Free Republic

WATERLOO, Iowa — Campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination Saturday, Gov. Chris Christie said he'll likely pardon several out-of-staters legally permitted to carry their firearms in their home states who have been recently arrested in New Jersey under the Garden State's tough gun laws. Elizabeth J. Griffith, of Daytona Beach, Fla., was arrested by U.S. Park Police on July 14 during a visit to Liberty State Park in Jersey City and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm. She could face a ten year prison sentence because her Florida state-issued permit to carry a handgun is not recognized by New...

A desperate father has been banned from seeing his young son for four years after he was found with an unloaded gun he legally owned in the back of his car among his possessions as he moved house. Brian Aitken was arrested in 2009 as he was moving back from Colorado to New Jersey to be near his child after a divorce. He was later convicted of possessing a gun and sentenced to seven years' prison. Now the New York University graduate and digital media entrepreneur is using a crowdfunding website to raise funds so he can write a book...

<p>A man who bought guns legally in Colorado - but was arrested and slapped with a seven-year prison sentence for not having a permit to carry them in New Jersey - had two of the three charges filed against him overturned by the state Supreme Court on Friday.</p>

Sue Aitken called the police because she was worried about her son Brian. She now lives with the guilt of knowing her phone call is the reason Brian wound up sitting in a New Jersey prison. If it weren’t for a commutation of his sentence from the governor’s mansion, he would be stuck there for the next seven years. Aitken was sentenced in August for felony possession of a handgun. Before his arrest, Aitken, the owner of a media consulting business, had no criminal record. By all appearances he made a good-faith effort to comply with the stringent New Jersey...

Up until the point that they infringe on the Second Amendment, New Jersey’s lawmakers have every right to pass restrictive gun laws. To the extent that these laws have the support of the state’s population, legislators should pass them. That’s how constitutional democracy works. What no legislator should ever do, however, is allow the police to throw innocent, well-meaning people in jail. And that’s what New Jersey’s state government has been doing for the past several years. Utah’s Gregg Revell is a victim of this trend, but his is only the most recent story to make the news. Just last...

Hi Everyone, I wanted to briefly thank a few people individually for all of their hard work--and I couldn't think of a better place to do so than here (my very own Facebook Page, crazy)! Governor Christie, thank you. Seriously. I understand the risk you assume while making any decision that affects the People of New Jersey and that this was no trivial decision for you. In the days and years that will come to pass I am positive you will find yourself proud of your decision... and if you heard that quote about me running against you for President;...

We haven’t covered Aitken’s case (except for a lone Headline item a few weeks ago), but he’s a cause celebre among libertarians and Second Amendment fans — for good reason. In a nutshell: He bought three guns, entirely legally, when he was living in Colorado and brought them back to New Jersey with him when he moved home to be closer to his son. To make sure he had his i’s dotted and t’s crossed, he called New Jersey police for guidance on how to transport them. He had the guns in the trunk of his car, unloaded and safely...

Governor Christie is censoring comments between his friends on "Governor Cristies Fan Page" he does this because we request Brian Aitken be freed. All good people please go to the governor's fan page and only Request Freedom for Brian Aitken.

Frank Fiamingo of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society just called to let me know that this Sunday's planned rally to support Brian Aitken has been called off. Just why remains an open question. As you can see from the above video, Aitken wasn't shy in objecting to the highly questionable decision by an overzealous prosecutor to go after him for having guns for which he had a permit in his car truck. See my column here on that topic. Perhaps this represents some sort of positive development in the case. Perhaps the authorities have recognized the folly of keeping...

It is the kind of legal nightmare one only imagines from a Hollywood script writer, but right now in New Jersey, a man sits in prison who should not be there and his case has so outraged firearm civil rights activists that Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation, will be flying to the Garden State in several days to join in a demonstration in Toms River, N.J. Gottlieb will join Scott Bach, president of the New Jersey Association of Rifle & Pistol Clubs, radio personality Dennis Malloy and at least two membrs of the State Assembly, Michael...

Sue Aitken called the police because she was worried about her son, Brian. She now lives with the guilt of knowing that her phone call is the reason Brian spent his 27th birthday in a New Jersey prison last month. If the state gets its way, he will be there for the next seven years. Aitken was sentenced in August after he was convicted of felony possession of a handgun. Before his arrest, Aitken, an entrepreneur and owner of a media consulting business, had no criminal record, and it appears he made a good-faith effort to comply with New Jersey's...

"Hey David," the Facebook message began, "Thought you might be interested in Brian Aitken, in jail in NJ for 7 years for owning legal guns." .... At trial Brian Aitken’s defense team showed the jury Brian’s three FBI background checks to lawfully purchase firearms, a number of witnesses—including a Mount Laurel police officer—testified that Brian was moving between residences and all witnesses—including the Mount Laurel police officer—testified that Brian’s firearms were unloaded & locked in the trunk of his car exactly as New Jersey State Law requires…Brian knew how to do this because he had called the New Jersey State...

"Hey David," the Facebook message began, "Thought you might be interested in Brian Aitken, in jail in NJ for 7 years for owning legal guns." I get people approaching me all the time wanting me to write about their legal cases. Most of the time, I get very subjectively-recounted narratives with very little to substantiate, and even less on what the defendants may have actually done. Experience has made me naturally wary of jumping on such bandwagons without investigation.Here's what I've found.His supporters have established the "Free Brian Aitken" Facebook page. Mission: To help free Brian Aitken, an innocent gunowner...