The governor of New Jersey has just commuted the sentence of Brian Aitken, 27, sentenced to seven years in prison for bringing his guns and ammunition when he moved to the state of New Jersey. Read about it HEREIt did indeed become a cause célèbre among gun owners’ civil rights activists. There are some serious questions about how his trial was conducted. More than anything else, it seems to be a condemnation of the patchwork quilt of gun laws, fifty patches strong, that we gun owners have to deal with state-by-state as we travel through our own country.
A major question is, why a mere commutation instead of a complete pardon? I am happy that he is out from behind bars and with his loved ones for the Christmas holidays, but my reading of it is that he’s still a convicted felon and can no longer own firearms. I just don’t see where that’s justified.
One attorney friend of mine suggested that the Governor was righteous in commuting the sentence, but should have gone further. Another lawyer replied, “ I think he (the Governor of New Jersey) has plenty of cojones (vulgar Spanish for “testicles”). He’s a former US Attorney, and has done nothing constructive for gun laws in NJ. To the contrary, he appointed an anti-gun Attorney General. So I doubt that he truly wanted to give a full pardon but lacked the nerve. To the contrary, I think he believed the conviction to be just, but the trial unfair and the sentence excessive.”
Mr. Aitken is currently represented by Evan Nappen, a gun-savvy attorney who literally wrote the book on firearms laws there. I’ve met Evan, and I think his client is in good hands.
My hat is off to the many good people who sent both money and letters to the right places to help get this young man out from under a Draconian sentence for something that could have happened to any honest American moving cross-country. More information and background can be found at this website: http://briandaitken.com.
Did Brian Aitken get justice for Christmas? The commutation was certainly a good start. But did he get justice ENOUGH?
My own reading is that he didn’t get as fair a trial as he should have. But I don’t live in New Jersey. We have folks who read this blog who do…and some who are attorneys…and a whole lot of people with common sense.
What say YOU?
Massad Ayoob
Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor.
Massad Ayoob has authored several books and more than 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week, and Combat Handguns.
Massad Ayoob was former Vice Chairman of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and is believed to be the only non-attorney ever to hold this position.
http://massadayoobgroup.com/
NOTE: To share or email this 'Specific' article, you must click on the Title of the article.
No comments:
Post a Comment