The New Jersey Second Amendment Society writes [via ammoland.com]: The state of New Jersey is at it again. A Pennsylvania woman was arrested, denied legal counsel and denied feminine hygiene products due to legal firearms locked securely in the trunk of her car after stopping to text her girlfriend. The following story is another nightmare caused by New Jersey’s draconian, unconstitutional gun control regime.
Our story all begins when Meg Fellenbaum [above] stopped on the side of the road in Warren County, NJ, to text her girlfriend while on her way to their second residence in Hackettstown, NJ. Meg, who is gay, acquired and starting training with firearms following a series of attacks perpetrated against her because she was gay. At the time she had legally owned firearms in the trunk of her car, locked up and unloaded.
Suddenly a NJ State Policeman was tapping at her window to see if she’s okay and why she is stopped on the side of the road. Meg assured him that she was okay and had just stopped to text her girlfriend (because texting and driving is against the law). The officer returned to his patrol vehicle. Unfortunately though, this is where her nightmare began.
Not even a minute later, as she was about to pull back onto the road, the officer was back at her window. The officer said he noticed a single bullet laying on her back seat floor and asked if she was carrying a firearm at the time. She replied “No.” Since she was not carrying a firearm on her at the time, and added that she does have a permit to carry in PA. The officer then asked to see her PA carry permit, which she produced immediately.
The officer informed her that permit had expired in February, which is odd since NJ does not recognize PA carry permits anyway as many other incidents have highlighted. At this point she is asked to step out of the car and when she does is immediately handcuffed and read her Miranda rights.
Confused why this is happening to her, she asks what is going on. The officer replied that she was not under arrest but that she was being handcuffed for her safety. Meg never actually saw the bullet in question that the officers had mentioned or that it was, as the police claimed, a hollow point.
The patrol car door is opened up and clipboard is handed to Meg, with the officers advising her to sign this to consent to a search of her vehicle. After refusing to consent, an officer on scene exclaimed, “Great! Looks like we’re doing this the hard way! Let’s get it towed to the station!”
Meg was then driven to the police station, still unaware of what she was being detained for.
After arriving at the station, she was handcuffed to a bench, where she remained for over ten hours being intimidated and interrogated by the police demanding she consent to a search of her vehicle. During this 10 hours Meg suffered multiple panic attacks and during the stress of the event her menstrual cycle began. She requested a tampon from the officers, and just like her requests for her lawyer and phone call, it was denied and told they do not have any at the station.
After many threats, being denied legal counsel and a phone call, the officers then told her that she had screwed up and pissed off the judge and that they were going to get into her car one way or another. She was told that she could “forget [the officers] telling the judge she cooperated with them” and charging her with only the alleged bullet they found in her car.
After fighting through her tears, she asked once again for her phone call home to let her family know what is happening. The officers told her, if she wanted her family to know, they would call them for her. At that point she once again asked for her constitutionally guaranteed right to a lawyer, and was laughed at.
To make matters worse Meg was in jail for a week (where she was finally provided maxi pads), lost income due to not being able to work, and her grandmother, who Meg is her primary caretaker, fell twice since nobody was able to assist her. All of this because she had her legally owned firearms, locked in the trunk of her car per federal transport laws, and allegedly a single round on the back floor of her vehicle.
We received a copy of the police report and Meg was charged with (2C:39-5) – Unlawful Possession of Weapons and (2C:39-3.F) Possession of Hollow Tip Ammunition. For the final slap in her face they also charged her with (2C:18-3) criminal trespassing because when she pulled over to text her girlfriend she was on a private property. Only in New Jersey!
Please help Meg fight this injustice. She will need tens of thousands of dollars to cover her legal fees, please donate to her legal defense fund by clicking this link.
About New Jersey Second Amendment Society:
Our mission is to promote the free exercise of Second Amendment rights within the community and Legislature of New Jersey, to educate the community regarding the enjoyable, safe, and responsible use of firearms, and to engender a sense of camaraderie and fellowship among the members and their families. Visit: www.nj2as.com
I hope I never have to set foot in that hellish state. As for the cops’ behavior, I hope the young lady files a 1983 civil rights lawsuit against them and their department.
Even better… Publish the name of the azzwipe “officer” and publicly web-shame that fukker to no end…. I have a feeling the guy has a hard-on for butch dykes…..
That they haven’t already done so suggests to me there’s more (or perhaps less) to the story than they’re telling. They can rail away at nameless, faceless officials all day, and collect contributions all the while, but pair those accusations with names and they’ll find themselves having to prove them in court.
It’ s a bit off-topic, but as I read this I had to wonder who she’s voting for next week?
Could she be feeling a bit of conflict with her loyalties at this point?
Why? Has Trump said one bad word about gay marriage? Has the GOP been campaigning on Obergefell?
Or do you mean she should be loyal to the Hillabeast because of the constant lesbian/bisexual rumors surrounding her?
I guarantee you that woman is a HRC supporter and has probably voted Democrat as long as she could. The gays are solidly in the pocket of the Dems, which makes no sense. Why? Well, HRC took tens of millions of dollars from nations whose governments believe the only good homosexual is a dead homosexual.
Doesn’t matter—they still vote Democrat.
After the Pulse nightclub shooting—-gays marched in the streets calling for gun control. Idiocy. The Pink Pistols DID see increased interest nationwide, but there were still gays waving rainbow flags and calling for people to be disarmed, effectively removing their own best means of self defense. I just don’t get it. Homosexuals are targets of violence at a disproportional rate, especially in the black community. But gay blacks? OVERWHELMINGLY Democrat.
But, yes, I guarantee you that woman voted for HRC and hates Trump, even though Trump has always been accepting of the gay community, and wants to guarantee her right to defend herself against violence.
It’s one of the greatest con games in history: the Democrats have shit all over every single group among their supporters and they still vote D.
Jean-Claude, of the very many LGBT(xyz) people I know, none are Clinton supporters. A few are Trump haters, but none of them are beholden to Hillary. Maybe it’s because most of them are in the military, but the vast, vast majority of homosexual people I know are fairly conservative.
While I would consider my loyalties challenged, being a gay man who really enjoys firearms, I know where my priorities lie. I’d rather be a gay man who can protect himself against threats, than an unarmed man who relies on the government to say I can be gay. Im voting for gun rights next week, and if that means I’m voting against gay rights, well so be it.
I am unfortunate NJ resident and I can’t move away that easy because of my and my wifes job. But I am licensed owner of the guns and I am praying every time I am going range to shot with them, who knows what might happen while you are driving you might be locked for nothing. HP is prohibited ammo with some limited use and restrictions. Anyway, NJ is a bit better south, north portion is total liberal crap.
Gun ownership is not licensed in the state of NJ. I feel for you, being a former resident of that state, but no, there’s no licensing there. They do require purchase permits – for long guns it’s a permanent reusable card, for handguns it’s one permit for each handgun purchase.
As a point of interest, if a person moves to NJ with firearms that are legal to own (generally any rifle or handgun not listed as prohibited and 15 round mags or less), there is no licensing, no registration, nothing. Just obey the law and most importantly, don’t give give the police the opportunity to arrest or search you or your car.
—
On this story, I was unable to find a single Internet news reference outside of the NJ2AS email and web pages. I sure would have liked to see a local paper’s article.
There are some serious inconsistencies in this story – one of which – refusal to give permission to search the vehicle, but somehow the police came up with a bullet from the vehicle while not searching? If they had probable cause under NJ’s laws, odious or not, they would not need permission.
If this story is factual – and with a police report ferreted out at least the arrest is factual, I’ll speculate that the animus toward the arrested was because of who she is. She may be guilty of breaking the state’s disgusting firearms laws, but I suspect not. I have a feeling she will have a serious case against the police for illegal search, false arrest, and civil rights violations.
I am not a lawyer, we shall see what happens. To those who think with a broad paint bush, that NJ loves gay people – let’s just say that more people see gay rights as human rights than do not, and thus the laws which attempt to protect from discrimination. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t assholes who hate gay people in that state and every state. And some of those assholes are cops.
Well said!
I am all out of give-a-#%$% for people who bring guns into New Jersey. I grew up there, fled when I was 18. Told family I was never setting foot there again (even unarmed). They realized how serious I was when I did not show up for another family members wedding. Jersey free since 78!
What a horror for heavy badged police to to this to her. Not for nothing is it called Peoples Republic of New Jersey. The cops behaved like bullies impressed with the ability to abuse their authority. They know they are untouchable. It would be good for local newspapers and news shows to mention the names of the officers. I’ll bet they feel good about themselves and what they did to her.
They are NOT untouchable.
.
That means Neanderthal stupidity as the only explanation for acting as if they are untouchable.
I rather give them credit for observing the rate at which cops are disciplined or jailed for bullying, injuring and killing suspects (or even bystanders), and acting accordingly.
I would like to hear one of the blindly pro-law enforcement people on this website explain what the Genetic difference is between the thugs in this story and any other officer anywhere else.
I’ve always held that every police officer everywhere is one step away from the Gestapo unless proven otherwise. “Proving otherwise” is not paying lip service to liberties or the constitution, but sacrificing career and political goals for what is right. Crossing the blue line and testifying against illegal police action would be an example of “proving otherwise.”
You see the flare ups of Stasi behavior on victims who they think can’t protect themselves. Dykes in New Jersey…Gangbangers in Chicago tied to benches and beaten.
It will be your 20 year old daughter being cavity searched on the side of the road for “her safety” after an allegation of Minor in Possession of alcohol before long.
Suing under some statute is not going to solve the problem here. The sooner we flip down the dust covers, the less the damage will be. The tree of liberty thirsts.
Can we start killing the homosexual leadership that supports taking civil rights away????
The proud homosexual white man Tom Ammiano wrote the law that makes stalking victims wait up to ten extra days to get a firearm. I wonder how many women have been raped while they waited to get a gun in the state of California???
Or how about the mayor of Palm Springs California. The proud gay white man, Robert Moon, who along with the homosexual city council members voted to restrict gun civil rights in that city. Can we shoot them???
As you said the tree of liberty is thirsty.
Homosexuals are socialist progressive in their political orientation. They don’t believe in freedom. They don’t believe in liberty.
Homosexuals believe in government control over the most intimate private life of the citizens.
BACK! Back I say! Get back in your cage. Your whole post is utter BS. Sexual orientation does not dictate political affiliation.
For the Wood
It is to bad that the Log Cabin Republicans didn’t get the support from the homosexual community. I remember watching them get no respect from the gay pride parade crowds.
Homosexuals are socialist progressive in their political orientation. Very few believe in staying out of other people’s business.
Unfortunately most people are not inclined to MYOB.
And people wonder why we at TTAG generally distrust, if not all out despise, the police. This is beyond egregious. Enforce BS laws if you must jackboot, but remember who you work for. Do it with respect and decency. Otherwise, you’re nothing more than the stuff we’re going to scrape off *our* boots some day.
The sad part is I bet most of the taxpayers who enable his behavior approve of his actions. She was armed with a murder-gun and carrying cop-killer bullets after all!
Though not being a heterosexual man, she might get those taxpayers to write her and some lawyers a big check in a few years.
Are you willing, and able, to kill a LEO in order to protect your rights?
If not, then I advise you to either:
Stay out of New Jersey, New York, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, or
Kiss Your Rights Goodbye.
Cops are like wasps. Kill one, and his pissed off buddies come after you.
That’s bad talk. It’s sick, simply not right to talk about killing officers. You’ve the anonymity of the keyboard, and ttag is an open forum, but such talk is irresponsible and reprehensible. . BTW, it is also a poor reflection on POTG.
Had that been my family or friend, the cop would already be dead.
Grow up.
Someone arrested your friend on false pretenses, so you’re going to KILL them??
Calm down and have your mom bring you another bag of Doritos.
Simple mistake/misunderstanding, no, wouldn’t do much. Act like a power hungry tyrant, you bet your ass I’ll put them under.
Yes. I would too. I take kidnaping very seriously.
As a man once said…
I have a very particular set of skills.
Oh look, our two resident keyboard commandos are here! Go get ’em, tough guys!
From “Butthurtz” – this is actually believable.
I totally support killing police officers to protect my civil rights. TTAG has already discussed incidents of police raiding the wrong address, and either the police get shot by an innocent resident, or the police shoot the innocent resident.
I will not hold my breath waiting for the libertarians to call for removing the special protection given to police raiding parties when they raid the wrong house.
What does William Weld or Gary Johnson have to say????
Stories like this make me feel neutral towards police. While I know most are patriotic people with morals and ethics, some are not. If her side of the story is true, the way she was treated was not due to one bad apple but a bushel of them. This would be a systemic issue with the idea of a standing, all powerful police force with the right and immunities to detain, harass, confiscate property and kill people. All at the point of a gun. I just wish the good cops would stand up to these guys.
Let me tell you a little story. My girlfriend’s cousin was, until recently, a cop in a close suburb of a large metropolitan area. A good guy, honest, straight shooter. One day a few months ago, he and his partner get a call. I’m not privy to the details, but by the time they got there several other cops had shown up, and were apparently treating someone at the scene extremely poorly. So poorly, in fact, that my cousin in law felt he needed to attempt to stop the other cops on scene from metaphorically shitting all over this guy. Well, the fact that he had the balls to stand up to the other cops asinine behavior was enough proof that he wasn’t going to toe the thin blue line and let the other cops do whatever they want, so they blackballed him. They bullied, harassed, and generally made his life so difficult that he was forced to resign over the summer. He now sells cars, and is probably going to move to a different state to get away from them. That is the state of our police force in this country.
Tell your friend standing up for his principles was the right thing to do, and is appreciated, and best of luck in life.
Happens All the time… All cross our once great country…
“I just wish the good cops would stand up to these guys.”
Here’s something to chaw on… are they really “good cops” if they watch all the “bad cops” to blatantly illegal shit like this and turn a blind eye? In my mind that makes them just as culpable as the guys doing the bad stuff. When I was a cadet at one of the US military service academies, we swore to uphold our honor code: that we would not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate amongst us any who did. If I found out my roommate had cheated on a HW assignment, and didn’t report him, I’d have been ejected from the academy right along with him. I don’t think that’s too strict a standard to hold our law-enforcement officers to, given the insane level of authority we give them over us (they can literally kill one us, find out it was totally uncalled for, and suffer no consequences).
You are absolutely correct in your view on this matter. However, most people do not have the character or fortitude to stand up for these principals. They go along, to get along. It is not just policemen, but doctors, lawyers, members of the media, and those involved in the criminal justice system.
Speaking of the criminal justice system, it should be abhorrent to all Americans what is happening in the Clinton E-Mail/Foundation matter as explained here: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/441675/clinton-foundation-fbi-investigation-loretta-lynch-obstruction
Waiting to hear from the usual statists…Any more LEO Fanboys going to say lots of local/city/state police “are not ” involved with corruption in the form of political conspiracy, infringements against US citizens constitutional rights, depriving US citizens of due process, theft/seizure of private property under force of arms, unlawful arrest, and detention, fabrication, etc…Another dirty laundry list of the NJ Stasi…..
Anecdotal evidence does not, a statistically supported conclusion make.
Anecdote like this one should prompt us to conduct a factual investigation of our Police in America, but you cannot base any meaningful conclusions about a population of 320,000,000 people on a couple dozen stories on the internet.
That’s the burden of being rational, and objective. You cannot draw conclusions until you have conclusive evidence to support them – and that does NOT mean “of the extremely limited information I have, some of it says cops are bad, so I’m going to go with that”.
I have no actual position on this topic. I can see both sides of the story. I simply want us to follow good process for determining our beliefs.
Anecdotal evidence does not, a statistically supported conclusion make.
I prefer: The plural of “anecdote” is not “data.”
Do you perhaps have a weblink, or other citation where POTG can learn the specific, scientific method for determining when “anecdote” becomes “data”?
What an absolute crock of sh_t! We can’t protect you (as a lesbian woman), but we can definitely arrest you on some bullsh_t charges. I grew up in the SW (not Cal) and I can’t believe what some people in other states have to put up with to exercise their freedoms. Legal fund contributed to.
Here’s hoping Meg just won the lottery. Best of luck, Meg.
Until the police have the same rights as law abiding citizens and are treated equally under the justice system, I have no respect for their “authority”. Sorry, but police officers are just citizens whose job is to uphold the laws, that’s it.
Harassing another citizen without probable cause or actual evidence should bear the same scrutiny a CCW holder would get for any citizen’s arrest. Same with using your firearm in any DGU. Equal treatment under the law needs to be a reality. Until then, the police will always be prone to corruption.
I might be persuaded to become an “absolutist” regarding possession of firearms; I might not. But this I do know absolutely….if you are in possession of firearms, stay the hell out of New Jersey for any purpose. I have no sympathy for anyone who runs afoul of New Jersey gun laws.
BTB, why is the ACLU not suing the municipality for denial of an attorney after arrest? Maybe Miranda only applies to “protected groups” (and LBTGASCHK, whatever, ain’t one?).
I have to wonder if the lady owns a gun in the caliber of the supposedly found bullet…
It seems likely they twigged on guns for some reason
Though I wonder about cross state databases in ownership or permits tied to license plates
Although illegal there is a hook in our the CCW database from a driver’s license lookup in PA. MOST likely he ran her tag, got her name and quickly saw Shweta had a permit. That expired, so he was ready to hook her up for that even though it’s nothing illegal.
Telling her a permit not recognize by Jersey expired and suddenly it’s a crime to transport guns in her car as a result is wring. That action makes everything else after that wrong too. This should cost them but it’s going to be a years long battle.
Don’t take firearms to New Jersey. Encourage people who live there to move.
Used to live where there were a lot Jack Booted Nazi Gestapo, SS pile of shit cops who thought that it was fun to harass people over nothing–even knew cops who arrested people everyday for the same shit that they committed everyday–a total bunch of hypocrites–got out & not going back–where I am cops are decent folks who would actually help someone–the Harass & Hinder mentality of bad cops has to go
“Used to live where there were a lot Jack Booted Nazi Gestapo, SS pile of…”
Oh, so the cops in your neighborhood were rounding up thousands of people based on their ethnic group and marching them to the city limits where they were shot and pushed into mass graves to be bulldozed?
No?
Then how about you refrain from making analogies you know nothing about.
Whats your favorite flavor of boot?
Come off it. Not unreasonable to ask people to refraining from maximum hyperbole at all times.
The analogy was in reference to their attitude–felt that they were empowered to do whatever
I hate NJ. I had planned to never set foot there again…but then diggerlandusa and a little girl who loves trucks. Sigh
Why don’t we hear stories like this from California? Surely CCW holders from Nevada, Oregon, Utah, etc.. must pass through CA with their legal firearms? Do the CA cops just turn a blind eye?
Because in California it is legal to transport unloaded firearms in a locked container. Although that locked container is legal inside the passenger compartment, most people understand that the police don’t question what they do not see. Second, it is atypical for California police to seek to determine if you are a gun owner. I think that it is possible for them to call in to see if someone has a CCW, that too is unusual since those who have them are presumptively law abiding. Third, hollow points are legal, and there is no prohibition against the presence of ammunition in your vehicle, except while on a school campus (when it must be in a locked container).
New Jersey only allows transport of firearms between “authorized places,” generally between the gun store and your house, or your house and the range (for handguns). Hollow points are banned. They will access out of state databases to see if you are a CCW holder–and will use that as a basis to see if they can catch you in = some gun crime or another. Neither NYC nor New Jersey respect the federal law for transport of firearms–they will arrest and let you fight it out in court. From one film I watched, the police seem to think they have no obligation to authorize pistol purchase permits within 30 days (as provided by state law) and have the attitude that all guns, except theirs, should be banned.
Just another reason to never ask permission and pay a tax so the state grants you the privilege of carrying a gun. Once you fall for that line of crap, anytime your stopped by them the fact you were stupid enough to ask permission to excercise a right protected by the Constitution shows up. There may or may not have been a bullet on her floorboard but that cop knew she asked for permission to carry.
Yeah, I believe you stumbled into what’s called a ” constitutional waiver.” You acquiesce to the idea that local/state police , or state government gives you permissions to keep and bear arms…And that by doing so you give up constitutional protections for a granted special privilege in the name of the law…Such as 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 14th amendments…All BS statist drivel, smoke and mirrors…Because the US citizenry is being Bamboozled with convoluted legal trickery…Reasoning away the rights of the People….We have lost control over our government, and its bureaucracy has grown exponentially!
Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come…
…Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
-Patrick Henry
Wouldn’t piss on New Jersey if it was on fire.
One thing I did learn about New Jersey is that the town of Camden is used by VISTA and Peace Corps type agencies to learn how to operate in undeveloped countries.
Having been there, I’m not shocked. Camden is a real shithole.
Camden is so bad they disbanded the police and use NJSP there. Towns in Iraq are safer.
There seems to be more than a normal amount of cop bashing related to this story. Here’s my take: Cops in conservative areas of the country are generally decent. Cops in the seriously liberal areas of the country (CA, MD, NJ, MA and DC) not so much. This story being exhibit A. Other examples being NYC cops who can’t seem to hit anything. Then there’s the CA cops who opened fire on a mother and daughter delivering newspapers.
Talk about lousy cops. I was driving across the GW Bridge in New York while pulling a tow behind camper. A woman struck my rig. She damaged the front of my tow behind camper. The damage was all on the front of my camper. And the cops didn’t give her a ticket! That’s right! The front of my camper! Somehow she managed to get between my tow vehicle and the camper, and NO ticket!
Unfortunately, There is a problem with our dysfunctional government, and its ever increasing paramilitarizied police departments…And yes, there are some decent police in some states that dont go out on limb to harrass the citizenry…But, the east coast most definitely has issues….There’s a large for profit motivation regarding ticket ,arrest, and seizure quotas…Generation of revenue to townships, cities, or The state from the general public…Some are complicated…But, all are from political corruption leading us to become a new 3rd world nation…Taking population control, and corruption to new highs….
Ya’ know I brought up being extremely careful passing through Illinois with a loaded gun(legally carried) from out of state on a FB page. I was called names for questioning the po-leece. “Just inform the cop-he’ll thank you”. LOL…I’ve had illegal tickets from State Cops. Avoid New Jersey-and Illinois.
And the moron on the news tonight was wondering why someone would ambush cops.
I feel bad for this dude, but he clearly never read the Three Immutable Laws of Life. They are:
1. Never go to New Jersey.
2. Never think about going to New Jersey.
3. Always feed Chris Christie with an open hand.
Most of New Jersey has laws against feeding wild animals…
Dude. Never put your hand anywhere near Chris Christie’s mouth!
I’m curious to know the location of this alleged “stop”. There are two NJSP barracks with jurisdiction in Warren Cty. NJ Washington and Belvidere, NJ. As for the P-C for the charge of “seeing a H-P bullet in the vehicle”, that’s pretty much an SOP blanket charge for NJSP when they know they have a PA CCW fish. From the pictures posted I’m sure her “tats” played a role in the denouement. Nor do we know her attitude and conversation with the OI. But NJ is the drug trafficker’s Ho Chi Min Trail.and any LEO meeting one or more “alert keys” ( like tats, a trashy car, odd clothing, hairdos or makeup/ dark nail polish, etc) is going to be super alert. But the NJSP have long sported an institutional ethos mirroring their traditional “jack-booted thug” formal uniform. But none of this excuses the alleged actions ( if true ) of the troopers and barracks involved in denying the arrestee her basic constitutional rights and hygienic needs.
I do not personally approve of homosexuality as a moral choice, but the lady absolutely has the same right to defend herself just the same as any one of us folks.
I was also raised to respect authority (my grandfather was retired Air Force), say “yes/no sir/ma’am” and be chivalrous almost to a fault.
That being said, I would sorely like to say that I would treat an officer like this politely but firmly, HOWEVER, his attitude and that of his colleagues makes it most difficult for me.
Therefore I must ask that as we gun owners need to stay the hell out of New Jersey, and other such slave states, would-be jackboots like NJ state troopers need to remain in their own bed and never leave the state they created for themselves, either. Turnabout really is fair play. That is all.
Tom
A pox on both of their their houses.
His for being the typical jack boot fascist.
Hers for most likely being part of the Leftist gay-mafia that is actively trying to destroy America in countless ways.
This one is interesting. Particularly delusional and curiously at odds with this community’s general support for LGBT armament for self protection. Pushing the boundaries here? That, sir, is impressive. Not going to include something about Sharia for good measure?
The Leftist Gay-mafia push for gay marriage led directly to trannys in middle school locker rooms, and diminished liberty (throwing bakers in jail) and freedom of speech.
I used to have a live and let live attitude towards gays but once they started insisting that I praise and bow down to their nuttery then my indifference towards them has turned to anger and opposition. IDGAF that there is some minuscule percentage of them that are pro-gun. The vast, vast majority of gays want to see us eliminated from the political scene and the feeling from me is now reciprocated.
Something about this story just seems a bit off, even for NJ.
She was charged with unlawful possession, but if the gun was properly secured in a locked case and unloaded, she wasn’t breaking the law, and should not have be charged. It seems like a very easy defense, and coupled with the other circumstances portrayed in this article, a great opportunity for a countersuit for harassment.
My understanding of the issue of possession of hollow tipped ammunition is a gray area. I’ve read that you can use it in the home to defend yourself. However, possession outside the home is questionable (should not be so, but that is NJ). Did she consent to a search? If not, did they do an illegal search to find the gun?
If she pulled off the side of the road to text, who filed the complaint for trespass?
Too many unanswered questions in this story that will hopefully be answered in court.
Agree, the story has a highly emotional overtone, with the obvious gay-victim theme. Something is missing from this story.
Right? It’s all so confusing… the only way any of this story makes any sense is if the NJ cops involved had no respect for the actual laws of their own states, or federal laws, or the constitutional rights of the citizens passing through their jurisdictions! But since we all know what a shining city on a hill New Jersey is when it comes to government openness, corruption, and respectful policing (not to mention environmental cleanliness), that’s obviously not possible. there’s just no explanation for it.
We have read before about police finding that single, stray, visible bullet in the floor. Can’t condlude one way or the other, but….berry interistink.
It’s not lawfully possessed if her origin or destination was in New Jersey. Transporting a firearm into or out of New Jersey is extremely perilous. I hate that state.
NJ resident here, there’s a lot that’s questionable in this story:
1. The likelihood of her needing a firearm to defend herself because she is gay in NJ is zero, homosexuality is celebrated. Hackettstown is a college town, she is no more deserving of special status than I am.
2. I question the author’s contention that she was transporting the gun legally per federal law. The gun has to be legal in both the state of origination and destination, and there is no indication that she has a NJ FID.
3. My understanding of NJ law is that ammo needs to be locked in the trunk when being transported, same as guns. So a visible bullet would be probable cause to search or get a warrant. Also, my understanding is that you can only transfer guns between your residences when moving; having two houses is not a license to bring a gun with you whenever you travel.
Every time someone an article here describing a problem that a favored class of NJ citizen is having, the comments section is in favor of granting an exception. There was that PA CCW (African American) woman arrested last year on the way to AC. There was an article by a government agent up in Newton, saying that he should get a NJ CCW license because of threats from terrorists. Now this.
I say let her be charged. Not that I think that punishment is warranted, but if the favored groups keep getting exceptions, then there will be no support for liberalizing gun laws in their communities. Let them suffer with us OFWG’s. No one is going to cut me any slack.
If the law applies to me, it applies to them. If the favored groups feel the pain, maybe they will start voting to support candidates who support 2a liberalization.
1. How about needing a firearm to defense herself because she’s human?
2 & 3 make the story the opposite of questionable. They provide an explanation for why the cops behaved as they did. Transporting a firearm or ammunition in New Jersey is extremely perilous. The story isn’t “questionable.” It rings completely true. The problem is that federal law is not recognized if your destination is within New Jersey. That’s a very technical legal point and not well-recognized by your average citizen. Your average, reasonable citizen also does not realize that a bullet on the floor of your car is a crime in New Jersey.
I agree with your point that self defense is a universal human right, and she should be afforded it, as should I. But in NJ, this right is not recognized. So how do we push our legislators to fix this?
The only way is to replace the ideologues, and convince the more pragmatic. The only way to do that is to get as many people on your side as possible. The more people impacted, the more support you will have.
If people feel like the law will never be applied to them (I’m a good person!), then they will not feel like they have a skin in the game.
None of your points are wrong. The question is: how do we fix NJ?
“If people feel like the law will never be applied to them (I’m a good person!), then they will not feel like they have a skin in the game.”
Bingo ! Prize Winner.
Note the use of “feel” twice in the one sentence. The commenter nailed it. Feeling one is a good person, and feeling that gun laws will not inconvenience “good persons” drive the entire movement. Oh, don’t forget. These “good persons” are the jury pool.
Despite living a few miles from NJ I’ve not set foot in the state for nearly 2 years. I consider it a foreign country
If there was a bullet of any type on the floor of her car, well please. If the officer fabricated it, then all I can say is stay out of New Jersey.
I have had a job offer or two from there. Nope.
Don’t forget that it’s illegal to pump your own gas in NJ too. Land of opportunity.
“Shall not be infringed.”. PERIOD
Who needs to change the law, when you can make the practice effectively illegal through draconian regulations, arbitrary enforcement, and summary judgment. It worked for sexual practices for generations. No reason it won’t work for guns.
EXPLETIVE DELETED New Jersey.
I have the misfortune of being a New Jersey resident. I just want to say that the liberal mainstream media outlets of New Jersey such as the Star Ledger has refused to cover this story. Probably because it contradicts their narrative and ultimate agenda of civil disarmament.
I’ll get out of here one day…just not today. 🙁
California, Washington state, New York, New Jersey, are all gay friendly states. They are also in a race to see who is the most anti-gun state government in America.
Even the gay friendly state of Vermont is trying to pass anti-gun civil rights laws.
Does this lesbian support Trump like Milo does? Or does she support having a bisexual woman, Hillary as president?
Maybe this will motivate the homosexuals in New Jersey to kick Loretta Weinberg out of office. To do that would require real work on your part.
The problem real problem is you, and the people you vote for.
How many homosexuals supported the recall attempt of the NJ state Senate president anti-gun Stephen Sweeney????
I hear crickets.
I hope Gov Christie pardons her.
It is possible that she was targeted in part because she was gay since she admitted to texting her girlfriend. It is also possible that she was targetted for a woman since another woman was prosecuted aggressively for a similar incident while at the same time a wife beating man was let off which implies that the entire justice system is misogynist
Meg Fellenbaum pardoned on last day of Christie’s term. God help gun owners now that Murphy is Governor.
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf