The Press of Atlantic City reports that gun charges brought against a retired NJ school teacher in possession of a flintlock pistol have been dropped. (h/t @LyndaCohen)
Cumberland County prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae announced that she will use prosecutorial discretion to decline to prosecute Gordon Van Gilder. She offered no further comment on the matter.
The charge carried a potential 10-year jail sentence for the 72-year-old collector. We previously wrote about Van Gilder’s collision with New Jersey’s insane gun laws here: VIDEO: Retired Teacher Faces 10 Years for Flintlock Possession.
Van Gilder was represented by well-known gun rights attorney Evan Nappen, who also represented Philadelphia nurse and mother of two small children, Shaneen Allen, who NJ prosecutors attempted to hit with NJ’s multi-year mandatory minimum for gun possession. Allen mistakenly believed that her Pennsylvania concealed carry permit would be valid in NJ, and admitted to possessing a handgun when she was pulled over during a routine traffic stop.
It seems any time that the light of day shines on New Jersey’s insane, and insanely unconstitutional, gun laws, the pols responsible for enforcing them scatter like roaches.
Good for Mr. Van Gilder. I trust he’ll make good on his promise to re-locate outside of New Jersey at the earliest opportunity.
–-Andrew, @LawSelfDefense
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Andrew F. Branca is an MA lawyer and the author of the seminal book “The Law of Self Defense, 2nd Edition,” available at the Law of Self Defense blog (autographed copies available) and Amazon.com (paperback and Kindle). He also holds Law of Self Defense Seminars around the country, and provides free online self-defense law video lectures at the Law of Self Defense Institute and podcasts through iTunes, Stitcher, and elsewhere.
NOTE: Updated 2/26/15 to change incorrect reference to “flintlock rifle” to “flintlock pistol.”
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