Eagles Gaffney arrested in PRNJ on "gun" charge

[gunsmith]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14076967/

Eagles' Gaffney arrested on gun charges

Wideout's concealed-weapon permit is good in Texas, but not New Jersey

PHILADELPHIA - Eagles wide receiver Jabar Gaffney was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a handgun following a traffic stop last month, county prosecutors said Friday.

Gaffney had a permit to carry the weapon in Texas, but not in New Jersey, Camden County prosecutors said. The charge carries a maximum five-year sentence but most first-time offenders get no jail time.

Gaffney, 25, was stopped on June 20 by police for driving erratically on the Walt Whitman Bridge, which connects Philadelphia and New Jersey. As Gaffney was reaching into the glove compartment, the officer saw the handgun, a loaded .380 semiautomatic that was registered to another person riding in the car.
Gaffney showed the officer his concealed-weapon license, but he was charged and released on his own recognizance.

Gaffney’s attorney, Robert A. Greenberg, said the Philadelphia receiver will apply for a first-time offenders program in which the charges would eventually be dismissed.

“At the time that this happened, he had laid his head down to sleep in New Jersey maybe four or five nights, total,” Greenberg said. “It’s just a very unfortunate set of circumstances.”

Eagles coach Andy Reid said the charges were the result of a misunderstanding.
“He had the gun registered in the state of Texas, he thought it was fine on his move up here,” Reid said. “Jabar is not the kind of guy I’m too worried about. He’s a pretty straight shooter. ... No pun intended there.”

Gaffney signed as a free agent with the Eagles in the offseason following four seasons with the Houston Texans. Originally a second-round draft pick out of Florida in 2002, Gaffney has 171 career catches for 2,009 yards and seven touchdowns. He signed a one-year deal with the Eagles in March.

 

[beerslurpy]

The NJ police accidentally enforced a peasant law against a famous person. How clumsy of them. *sweeps case under rug* Compare how the old guy in the airport was treated to the NFL player.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Cases like this hit the paper periodically, the pattern is the same.

People from America blunder into NJ, thinking that it's just like anywhere else.

It's not.

 

[LAR-15]

He should have done some research and found that PRNJ has no recopricity.

With his 'star' status he might have been able to get a permit in NJ.

Just campaign for Bob Menendez and Guv Corzine in exchange

 

[AF_INT1N0]

hopefully this will help the National reciprocity movement. You know famous people and such. Probably not though.....

Of course it should all be covered in Good faith clause like marriage licences..
and in all reality it was covered back in the Founders time under the Second amendment of the BOR.:banghead:

 

[Mannlicher]

Actually Jabar is a pretty decent kid. I knew him when he was playing for the Gators here in Gainesville. Rather than this being a case of a celebrity getting a break, it should be at as a decent guy getting treated like many other gun offenders. NJ gun laws are more like what you would find under Communism than what a normal American would think could happen in America.

 

[Autolycus]

Well as much it pains me I would like to see him charged and serve the normal penalties. I really have a hard time believing that it is normal for first time offenders to get no jail time. If I remember there was an older man from out west who had a gun in his luggage and he was sentenced to 30 days.

If they give him a pass I would start CCWing in NJ and exoect the same treatment. This is why National Reciprocity is a good idea.

 

[One of Many]

There is a discrepancy in the story. In one place they say the gun in the glove box was registered to a different occupant (a passenger?) of the vehicle.

Later, the coach says the gun was registered in Texas, to the driver who had a CCW issued by Texas.

Whose gun is it? Can a driver be arrested because a passenger has a gun placed in the glove box? Was the gun owned by the passenger, but loaned to the driver, who thought he was OK to carry because of his Texas CCW?

Notice that this is a FELONY charge; unless the NJ authorities allow the driver to plead to a misdemeanor, he will lose his RTKABA for life if convicted.

 

[gunsmith]

"Decent Kid"

Most of us at thr can be described the same way...( with the exception of the 2 or 3 members I have sparred with over the years)

I am constantly amazed at the lack of understanding of laws by fellow gun owners (except for my fellow thr members)
Most of my peers here in Reno do not understand that NV is a duty to retreat state and most I have talked to do not have a clue how difficult it is to carry a gun legally in NY & NJ.
It seems most of the gun owners I've met in northern NV have a vauge notion that they have some kind of "right" to own and carry a gun with them.
I wish there was something in the Constitution...hey...wait a minute....

 

[geekWithA.45]

Can a driver be arrested because a passenger has a gun placed in the glove box?

NJ statutes cover that case specifically: If a gun is found in the car, not in the direct posession of one of the passengers, the driver is presumed to be the posessor.

NJ law inverts the usual burden of proof. If is structured such that posession of a firearm is presumed unlawful by default, unless the accused can show that one of a very limited number of situational exemptions exists in his case.

Summary of exemptions:

-A FID is posessed AND one or more of the following:

-At home
-At range
-At gun club/store/gunsmith
-Hunting or fishing in appropriate time & place, with appropriate license
-Unloaded, cased, trunked and separated from ammo in car _directly_ to or from the above.