Look how evil this kid looks! /s 
Posted on 07/15/2008 7:20:24 PM PDT by neverdem
Caught speeding in Highland Park in April in his father's Acura RSX, Ryan Narciso found out the hard way about a recent change in a New Jersey gun law that could send him to prison for three years.
The 20-year-old sales clerk at a shop at Menlo Park Mall and former Middlesex County College student had a pellet handgun in the car, according to an indictment filed last week in Superior Court, New Brunswick.
The gun, a Gamo P-23, was sitting under the rear window of the 2004 coupe. Looking like a larger-caliber handgun, the firearm drew a quick response from the bicycle-patrol officer who stopped Narciso for doing 40 mph in a 25-mph zone. With gun drawn, the officer arrested him.
Narciso's father, an architect, bought the pellet gun at a garage sale a few years ago to fend off squirrels that made their way into the attic of the families home on Mount Pleasant Avenue in Edison, the father and Narciso's lawyer, Amilcar Perez of Perth Amboy, said.
Under a new state law, Narciso's possession of the weapon qualifies as a Graves Act offense. Narciso could face what prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys call a "hard three," meaning three years with no prospect of parole.
But a state official Wednesday acknowledged that the draconian measure made its way into law by mistake.
Stiffening the law
The Graves Act, adopted in 1981 and named after Frank X. Graves Jr., the late state senator and law-and-order mayor of Paterson known for patroling the city, outlined mandatory-minimum prison sentences for anyone guilty of using a gun in the commission of a crime in New Jersey. A burglar caught with a handgun, for instance, faced a solid three years behind bars for the gun crime alone.
With little or no fanfare, lawmakers stiffened the Graves Act in the last session. They folded the amendment into anti-gang legislation that Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed into law in January.
Now, the simple unlawful possession of any firearm can bring mandatory penalties for anyone who pleads guilty to or is convicted of that crime alone.
The law does not trigger hard time in each case.
As the law stands, Narciso could avoid prison if he enters a pretrial-intervention program, allowing him to eventually erase his criminal record, or benefits from a narrow alternative for probation under the Graves Act. But the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office could block the first of those possibilities and must initiate the second.
A 50-year-old businessman from Somerset County faces longer odds for gaining such mercy. Police charged the man in a drunken-driving accident this year. While investigating, officers found an unsecured handgun the man had just lawfully purchased.
"It was unboxed in his car," said his attorney, Blair Zwillman of Woodbridge.
Because of the change to the Graves Act, the businessman is now looking at a 5-year minimum prison term, Zwillman said. He declined to provide his client's name.
Steven Altman, a New Brunswick criminal-defense attorney, said the stiffer gun law casts a wide net.
"It is going to impact a great many people who have nothing to do with gangs," he said.
But the businessman and Narciso may not face any hard time.
"Huge mistake'
Neither Narciso, nor his father knew they broke the law by having the gun without a firearms registration card, both men said.
"If we knew it was illegal, my dad never would have gotten it," Narciso said.
And it proved ineffective in controlling the problem in the attic, they said.
"That gun couldn't even kill a squirrel," the father, Emiliano Narciso, said.
Regardless of the change to the Graves Act, possession of the pellet gun is still a crime that can theoretically bring three to five years in prison, but rarely means incarceration for first-time offenders. Past offenders would likely see several months of jail at most.
Narciso has never had a brush with the law.
His father said his son was recently playing with the gun and threw it in the back of the car. Ryan Narciso said he forgot it was there.
Despite the revelations about the confused legislation, Ryan Narciso, who hopes to return to college to study fashion or product design, did not seem relieved Thursday outside his home where he lives with his siblings and parents.
"Every time I think about it, I think of what a huge mistake it was," Narciso said. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused."
Ken Serrano: (732) 565-7212; kserrano@mycentraljersey.com
I like your profile. Hehe.
As long as you’re sending some helicopters to get those of us who aren’t Liberals out, I’m fine with that.
It's sad to think of places named Trenton, Monmouth and Princeton, where so much blood was shed for liberty. New Jersey has become a chancre on America.
Read Evan Nappen's book Nappen II: New Jersey Gun, Knife & Weapon Law -- you would be amazed at what's a weapon and/or illegal in New Jersey. Some examples -- in New Jersey....
I try to stay on point.
I know, but the first guy was talking about rising ocean levels -- you'd need to evacuate!
Look how evil this kid looks! /s
How about this headline: "Gamo Gun Gets Good Kid"
Okay, I’ll have to go back and check, but I think some sort of a BARREL is required as well.
L0L! I couldnt find a pic!
Citizens should never have to depend on the “mercy” of a justice system.
This is a law for a feudal society.
Citizens should never have to depend on the “mercy” of a justice system.
This is a law for a feudal society.
Yeah, is it? Care to come to my town and say that? You could leave your car unlocked for days and not have your wallet stolen from the front seat while you're on your high horse proclaiming how awful it is.
I lived in Ohio for 30 years...I thought NJ was one big metroplex. I was a clueless feeb. NW Jersey is mountains and south Jersey is pinelands. Inside 287 it's a NYC suburb, otherwise it's nothing like the rest of the state.
This is why it’s so alarming to see putatively pro-gunners pushing for “more enforcement of existing laws.”
Many of the existing laws are terrible. Enforcing them means putting good people in prison for garbage like having a BB gun in the car while keeping up with traffic. Or stopping to take a leak on the way home from the range with an unloaded handgun in the trunk. That can get you three years in the Free State.
“NJ is a toxic toilet.
Yeah, is it? Care to come to my town and say that? “
Sure.
You can find isolated enclaves of civility in any state (even MA) but on balance, NJ is a hellhole.
And half the people filling up the counties in Northeastern PA trying to escape NJ hellholishness are bringing their problem spawn with them.
Nothing personal, but your state sucks. (And PA ain’t much better! ;)
Unlawful restriction.
Nothing personal, but your state sucks. (And PA ain’t much better! ;)
It's personal. I grew up in Ohio. I lived there 28 years and did the best I could...and made less than 40k a year. I Moved to rural NJ, worked in manhatten for a few years and Now I make mad money. So yeah, it's real personal.
If it makes you feel better, Ohio sucks too.
Metzenbaum, Kucinich, power plants lined up along the border dumping crap into PA, the Ohio Turnpike, Cleveland...
And I wonder how they'd feel about blow guns with sharpened steel needles?
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