100%
Posted on 02/15/2015 11:08:01 AM PST by digger48
When a 72-year-old retired school teacher faces a 10 year felony sentence (a likely life sentence) for possession of an unloaded 18th century flintlock pistol, one knows immediately that we can only be talking about a handful of states in which such a travesty can happen. In this case, not surprisingly, it’s the “Garden State” of New Jersey.
Gordon Van Gilder, who taught in the New Jersey school system for 34 years, is a collector of 18th century memorabilia. He acquired a genuine antique flintlock pistol from that era, and had it unloaded and wrapped in a cloth in his glove compartment when he was pulled over for an alleged minor traffic violation.
Van Gilder consented to a requested search of his vehicle, and when asked by the officer if there was anything in the car the officer should be worried about, Van Gilder informed him about the flintlock in the glove box. Although not arrested that day, the next morning several patrol cars woke him at his home and placed him under arrest.
New Jersey’s draconian gun laws explicitly include antique firearms such as this 300-year-old pistol. Indeed, possession of a slingshot is a felony under New Jersey law.
Van Gilder is represented by Evan Nappen, a well-known attorney specializing in gun law cases, and thus is as well-represented as could be hoped for this case. It was Nappen who successfully represented Philadelphia nurse Shaneen Allen when she was charged with unlawful possession of her PA-licensed handgun in New Jersey. The mother of two small children was ultimately permitted to enter pre-trial intervention rather than be subject to trial and New Jersey’s mandatory minimum sentence of 3 1/2 to 5 years imprisonment. That outcome, however, took direct intervention by the state Attorney General, likely at the prodding of the presidential-aspirant Governor Chris Christie.
Van Gilder will be fortunate indeed if Nappen can win him a similar arrangement. Even a plea agreement that avoids jail time but convicts Van Gilder of a felony would likely jeopardize the teacher’s pension he spent 34 years earning.
As Van Gilder states in the video above–”Avoid New Jersey. Don’t come here.” And as Nappen notes, twice as many families are currently leaving New Jersey as are arriving in the state. New Jersey’s population loss relative to other states is also evident in its loss of a House seat following the 2010 census. Other northeastern extremist gun control states have similarly lost House seats in recent years, with New York losing two seats and Massachusetts losing one seat.
–-Andrew, @LawSelfDefense
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Yeah! Those dogs are trained to alert on signal from their handlers.
"Van Gilder consented to a requested search of his vehicle, and when asked by the officer if there was anything in the car the officer should be worried about, Van Gilder informed him about the flintlock in the glove box. Although not arrested that day, the next morning several patrol cars woke him at his home and placed him under arrest."
After at least 34 years in the state, Mr. Van Gilder should surely have known what a cluster**** New Jersey's laws are, particularly with respect to firearms. So with that in mind, 1.) why should a police officer be "worried about" an antique flintlock, and 2.) why would Mr. Van Gilder keep the antique in his glove compartment? (New Jersey is possibly the only state that considers black powder arms to be guns -- so of course few if any are purchased in the state, since it's easier and cheaper to drive over to Pennsylvania to buy one.)
I always laugh when I hear cops ask if there is anything in the car that they “should worry about”.
Because no matter how many firearms I have with me in the car, they have nothing to worry about :)
Chris Christie’s fault.
Well, DUH! Why in the world would anyone want to even visit a state like New Jersey, let alone live there? There are many states where this wouldn't even be an issue. If this draconian treatment of free Americans is publicized in the presidential campaign, Christie is toast, if he isn't already.
Eventually this country will be divided again, not by slavery, but by constitutional states versus socialist/communist states. Anywhere in the northeast is in another country as far as I'm concerned. The west coast too. Another civil war is not out of the realm of possibility.
100%
Thanks for the correction.
You’re right about incorporation being hit and miss. Which doesn’t seem to make much sense.
You’d think it would be all or nothing.
Family, beaches, one of the very tippy-top states for household income, proximity to ... almost anywhere ... Jersey tomatoes, fresh seafood, great pizza ... stuff like that.
If it weren't for all the taxes, all the laws, and all the left-wing loons here, it would be a great place to live. (My county votes nearly as conservatively as Texas, so it's not like you can't avoid Democrats and moonbat libs.) We don't plan to die as legal residents of the state, but sure, we'll keep a house here.
It seems that the early cases took the second amendment on face value “shall not be infringed”. I suspect that all of the amendments were not treated the same.
“Congress shall make no law” clearly did not apply to the states. It applies to Congress.
Given that, the states generally obeyed the prescriptions of the bill of rights, but tensions built up, especially surrounding slavery. Many of the laws infringing on the second amendment, by the states, were about keeping slaves and free blacks disarmed.
“ejecting a bullet or missile smaller than three-eighths of an inch in diameter”
They should all pack guns with 1/2” rounds, real elephant killers.
i think even the most liberal of judges would conseed that a flintlock is covered by the second amemdment.
I had a co-worker who had to move out to Jersey after MaBell spun off Bell Labs with Lucent, (Stupid ass mistake if you ask me) and our location had to move there or separate.
This woman was an NRA qualified instructor. She also had an Indiana Carry Permit. According to her; Her Jersey real estate agent, a retired Jersey cop, was amazed she had a CCW, as he, a retired cop, was supposedly not allowed.
RULE #1: Never consent to a search of your vehicle.
Yea. Well..Ok. Come on bootlickers. “if you have nothing to hide”...Come on. I know you’re out there....
To elaborate. Since no one else has...
Then “they”(that’s our beloved law enforcement) calls a judge and gets a warrant through false pretenses, uh excuse me bootlickers, “probable cause”. Or, they bring in a “drug dog”(bootlickers I mean a dog that can jump up against a vehicle on demand) and then search your car because the mutt indicated that you had drugs in the car. Bootlickers! That means that a damn dog can end your 4th amendment rights on the spot!
But then again, who the hell cares. B.S.
“”consented to a search...”
I see the problem.
Load a Flint- Lock ,,?
I’m a cap and ball fan and I hope I could
“Git er Done “ with a little 4f.
any thing else?
No, if it was greater than .375 it is an automatic second degree felony even if it was an airgun.
My wife and I vowed years ago to never ever live in the north again where it snows and high taxes suck your wallet dry.
Nope. If you can load a cap ‘n ball revolver, you can load a flinter very easily. Just a touch of 4F in the pan. I was only commenting because I shoot both and it is amazing how many shooters I have met over the years that fire only modern cartridge guns that have no clue how to load either percussion or flintlock guns.
PS I like to reload .451 balls into .45 Long Colt or .45 Schofield cases with black powder and fire them in my cap ‘n ball cartridge conversion.
... and remember to say ... repeatedly but always very politely: “Am I being detained? Am I free to go?”
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