NJ case -- seven years for handguns in trunk of car

Would not the recent McDonald decision, applying Heller to the states, have some bearing on this?

I keep telling you, what is reasonable to one is not reasonable to another.

There is NO reasonable clause in the second amendment.

Barron v Baltimore was BS.

Any study of the discussions surrounding the BoR proves that only the 1st targeted just the feds. And a proper evaluation of the powers of Congress bring into question the applicability of the other enumerations solely against the fed. The Framers wanted a place to list the Rights of mankind that are inalienable. The best place to pput them so they applied to all governments is in the supreme law of the land, the Constitution for the United States of America.

The majority clauses of the Constitution are about the fed BUT there are specifics concerning the States.

What Madison read in his statement was repudiated by the others because they did not put the BoR where he wanted it. In so doing, the ratifiers placed the BoR over all governments.

If Marshall had had an IQ over 10 he might have properly reviewed Barron and we would not have had all this crap for 170 yrs.

Radley Balko at Reason has good coverage of this story, which hit the interwebs a few weeks ago:

http://reason.com/archives/2010/11/15/brian-aitkens-mistake

If NJ's laws are struck down by SCOTUS, then could convictions like this be reversed?

Seems to me his attorney ought to seek a writ of habeas corpus to get him out of prison, and then when the request for habeas corpus is denied, appeal THAT denial all the way to the supreme court.

He is being imprisoned for exercising a constitutional right. There is no legal basis to detain him so he should be released.

You have no constitutional rights in New Jersey unless you have big money.

He is lucky he didn't have any hollow point bullets. He would be in jail for life.

Kman...take it right into Federal Court.

He is lucky he didn't have any hollow point bullets. He would be in jail for life.

He was convicted of having hollow-points and large capacity magazines as well.

It wouldn't hurt to take a few minutes and write a nice letter or make a call to the governor asking for clemency for Brian Aitkens.

Governor Chris Christie
Office of the Governor
PO Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625
609-292-6000

I've read somewhere that Chris Christie is a gun controller at heart. He may be willing to stand up to the teachers' unions, but I wouldn't want to bet a nickel on his willingness to limit the gun control laws in New Jersey. (Hope he proves me wrong, of course.)

"If Mr. Aitken did the research he said he did, he would not have hollow-point bullets and large-capacity magazines in the vehicle," Miller said. "They are illegal, period."

Hollow points are only illegal in NJ, most gun owners wouldn't even think to look that one up.

My understanding of NJ law (I live in NJ but am not an expert) is that hollow point bullets only become illegal once you have committed a crime. You can buy hollow point ammo in the store in NJ, providing you have an NJ firearms ID card. You can store them in your home, bring them to a range and shoot them. However once you have committed a crime, and in NJ that might mean you stopped by a friend's house while transporting a firearm between your home and a range, those previously legal hollow points immediately become illegal. The hollow point law and the case mentioned are all part of the bizzaro nature of NJ's gun laws. Just because you thought something was legal and may have even been told it was legal by either your local police or the state police firearms bureau doesn't mean you can't be prosecuted for violating the law.

Chris Christie who seems to be entertaining the idea of higher office will need to get off the fence and decide where he stands on gun control. And if is thinking of running for national office he had better do something about NJ's Kafkaesque gun laws.

In NJ you can own hollowpoints, you can have them at home or shoot them at a range but you can't have them otherwise.

Agreed that in the past Christie hasn't been gun-friendly, and agree that if he wants to run for national office he's going to have to change that. But I'm not sure he wants to run for larger office, I get the impression he's willing to burn whatever bridges necessary to fix NJ, which is nice.

We have to spring this guy. Check out Sebastian's blog and follow the links;

http://www.snowflakesinhell.com/2010/12/02/pardoning-aitken/

Send your letters and make your phone calls now!! Spread the word far and wide.