The New Jersey Attorney General has clarified the state’s law concerning out-of-state residents charged with illegal gun possession.
The clarification came in response to a recent controversy about a Philadelphia woman who was facing serious prison time for travelling through New Jersey while in possession of a handgun – even though she had obtained a valid carry permit for the gun in Pennsylvania.
27-year-old Shaneen Allen, a mother of two, was driving in Atlantic County NJ when she was stopped by a New Jersey state trooper. Allen told the trooper that she had a .380 Bersa Thunder handgun in her car; the trooper responded by placing Allen under arrest. Although Allen had a carry permit in Pennsylvania, she did not have a permit to carry the weapon in New Jersey.
As a first-time offender, Allen was potentially eligible for admission into the Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI) program. PTI is a diversionary program that allows offenders without a prior criminal record to avoid prison and instead be placed on probation. However, prosecutors in the case denied Allen’s entry into PTI because they believed the NJ Graves Act required a mandatory minimum prison sentence in all gun possession cases.
The public outcry over the decision led NJ Attorney General John Hoffman to issue a directive that calls for flexibility in these cases when the defendant is an out-of-state resident with a valid carry permit and an honest belief that they are not violating the law.
Hoffman’s directive is likely to have a significant impact on sentencing in gun possession cases throughout the state. The prosecutor in Allen’s case has already responded by reversing the earlier decision and allowing Allen to enter PTI.
To learn more, see the NJ.com article entitled “How Philadelphia Woman’s N.J. Gun Case Could Affect Up to 100 Similar Cases.”
