EX COP Gets 5 Years for Legally owned Guns in NJ

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EX COP Gets 5 Years for Legally owned Guns in NJ

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/41/4110.asp


An ex cop and military veteran moving from Maine to Texas with his lawfully owned firearms was arrested and jailed in New Jersey. He appealed and three judges upheld the conviction. He was sentenced to FIVE YEARS. Perhaps it might be a good idea for him to write to the governor to ask for a pardon or appeal to the Supreme Court.

Stories like this should serve as warning that even though we think we have rights, we actually don't in some of these states. Perhaps if he would have had an FFL ship his lawfully owned guns to Texas, while it might have cost him a good amount of money...he would have still been a free man.

"What I don't understand is I am a citizen without a criminal history who has served this country not only in the military but as a volunteer to my community and as a police officer, not even making hardly any income at all, and I would have given my life to protect another person and for this country," Reininger said in a statement. "How can I be convicted for exercising my right? When does it become a crime for exercising one's right?"
 
Sheesh, he had a loaded handgun with him? Ugh. That kind of ruins his FOPA protections. Realllllly sucks, but unless you want to be a test case, you really do have to know and follow what the laws actually are.
 
why does it matter one iota that he was a former cop and veteran? The rules should and apparently do apply to most everyone, with a few exceptions.
 
I will say if the circumstances as described are accurate, 5 yrs felony is excessive

Worst case in Tennessee it would have been misdemeanor "going armed" for defense with out a carry permit; given background of "suspect" it could easily have been advise to unload the gun and pack it in the trunk in a case before being allowed to continue.

NJ, NY, MA, CT laws are the anti-gunners fondest dream, our worst nightmare, and we must resist efforts to impose the Sullivan Act at the federal level.

http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/plank/111266/franklin-roosevelt-the-father-gun-control#Adam Winkler, "Franklin Roosevelt: The Father of Gun Control", The New Republic, 19 Dec 2012.
Gun control is one of the great pieces of unfinished business for the Democratic Party. ... Like health care, social security, and so many other issues central to the Democratic agenda, the party's support for gun control stems from Franklin D. Roosevelt. ... Roosevelt's original proposal for what would become the National Firearms Act of 1934, the first federal gun control law, sought to tax all firearms and establish a national registry of guns.
Click to expand...

(The New Republic is a bastion of American liberalism based in D.C..)
 
laws are laws, and there are consequences for breaking them. We don't have to LIKE them, heck, we don't NEED to follow them....but if we are caught violating them...judicial punishment is to be expected by the vast majority of people. The fact he is an ex-cop, is to me, wholly irrelevant in every way....aside from the fact you'd expect them to know the law a little better than the average Joe.
 
Although, the guy technically was wrong, and will have to pay a heavy price for it, this whole scenario proves that "the curse of having common sense is having to deal with those who don't." Yep... they caught themselves a real big time desperado endangering the safety and citizens of their community. Tied up the court system, committed thousands of tax dollars to the perps incarceration, made a criminal out of what "appears" to be a generally upstanding citizen with a history of service. Was he wrong in what he did - yep - must have been, their courts convicted him and upheld it. Is their something fundamentally flawed here... Maybe, it would have been better for him to have driven on fatigued and possibly hit another car head on and killed a family. I agree, he was by the letter of the law wrong. When in other areas, its best to play it safe and follow the laws to the letter - I'm just glad I live in a part of the country where this type of prosecution (persecution) wouldn't make it past an arraignment, let alone this end.

I say, stay out of the liberal progressive socialists states and enjoy what few freedoms are left in this country.
 
This is the part that is really unsettling:

Once backup arrived, Officer Wester asked for consent to search the vehicle, but Reininger said no. Officer Wester then opened up the vehicle to search the cases "for safety reasons" any way. Reininger was arrested.
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Motorists driving through New Jersey can be subjected to a warrantless search if their luggage is similar in appearance to a gun case, an appellate court ruled last week.
Click to expand...

It'll be interesting to see how far they are able to take the "similar in appearance to a gun case" to get around the fourth amendment. Of course, why would you have them in plain view going through that state?

I can't overstate how glad I am to be out of that state. But every time I go to visit my parents I do feel like I'm sneaking back into North korea or something. It's getting out of hand over there....
 
Oh fer crying out loud. Yeah yeah, I get it, laws are laws, ignorance of the law is no excuse, and all that, but for Pete's sake, those laws are just plain STUPID! NJ, and other idiotic states like it are such a pain in the neck. Just having to deal with that idiocy is crazy. I feel pretty bad for that guy, and anyone else having to put up with NJ's stupid nonsense.
 
Warrant-less search? Convicted in absentia? Holy Crap NJ has become a police state. Well, people get the government they deserve. We elect them.

A cop or former cop should know that already. He would also know that they are enforced daily.
Click to expand...

Yup. There have been plenty of stories of current police officers who work out of state who can't even travel to their homes in NJ with their duty ammunition because they are HPs. NJ has retarded laws I think it would have been prudent to have his weapons unloaded and locked up traveling through the communist state of NJ.
 
"those laws are just plain STUPID"

Agree... What sucks is that there is a Federal Exemption for
transiting through States with guns, as long as you are
passing through. This law was not even brought up to
the judge / jury. WAAAY overly harsh sentence for something
so minute. Stupid.
 
Did he qualify for LEOSA?
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He might have qualified, but may not have taken the steps to do so. It's my understanding you must qualify with your firearm every 12 months. Or he may not have been an officer for 10 years, another requirement. Either way, it doesn't look like the loaded handgun was his only "wrongdoing".
 
jon_in_wv said:
Warrant-less search? Convicted in absentia? Holy Crap NJ has become a police state. Well, people get the government they deserve. We elect them.



Yup. There have been plenty of stories of current police officers who work out of state who can't even travel to their homes in NJ with their duty ammunition because they are HPs. NJ has retarded laws I think it would have been prudent to have his weapons unloaded and locked up traveling through the communist state of NJ.
Click to expand...

LEOSA revision in 2010 makes it OK for officers, retired or active, to carry any ammo that is not banned on a Federal level in any state. This includes carrying hollow points in NJ.
 
Reminds me of why I laugh when people call me paranoid when they see how I conduct interstate travel with firearms and ammo:

1. firearms unloaded and locked in separate containers in the trunk
2. ammunition locked in separate containers in the trunk
 
"A jury acquitted him of the charges for possession of the "assault firearms" and handgun possession but convicted him in absentia of illegal possession of hollow-point bullets, shotguns, rifles and a high-capacity magazine. He was apprehended in Texas and extradited to New Jersey."

I guess he also doesn't understand that if you don't bother to make your court dates and present a defense you're going to get convicted.
 
Unfortunately, there is always more to the story. The Federal law talks about an unbroken trip through states to be compliant. Once he stopped and went to sleep, he may have been in non compliance.

Also sounds like a warrant may have been issued for his non appearance.
 
Agree... What sucks is that there is a Federal Exemption for
transiting through States with guns, as long as you are
passing through. This law was not even brought up to
the judge / jury. WAAAY overly harsh sentence for something
so minute. Stupid.
Click to expand...

As I pointed out before, you have to actually FOLLOW that federal law (FOPA '86) in order to qualify for its protections. Having a handgun loaded with you means you DIDN'T follow that law and can't lean on it.
 
"those laws are just plain STUPID"

A cop or former cop should know that already. He would also know that they are enforced daily.
Click to expand...

I know I know, I mean I GET it. But the way some of these states are, it's like one state wants to make it a felony for having plaid socks, and some guy from out of state is expected to know that. Sure, it's the law, but it's just crazy is all.

And you know what? Making hollowpoints illegal but FMJ's legal makes as much sense as making plaid socks illegal. I just wish citizens didn't NEED to know about the existence of such idiotic laws.

Just kind of on an 'anti-stupid anti-idiocracy' rant is all.
 
LEOSA revision in 2010 makes it OK for officers, retired or active, to carry any ammo that is not banned on a Federal level in any state. This includes carrying hollow points in NJ.
Click to expand...

I know. The situation I stated was one of the reasons WHY it was updated. Additionally, this guy obviously didn't qualify for LEOSA or we wouldn't be having this conversation. There is a difference between and ex-LEO and a retired LEO.
 
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