laws among the states, gun rights experts say.
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.
 
Nice that our justice system locks up a law abiding citizen and let's drug dealers, sex offenders and chronic drunk drivers free to roam.
 
To the NJ legal system, gun owners are just as criminal.

Years ago, I landed a college internship in NJ. Like a good gun owner, I researched the law, only to find that not only was I forbidden from bringing any guns, I couldn't even take my single shot Olympic-style air pistol.

Sent from my Android smart phone using Tapatalk.
 
I couldn't even take my single shot Olympic-style air pistol.
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i can understand that......i mean, i cant tell you how many times ive walked out of a store with a fresh pack of targets only to have a pack of thugs drive by and shoot the 10's out of all my targets......gets soo frustrating.......they do have fantastic form though.



i still find it hard that someone is a criminal merely for possessing something that is legal for him to own in another state.
 
There is no justice, no rational thought in this case. I'm too stupefied by the severity of the sentence for the crime - or that this IS a crime in NJ - to be angry yet. There are parts of our beloved country that - by my way of thinking - have broken faith with every value this nation was founded upon. It seems New Jersey is one of them.

+1 to what Wishoot said; Every day I read about new crimes committed by repeat offenders who roll in and out of the justice system like it had a revolving door. Now along comes Brian, a 27 year-old citizen, a good guy with no criminal record, no history of violence, who - according to the article - made a "good-faith effort" to be in compliance with the law (he called the NJ state police about how to transport the guns), and he's not only tried and convicted, but he draws a heavier sentence than 90% of the NJ manslaughter cases.

It will be a cold day in Hell before I set foot in:

New Jersey,
New York,
California,
Massachusetts,
Illinois,
Maryland, or
Connecticut.

KR
 
Misleading thread title. :rolleyes:

He didn't get sentenced for what he legally bought in Colorado, he got senteced for making the mistake of transporting 'those' mags, and 'those' bullets to Kommi Jersey.

Don't get me wrong, it is a tragic injustice, and I feel for him, and his family.

And I totally disagree with the sentence.

But even stupid laws, are laws.
 
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Couple years ago I had a really really good Job offer in New Jersey, and, I almost accepted it. Right on the Coast, beautiful area next to some sort of Preserve..

I never even thought about any of this sort of thing then.


Eeeeeeeesh.

Glad I did not do it.
 
Hollow point bullets are not completely forbidden in New Jersey.
You can buy them at the store, take them home, take them to the range and shoot them.
But if you do anything else with them, you in heap big trouble.
http://www.state.nj.us/njsp/about/fire_hollow.html

Magazines are legal up to 15 rounds. Not sure why someone would get seven years for high cap mags.

Something must have happened in Brian's case that we do not know.

P.S. all handguns are illegal in NJ subject to certain narrow exceptions, including keeping it at your house, taking it to the range, and taking it for service. Permits are on the books but unobtainable in practice.
 
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M-Cameron said:
i can understand that......i mean, i cant tell you how many times ive walked out of a store with a fresh pack of targets only to have a pack of thugs drive by and shoot the 10's out of all my targets......gets soo frustrating.......they do have fantastic form though.



i still find it hard that someone is a criminal merely for possessing something that is legal for him to own in another state.
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Thread over, you win.
 
Even Fox News gets it wrong at times...

Other states, including Florida and Texas, do not require purchaser's permits but mandate that gun owners obtain licenses to carry handguns openly.
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Gee, where can I get one of those Texas Open Carry permits? ;) Got my checkbook right here...

I was born and raised in CT, spent 20 years in CA, and three in IL. That said, I am leaning more and more towards this:
It will be a cold day in Hell before I set foot in:

New Jersey,
New York,
California,
Massachusetts,
Illinois,
Maryland, or
Connecticut.
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Well, he violated the law. He knew he was violating the law, or should have. He is guilty.
A little prosecutorial discretion, however, would have been welcome to avoid sending an otherwise upstanding citizen with no criminal record and no record of violence to jail for 7 years. A fine and suspended sentence might have easily sufficed.
But it's New Jersey. What more can anyone say?
 
Sounds like a BIG infringement of his 2A rights to me....

Heller / McDonald.

I agree, something wasnt stated in the article, but the thought of 7 years for mere firearm ownership........:fire:
 
New Jersey LE was just worried about protecting their gun toting criminals from a law-abiding gun owner, that's all.

I can see the cause for concern here. Politicians want to make it seem like subjugating the 2nd amendment is their God-given right, and heaven forbid
things get out of hand, and the appearance is made that NJ LEO's were too
busy sucking donuts and acting smugly arrogant to properly perform their duties protecting the prostitutes and junkies.

I mean, come on, now. A state's got to have SOME standards...:scrutiny:
 
Another example of why I will NEVER, EVER, live in NJ again! (got relatives there, so I still visit on occasion).

I have told friends that if I ever win a mega $ lottery, the first thing I'm going to do is print out a list of every firearm banned in New Jersey and purchase 2 of each! (And maybe a couple of cases of hollowpoints as well):neener:
 
In the end guys, it is the fault of the citizens of NJ. We need to stop and think, these laws are in place cause the people that matter WANT them there. So who matter? Those who vote. We have such apathy when it comes to voting that we end up with laws like this. If all gun owners stood up and voted and held these politicians feet to the fire on 2A issues, this would be done. But we don't and this is exactly what we get.
 
In the end guys, it is the fault of the citizens of NJ. We need to stop and think, these laws are in place cause the people that matter WANT them there.
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Well yes ... no.

I think that Guns just aren't on the radar screen for most New Jersey residents. It's just not something people think about here.

Don't forget, New Jersey is a very expensive state to live in. Many people have more than one job. It's common for people to spend three hours on the turnpike getting to and from work. When we get home, we just want to eat dinner and go to bed. We are just too darn tired to think about something as remote as gun politics.

I shoot skeet. I don't hide it, but I mention it in conversation when people ask me about my weekend. I take friends and neighbors skeet shooting occasionally to try and promote the sport. Once in a while I find a neighbor who takes a rabidly anti-gun stance but for the most part, people don't care. It's not that residents are anti-gun, it's that they are just busy doing other things and shooting sports aren't one of them.

I took a co-worker skeet shooting a couple of weeks ago and she asked me: "Where do you even buy a gun?" Weapons just didn't even exist in her world. I've spoken with friends who didn't even know that Dicks Sporting Goods had a firearms department.

So when politicians come along and propose new gun laws, 10% of the state goes nuts (the hunters, collectors and enthusiasts) but nobody else really takes much notice because it just doesn't effect them.

I think that some of this was engineered with New Jersey's Firearms ID card laws. In other states, if you take a friend shooting, that friend could go and buy a gun the very next day if he can pass a NICS check. In a different state, it's common for a co-worker to sell a gun to another co-worker if he needs the cash to get him through the month. Or for a woman who lives alone to receive a gun as a gift from a boyfriend. This promotes "casual" ownership by people who may never use it, but keep in in a nightstand drawer "just in case." This kind of ownership does not happen New Jersey.

If you want a gun in New Jersey, you have to fill out an intimidating form, get a money order, set up background check references, take time off of work to get fingerprinted, and wait for the chief of police in your town to get the paperwork together.

I think that most people who want a gun just stop when they see the form. I've encountered this before with friends I've taken skeet shooting. Some of them enjoy it so much that they resolve to go down to the police station to get their firearms ID card paperwork... only to have it sit on the kitchen table for a month. It's just a pain to do. And some others are intimidated by a block on the form which requires you to list your employer and employer's address. Some people are afraid that their employers will be contacted (and from what I understand, some police departments do contact employers as part of their background check).

This inconvenience is designed to cause a chilling effect. It's designed to keep guns out of the hands of casual owners. Now this law also has another unintended effect. New Jersey gun owners (all 10% of us) tend to be very vocal, and very organized, and very aware of our rights because we have been *distilled.* You have to be an enthusiast in New Jersey because only the enthusiast has the perseverance to get the proper permits.

I think at one point (back in the 60's when these FID laws were passed) your statement was true. People really did want gun control. But the laws had the effect of creating a generation of people who didn't grow up with guns. They might not be for or against weapons, they just have no experience with them and so really don't care.

So do New Jersey gun owners want the laws there? No. Do the people of New Jersey want those laws? Honestly, I don't think that they even know the laws exist. So it's not that they want them, they might not be pro-gun or anti-gun, they just might be apathetic. My way of fixing that is to take people shooting whenever I go to the range. But I have to admit it's an uphill climb.
 
In the end guys, it is the fault of the citizens of NJ. We need to stop and think, these laws are in place cause the people that matter WANT them there. So who matter? Those who vote. We have such apathy when it comes to voting that we end up with laws like this. If all gun owners stood up and voted and held these politicians feet to the fire on 2A issues, this would be done. But we don't and this is exactly what we get.
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While that statement is true, such people should not be allowed to make laws like the ones in NJ. They violate the 2nd amendment and make criminals out of otherwise law abiding citizens.

That said, the guy should of abided by the laws while he was there, despite how rediculous, unconstitutional, and stupid they may be.
 
At least NJ finally got a Governor with half a brain (actually, he's pretty darn smart). Hopefully, he'll make the right decision.
 
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