Family: New Jersey man serving 7 years for guns he owned legally

[shadowrider]

EVERYTHING Brian Aitken was or had worked for was wiped away one winter afternoon after his mother called the police on him.

Separated from his wife, the entrepreneur and media consultant, now 27, had moved back home to New Jersey from Colorado toward the end of 2008 to be closer to their young son.

In between jobs, his well-oiled life was running ragged, and on Jan. 2, 2009, when his ex canceled his visit with their son, he became distraught, muttered something to his mother, and left his parents' home in Mount Laurel, N.J.

"He said something that scared her, things that a guy will only say to his mom, like . . . 'Life's not worth living anymore,' " said Larry Aitken, Brian's father.

Sue Aitken, a trained social worker, decided to play it safe and called police, but she hung up before the 9-1-1 dispatcher could answer. Police traced the call and showed up anyway, and found two handguns in the trunk of Brian's car. And now Brian, her middle child, a graduate student with no prior criminal record, is serving a seven-year prison sentence for weapons charges.

--snip--

"This case is the perfect storm of injustice," said Aitken's attorney, Evan Nappen, of Eatontown, Monmouth County, who specializes in gun laws.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20101130_Family__New_Jersey_man_serving_7_years_for_guns_he_owned_legally.html

[rocktivity]

1. If he didn't bother to get the NJ permits, he DIDN'T own them legally

During the trial, Aitken's mother testified that her son was moving things out, and his friend in Hoboken testified he was moving things in...The exemption statute, according to the prosecutor's office, specifies that legal guns can be transported "while moving." Despite testimony about his moving to Hoboken, a spokesman for the prosecutor said the evidence suggested that Aitken had moved months earlier, from Colorado to Mount Laurel...

(T)he jury asked Judge Morley for the exemption statute several times and he refused to hand it over to them..."I ruled he had not presented evidence sufficient to justify giving the jury the charge on the affirmative offense that he was in the process of moving," (he) said.

I can see why he fell through the cracks--someone who should have known better called 911 and hung up, and he didn't follow through on getting the proper permits for his firearms when he moved in with his mom. And the judge decided that moving from one city in NJ to another didn't count? A perfect storm of injustice, indeed--though some of it was self-inflicted. But it guess it really all depends of what the definition of "move" is.

:shrug:
rocktivity

[PavePusher]

2. This is also the state that classifies a tube-magazine .22 cal rifle....

as an "assault weapon" because it can hold more than 10 rounds.

New Jersey - Run by Facists for Morons.

[oneshooter]

4. And don't forget that you need to buy BB guns from a FFL dealer. n/t

[one-eyed fat man]

3. Does it not bother anyone?

"(T)he jury asked Judge Morley for the exemption statute several times and he refused to hand it over to them."

The jury appears to have had enough sense to ask for the statute concerning the exemption for people moving. The judge decided they didn't need to see it.

Between his meddlesome mother, the state's persecuting prosecutor and a biased barrister for a judge, he had no clue how bad it was going to get!

[oneshooter]

5. Typical New Jersey Justice. n/t

[Katya Mullethov]

8. They interpret the constitution a little differently there

No doubt caused by the completely different perspective of subjects versus citizens . There is another tiny glimmer of hope, as they have assembled a group that has gone hat in hands and asked permission for the rest of them to pump their own gasoline .

[Euromutt]

7. You mean he wasn't legally *in possession* of them, at that place and time

Even under New Jersey law, the ownership appears to have been legal; the charge is that he was transporting the weapons in an illegal fashion.

[spin]

6. The moral of the story is if you own firearms, don't live in New Jersey.

the climate sucks.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[PavePusher]

10. Trolling duly noted. n/t