Posted on 03/10/2008 9:20:31 AM PDT by neverdem
If you buy a lawful product that is later banned, should you go to jail for 10 years, even though you didn't know it was banned, and the government that banned it now criminalizes any method to dispose of it?
In the world of gun ban extremist Bryan Miller of CeaseFire NJ, the answer to this question is yes.
Miller sees no distinction between violent criminals with guns (who should go to jail) and otherwise law-abiding citizens who were turned into "criminals" by the State with the stroke of a pen, when New Jersey banned an entire class of commonly owned semi-automatic firearms in the 1990s with no grandfather provision, no attempt to notify licensed gun owners, and a short time window within which to legally dispose of, disable, or register the banned guns.
At a March 6 legislative hearing on S1304, which would increase the penalty for possession of such firearms to a potential 10-year prison term, I argued that the higher penalty should apply to violent criminals with guns, but that otherwise law abiding citizens who had purchased the guns when it was legal to do so, who may not know they are banned due to the law's judicially acknowledged vagueness, who are not involved in criminal activity, and who presently have no legal means to comply with the law, should not be facing 10 years in prison.
In my testimony, I quoted a Court's judicial opinion finding that the gun ban's vague and confusing language made it impossible to know with certainty whether some firearms are covered by the ban. I cited another case in which an otherwise law-abiding citizen was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to a prison term under the current penalty merely for possessing a common .22 caliber target gun he had legally purchased prior...
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.nj.com ...
Some people are just stupid.
What? RP hasn’t posted here yet? Wow. That’s surprising.
That’s not stupid. THat’s evil. He knows exactly what he’s doing and why and has a very precise goal and doens’t care who knows it.
Be afraid.
Insane. Owening a gun that is purchased legally gets you jail time, meanwhile violent predatory criminals who deal in crack get released from jail before their “previously legal” sentences are completed.
The destruction of America nears completion.
Isn’t there a legal term (Latin, I think) that says they can’t put in jail for violating a law which they passed after you had already done the deed lawfully?
“If you buy a lawful product that is later banned, should you go to jail for 10 years, even though you didn’t know it was banned, and the government that banned it now criminalizes any method to dispose of it?”
This is the same rationale that trial lawyers use daily to bludgeon and extract cash from productive American companies.
Tobacco, Asbestos, Silicone breast implants, Vioxx, Big Macs......
'stroke of the pen, law of the land'...we're all gonna be criminals soon...
When its time to bury em, its time to dig em up ...correct ???
LFOD...
Get pizzed. And let the little rat baztard know your pizzed.
lol.
How did this “vague” law S1304 get enacted in the first place in NJ? Weren’t the legislators intelligent enough to figure out that the wording of the law could be manipulated? Nevermind, I think I know the answer, lol.
Can’t legally dispose of it? Why not go to one of the numerous “gun amnesty/pay cash to turn in guns” events. I thought you could turn in a gun there, no questions asked. I know it’s not the point of the article, but it would seem like the place to get rid of it. Unless you have cops stopping people as they approach the place and arrest you before you can hand it in.
Ex Post facto
Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali.
In the United States, ex post facto laws are prohibited in federal law by Article I, section 9 of the U.S. Constitution and in state law by section 10.
ex post facto doesn’t apply to present violation of a new law.
Yes, Ex post facto... ‘After the fact’.
Not stupidity. The left would be very happy to put us all in jail and seize our belongings.
ex post facto
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.