[Clemenza]

If this is true, I will have broken the law several times. I never thought that even in NJ, my air pistol would be considered a "deadly weapon."

I really despise the idiots who govern my state. I despise even more the majority of New Jersey voters who keep voting for Dems like its their religion, or for RINOs for that matter.

[neverdem]

BANG!

[Chode]

so a pellet gun is now a firearm... must be NewSpeak.

[silentreignofheroes]

“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.”

Bluebellies ain’t what they use to be.

[mylife]

These people are insane.

[xDGx]

NJ is a toxic toilet. (would have used ‘commode’ but am an alliteration aficionado)

The only reason to ever go there is cheap gas. Duck across the border and fill up, then adios Garden State.

Honestly, we would be better off with a wall around New Jersey than along the Mexican border.

[mylife]

The Graves Act, adopted in 1981 and named after Frank X. Graves Jr

Let me guess what the X stands for..."xhole"

[Travis McGee]

Totalitarianism on display.

Another reason I'd never live in such a state.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Why would ANYONE but a whack job live in a place like that? My Aunt left there due to their outrageous property taxes: Her taxes went from around $6,000 a year in New Jersey to $0 in Mississippi (on a BIGGER HOUSE!!)

[spanalot]

Disgusting - we are living to support lawyers, judges, and cops.

[goldstategop]

Its insane! To put an innocent person in prison for three years for possessing a BB gun that can't even kill a squirrel! I hope the DA sees this case is squashed.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[eyedigress]

Good Lord. I remember removing the barrel from my Red Ryder when the cops came around (to prove i wasn’t shooting anything). Darn thing looked like a 16 ga now. I walked right up to their car and said hello. :^) He didn’t say anything but took a good look at the handle. (I was 9, LOL)

[divine_moment_of_facts]

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.

Mandatory = Law. permitting no option; not to be disregarded or modified: a mandatory clause.

So, it's NOT mandatory after all.

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.

Leave it to Corzine and the typical lefties to take something good and GO TOO FAR with it. They do it with everything!

[montag813]

With gun drawn, the officer arrested him.

Who trained this idiot?

[Liberty 275]

“bicycle-patrol officer who stopped Narciso for doing 40 mph in a 25-mph zone”

The shame is worse than the prison time.

[WorkingClassFilth]

If I look at a beer ad on TV while playing road racing games with the kids and a pellet gun is in the basement, am I guilty of a crime in any state yet?

[AFreeBird]

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.

It would be instructive to know how the law is worded - exactly. They use gun and firearm in this article interchangeably. A firearm is a gun, but not all guns are firearms.

And last time I checked the pellet gun (rifle actually) propped up in the corner of my porch (for discouraging squirrels and coons); no fire of any kind is involved in the action.

[raygun]

Is it just me, or is the gun irrelevant to the crime committed?

[wastedyears]

New Jersey is a red state.

Bolshevik Red

[VR-21]

I'm sure that the most corrupt elected officials, the most crooked judges and thuggish cops in the most putrescent state in America only do this in the interest of public safety.

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.