You may remember Brian Aitken as the young man whose mother ratted him out to the cops (fearing her son’s suicide). As we reported in December ’10, “New Jersey Governor Chris Christie commuted the seven-year prison sentence of Brian Aitken, freeing the Garden State native in time for Christmas. Aitken was convicted of various weapons charges relating to a trio of handguns police discovered in his car in January 2009, along with hollow point bullets and ‘high capacity’ magazines.” And now nj.com reports that a state appellate court has overturned two of Aitken’s convictions. The two-judge panel ruled that . . .
jurors should have been allowed to consider the exemption argument. The panel also overturned Aitken’s conviction for possession of a large-capacity ammunition magazine, saying the prosecution had failed to show the magazines were operable.
However, the judges upheld Aitkin’s conviction for possessing hollow-point bullets, rejecting his argument that ammunition should also fall under the exemption for weapons being moved.
Aitken now lives in the City Too Busy to Hate. It’s not known if the Atlantan immigrant will appeal the final conviction. Also no word on whether or not the decision restores his gun rights. I’m thinking no.
Meanwhile who knew that inoperable high cap mags were exempt from NJ’s law? I wonder if there’s a way to quickly render a high cap mag inoperable. Just thinking out loud . . .