Whenever I carry a gun of state I'm very careful to know the laws of the state(s) that I'm going through and to.
He is looking at FIVE years, mandatory, without parole. He is 71 and the gun was in his car, not even on his person. Holy
Boy that really stinks. And, the VPC gets another tick mark in their "criminals with licenses" tally.
I recently told my wife Don't ever ask me to travel to a state that doesn't honor my GWL, nor will I move to a state that doesn't have a shall issue permit system. This is part of the conditions of my being married.
This sickens me to the point I literally feel nauseated. The poor man was asking for help. What the hell motivated these officers to haul an elderly man to jail for simply possessing the means (and probably his only means) to defend himself.
Still, if you were an LEO would you have taken him to jail based on the facts presented? There is a thing called officer discretion.
State law shmate law...I don't care. I can't understand why a good, honorable, officer of the law would arrest someone for possessing a handgun with a valid permit issued from ANY state as long as the person wasn't violent. I don't care about reciprocity agreements either.
You don't travel to traditionally anti-gun areas without knowing what is allowed where. I have travelled most of the East coast while carrying or with guns in the car. I have taken guns through IL, NY, NJ, MA, DC, VA, PA, WV, NC, SC, FL, AL, MS, TN, AR, MO, TX, and LA. I am the one responsible for my actions, and I studied the laws of each and every state that I went to and through. I stayed within the confines of the law everywhere that I went. I knew that if I was cought with a loaded gun in the passenger compartment of some states that I would be arrested. I made damn sure that I knew where it had to be in what state. There's a lot of talk about personal responsibility and knowing the law on this forum. This person does something irresponsible, goes somewhere where he doesn't know the law, and violates the law. So, the officers should just cut him some slack?
All the NJ officer had to do/say was: "Sir, unfortunately your GA permit is not honored in NJ and having this gun is a serious felony crime in our state. You probably didn't know that. Obviously you meant no harm since you called us out to help you and you have a permit. You might want to unload your handgun and lock it in the trunk of your car and head-on out of NJ with it as soon as possible. The next NJ police officer might not be so kind and arrest you for having it here. Have a nice night. Be careful."
Until SCOTUS rules that all gun laws null and void per the Second Amendment, people who carry a gun have the responsibility of knowing the gun laws anywhere they take a firearm. Don't expect a state where it's illegal to pump your own gas to cut you some slack for anything.
Put it this way, if I was a LEO and I discovered a person carrying a firearm with a valid permit issued by ANY state (or U.S. Territory), there's no way in Hades that I would arrest that person if there was any way to avoid it. That's just me and my conscience. Officer discretion. Others may be different, some obviously are.
As would I. I highlighted the the key words in what you said. You and I care about individual rights, most state governments or LEOs in the N.E. states don't.