MY LIFE AS A CONVICTED GUN OFFENDER WHO DID NOTHING WRONG

[Flesh Thorn]

At 6 AM, the sky outside my apartment is still purple-black. It’s too early. I stagger out of bed and stand under a scalding jet of water in the shower, trying to remember where I’ve been, where I am, and where I need to be. Oklahoma. Austin. Houston. In less than eight hours I have to climb a stage and tell a roomful of strangers my story. As far as stories go, it’s pretty interesting, I guess. It’s got thrills, heartbreak, what technically counts as crime, and even a little bit of vindication. But telling it wears me out. Living through it was more than enough.

Three years ago this month, thanks mostly to poorly written laws and a vindictive judge, I turned 27 while incarcerated in Mid-State Correctional Facility in Fort Dix, New Jersey.

I got sentenced to seven years in prison for legally owning guns. I had purchased them in Colorado and brought them with me to New Jersey, home to some of the harshest gun laws in the country, where I moved to be closer to my young son. I complied with all of the regulations, but one day the police searched my car and charged me with unlawful possession of a weapon—even though my handguns were locked, unloaded, and in my trunk. The court said it was on me to prove that I wasn’t breaking any laws, which obviously was very difficult. When Reason magazine covered my case, it wrote, “Even the jurors who convicted him seem to have been looking for a reason to acquit him. But the judge gave them little choice.”

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[Baseplate]

This is why when I chose to move I took each state's gun laws into consideration before picking a place to live.

[rgrokelley]

In the same vein as that story, California confiscates legally owned weapons due to the crime of not paying your toll in a timely manner...

http://downtrend.com/travis/california- ... ased-guns/

[Jim]

Cannot verify, but found this:

http://weaselzippers.us/2013/11/27/nyc- ... n-notices/

[Slowpoke]

Guns frighten me! I do not own a gun, nor have I ever owned a gun. Guns should be banned everywhere so innocent people won't be killed.........are you reading this Eric?

[Jim]

Guns frighten me! I do not own a gun, nor have I ever owned a gun. Guns should be banned everywhere so innocent people won't be killed.........are you reading this Eric?

Why not? He reads everything else we write.

[Baseplate]

Guns frighten me! I do not own a gun, nor have I ever owned a gun. Guns should be banned everywhere so innocent people won't be killed.........are you reading this Eric?

I actually lost all of my guns in a freak boating accident. It was a real shame.

[Flesh Thorn]

Sold all at flea market except a worn out single barrel shotgun to be used for firing into air just to scare off intruders.

[Jim]

Sold all at flea market except a worn out single barrel shotgun to be used for firing into air just to scare off intruders.

On New Years Eve!

[IEDmagnet]

Abducted by aliens I was, while I was en route to a "Guns for Money" event to support orphaned baby sharks. Kept my guns, sent me back. No one ever believes me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

[Jim]

Abducted by aliens I was, while I was en route to a "Guns for Money" event to support orphaned baby sharks. Kept my guns, sent me back. No one ever believes me.

You, too?