COMMENTARY | New Jersey’s draconian gun law ruins the lives of innocent people, without political remorse, acquittal or punishment commensurate to the alleged crime, and I ended up being one of them. To explain how poorly New Jersey’s gun laws were written, here is what happened to me.
I had a hip replacement surgery in August 2010 and was recovering in my temporary apartment in Kinnelon, N.J., being that I usually live on my sailboat. In November of 2010 I moved back to my sailboat for the winter. During the winter, I kept the apartment just in case I had any problems with my new artificial hip. When I decided all things were well, I went back to my apartment to move out and pay any other money I would owe the apartment complex. One problem though: I left my car parked in a handicap parking space in front of my first floor apartment. I have parked there on numerous occasions without consequence since neighbors noticed I was barely able to walk and used a walker for a while (it was also a gated community). Since I was in New Jersey working as a temporary medical device consultant from North Carolina I did not get a handicap placard. A bench warrant was issued for my arrest in regards to my one parking ticket in Kinnelon (that I was unaware of). I was subsequently arrested at my apartment when I answered the doorbell and my apartment was searched. An allegedly illegal firearm weapon was found that was legally purchased with FBI approval and fully traceable. I was then charged with several felony gun charges and later found to be looking at five to 10 years mandatory imprisonment with no option for parole for owning a legally purchased gun.
I have been a successful professional Quality Engineer and Project Manager for the last 20 years. Since 2006 I have had a very successful consulting business working with major medical device companies in regards to FDA compliance. With the due diligence of background checks in a FDA medically regulated industry, my credentials and criminal background history are subject to FDA inspection. As soon as I was charged with these New Jersey felonies my contracts were lost that I had negotiated February 2011 and my business folded up overnight. It has taken seven months just to indict my case, putting me in a pending felony limbo with employers. My first plea offer from the prosecution was five years imprisonment. Even if I am able to plea bargain with two years probation with dismissal afterword, that means another two years of limbo and not working in my profession. Now I have been unemployed for about 12 months with no means of any income. My savings have been drained and to make matters worse, I have developed several serious health issues with the loss of my health insurance and ended up in the emergency room. I have recently applied for General Assistance and Disability. This is from a man who made six figures last year and never applied for government assistance in his life. Not to mention this type of felony cannot be expunged from my record and would adversely affect my employment and liberties for the rest of my life.
On the issue of New Jersey gun laws, let’s start by reviewing two prior cases that are similar to mine. One being a gentleman named Gregg Revell who had a legal firearm from another state and legally check it along with his luggage for his flight. His only “crime” was that he had a layover in New Jersey. His layover flight was cancelled and the airline following protocol checked his baggage out, committing a New Jersey felony due to the fact he did not have a New Jersey permit to carry. When he rescheduled another flight and went to check his baggage in, he was greeted with a felony charge, a $15,000 bond and 10 days in jail. The second case was of Brian Aitken. Brian Aitken had two registered legal firearms from Colorado and was in the process of moving due to a divorce. Police found the two weapons on his position in his car and was charged with unlawful possession for both firearms. He pleaded not guilty and refused to plea bargain. The judge refused to let the jury hear critical evidence that he was in the process of moving and the jury had no other choice but to find him guilty and he was sentenced to seven years in prison. Shortly after Governor Christie had to intervene and Brian Aitken was pardoned.
Along with me, these two individuals did not have a criminal background and legally purchased the weapons and did not intend to remain in the state. The New Jersey gun law known as the 2008 Amended Graves Act does not make any distinction between an illegally obtained weapon used for criminal purposes and a legally traceable weapon purchased in another state. In a even worst show of New Jersey injustice, Patrick Dolan, 32, of Manville was recently sentenced in U.S. District Court (Federal) in Newark to a 1.7 year sentence for trading 150 stolen guns in Newark, East Orange and Jersey City. Apparently it pays to be involved in a large scale gun trafficking scheme rather than to be an individual just traveling through New Jersey with a legal out of state weapon (five to 10 years). To put this even more in perspective, the “Barefoot Bandit” that went on an amazing two year crime spree across the nation, culminating 32 charges, recently received a 7.25 year sentence.
In regards to New Jersey’s gun law and what constitutes a firearm, the New Jersey gun law becomes even more fundamentally flawed. Paintball guns and BB guns are also subject to felony charges under the Graves Act which has documented cases. New Jersey gun law does not make the distinction between a firearm and a child’s air powered toy. Could you imagine moving from another state with your paintball gun and being charged with a felony or that little Billy with his BB gun is a criminal? Even more ludicrous, you have to go through the same process for a firearm to legally purchase a paintball gun or BB gun. You would need to have a finger printing, mental background check, criminal background check and etc. On the other hand, little Billy probably wouldn’t have much of a rap sheet at the age of 9.
Furthermore, the alleged semi-automatic weapon I was charged with was classified as an “Assault Weapon” by New Jersey gun law. The Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 expired for a reason. It was noted by the National Institute of Justice which funded by a Federal grant, found that should the ban be renewed, its effects on gun violence would not be statistically significant or measurable due to assault weapons rarely being used in gun crimes even before the ban (Assessment of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Impacts on Gun Markets and Gun Violence, 1994-2003). Apparently criminals have had a hard time concealing a rifle in their pocket vs. a handgun. I also found out later that with New Jersey gun law, all one has to do is change the butt stock and remove the flame suppressor on the barrel of a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle and the “Assault Weapon” is now legal in New Jersey. It is believed that the adjustable butt stock would allow for more accuracy at higher rate of fire. The flash suppressor simply suppresses the flash so that it does not temporary blind shooters at night which is overcome by using newer ammo or powder. Not to mention, a law that purposely blinds someone defending him or herself does not seem to be in the public’s best interest in regards to personal and public safety. So to make the weapon legal, you have a custom fit butt stock (more accuracy) and you buy commercially available target competition or higher quality barrel (more accuracy) and now you have a even deadlier “legal weapon”. This can be purchased directly into New Jersey as the Colt Match Target Rifle. To illustrate how the subtle difference is, two photos show one gun that is legal in NJ and the other that is not. Additionally, the New Jersey legal Colt Match Target Rifle also accepts high capacity magazines just as well as the illegal “Assault Weapon.”
When I did a web search on gun crime-related statistics by state I found something very interesting. There is a website www.statemaster.com that has crime statistic query function for a homicide rate (per 100,000) for each state including percent of guns, knives and other weapons used in homicides (State-level homicide characteristics database – Bureau of Justice Statistics 2004). When I sorted, plotted and analyzed the graphs I found that (see attached graphs) North Carolina and New Jersey ranked right next to each other in percent of guns used in all homicides. North Carolina ranked 29th at 59.5 percent and New Jersey ranked 28th at 58.8 percent. Then I ranked and plotted the homicide rate per 100,000 people, North Carolina a higher homicide rate of 6.23 and New Jersey with a rate of 4.51. I also looked at the correlation coefficient of percent guns and the actually number of homicides to see if there is a confounding variable such as small number of homicides that might influence percent gun figures. The R-Squared was 0.184 which indicates that there is no influence. Then I noted the populations are 8,540,468 for North Carolina and for New Jersey 8,685,166. I also checked the sample population size of the actual homicide numbers for two states and they were >392 which is far greater than the required >30 to make sound statistical inferences.
What was interesting was North Carolina has historically liberal laws towards gun ownership and New Jersey has very stringent gun laws beginning with the Graves Act in 1981. As a matter of fact, after you purchase an “Assault Weapon” in North Carolina with a FBI background check, you don’t have to register it or anything because it is a rifle. The question is, why does North Carolina with a higher homicide rate with easy access to guns have the same percentage of guns used in homicide as New Jersey with difficult access to guns? Do people who commit homicide really care about gun laws? No, if they put themselves in a predicament where the possibility of a life sentence may be served, I doubt they are concerned about the gun law. Not to mention the gun that they used was most likely not purchased legally. This indicates that extreme gun laws are not any more effective especially where innocent people are snared into the Graves Act. When you factor in the homicide rate with percent guns used in both states you are looking at 2.4 to 3.7 gun deaths per 100,000 people. At these figures you are approximately 5 times more likely to die in an automobile accident that to die from a gun related homicide in NJ or NC. Matter of fact, if this were a clinical trial in my field of work, It is very doubtful New Jersey’s Gun law would pass efficacy with a control group.
In regards to myself and why I wanted to own a gun, I purchased the gun roughly 3 years ago and it was the first gun I ever owned at the age of 40. I purchased the gun because I lived on a sailboat and eventually planned on spending my winters in the Bahamas and my summers up North. It was recommended that when sailing to and staying in the Bahamas it is a good idea to have a weapon. The weapon I purchased was a legal civilian version (non-automatic) I used in the Air Force which I was familiar with. Historically, I have not been a gun fanatic and thought nothing of purchasing this weapon since technically it is no different from any other semi-automatic hunting rifle. Sadly, you can register your weapon with the Coast Guard (22 C.F.R. § 123.17) for such purposes and declare the weapon in the Bahamas but you are not allowed to travel to the port of New Jersey. Not only is there no temporary provision to bear in arms in New Jersey port as a US citizen, it’s now advised to hire a lawyer just to apply for general gun ownership in New Jersey as a New Jersey resident. For example, a man was denied a New Jersey gun permit simply because he saw a psychiatrist over 20 years ago at the age of 7 for ADHD even though he just saw the psychiatrist a few times (Attorney Jef Henninger, Esq., New Jersey).
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis was once quoted “Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government’s purposes are beneficent… The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.” I am a strong supporter of gun control but when poorly written laws sends innocent well meaning people to prison, the law needs to be amended and political agendas need to be put aside. Target the criminals who illegally obtain and sell guns not law abiding citizens or people from another state who legally purchased guns. Currently, a bill has passed congress (National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011) introduced by Congressmen Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) which would enable millions of permit holders to exercise their right to self-defense while traveling outside their home states. It would require the states to recognize each others gun permits, just as they recognize driver’s licenses and carry permits held by armored car guards. Hopefully it will pass the Senate and unify the Un-United States of America.