I'm sure by now many of you have heard of the plight of Shaneen Allen, a PA resident who is being prosecuted in NJ for carrying an unlicensed weapon in NJ. Ms. Allen has a legal permit in PA but during a traffic stop was discovered with her weapon and charged with a felony. There are a lot of details I am leaving out, but those are the simple facts of the case.
The response I have seen on many sites, forums, blogs, etc. is "She should have known better".
I am so tired of this response to an obvious injustice.
There is a great book out there called Go Directly to Jail: The Criminalization of Everything
Today, most of you committed a crime. You didn't even know. Many say "Ignorance of the law is no excuse for wrongdoing." That saying was supposed to apply to obvious bad behavior, like murder or theft. You couldn't say "I didn't know theft was against the law" as a defense. In many cases, the laws are now being written for actions that people honestly don't know are illegal.
Those of you who didn't commit a crime today, and you are in the minority, will likely commit one tomorrow. Chances are good that you commit a misdemeanor almost daily regardless of what state you live in. Chances are almost as good that you are committing a Federal Felony daily. You may be committing a felony in accordance with state laws as well. There are too many laws and they change all the time. There is no reliable source for what is current legal behavior.
All any of us needs is to be caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. A police officer in the state of Texas, or most states for that matter, can take away your freedom for a day with nothing more than "reasonable suspicion". 24 hours in jail for nothing at all. Just imagine if they find any evidence of wrongdoing, innocent or not.
I know, I saw it done many times.
If you are one of those unlucky individuals, will you feel it is just for people to say "You should have known better"?
I agree with anyone who says carrying a gun is a responsibility. That said, not everyone who carries a gun visits forums, constantly researches, and discusses firearms and the law with other gun owners. Many people just want to take their test and get their firearm. They want to purchase peace of mind and a little safety. To many of these people, the legal process and finding information on it is intimidating and near inaccessible. It is easy to stand in judgement when you are surrounded by people like minded people, but not so easy if you are just a working slob trying to make ends meet who became one of those people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We should be worried about this. Every new gun law is a FELONY. Felonies used to be reserved for heinous crimes. Now it is a felony to load 8 rounds in a 10 round magazine in NY state. Imagine you go to visit one day, get pulled over, oops you forgot to unload your magazine. Now you are a felon. You just lost the right to vote and you can't own guns anymore. Should you have known better?
An honest mistake should not carry such dire consequences. Someone with no ill intent should not be made into a criminal. Sadly, the way our current legal structure is, you are all criminals waiting for that one bad encounter with law enforcement.
Instead of standing in judgement of those who made an honest mistake and are paying unjust consequences we should be standing by their side in protest of a system that turns honest people into outlaws while outlaws are allowed to prey on the innocent. There isn't anything wrong with Ms. Allen's actions, there is something wrong with a system that would seek to prosecute someone like her.
(Disclaimer: This was not directed at anyone specific at TGT but was inspired by yet another article on Ms. Allen's plight)
The response I have seen on many sites, forums, blogs, etc. is "She should have known better".
I am so tired of this response to an obvious injustice.
There is a great book out there called Go Directly to Jail: The Criminalization of Everything
Today, most of you committed a crime. You didn't even know. Many say "Ignorance of the law is no excuse for wrongdoing." That saying was supposed to apply to obvious bad behavior, like murder or theft. You couldn't say "I didn't know theft was against the law" as a defense. In many cases, the laws are now being written for actions that people honestly don't know are illegal.
Those of you who didn't commit a crime today, and you are in the minority, will likely commit one tomorrow. Chances are good that you commit a misdemeanor almost daily regardless of what state you live in. Chances are almost as good that you are committing a Federal Felony daily. You may be committing a felony in accordance with state laws as well. There are too many laws and they change all the time. There is no reliable source for what is current legal behavior.
All any of us needs is to be caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. A police officer in the state of Texas, or most states for that matter, can take away your freedom for a day with nothing more than "reasonable suspicion". 24 hours in jail for nothing at all. Just imagine if they find any evidence of wrongdoing, innocent or not.
I know, I saw it done many times.
If you are one of those unlucky individuals, will you feel it is just for people to say "You should have known better"?
I agree with anyone who says carrying a gun is a responsibility. That said, not everyone who carries a gun visits forums, constantly researches, and discusses firearms and the law with other gun owners. Many people just want to take their test and get their firearm. They want to purchase peace of mind and a little safety. To many of these people, the legal process and finding information on it is intimidating and near inaccessible. It is easy to stand in judgement when you are surrounded by people like minded people, but not so easy if you are just a working slob trying to make ends meet who became one of those people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We should be worried about this. Every new gun law is a FELONY. Felonies used to be reserved for heinous crimes. Now it is a felony to load 8 rounds in a 10 round magazine in NY state. Imagine you go to visit one day, get pulled over, oops you forgot to unload your magazine. Now you are a felon. You just lost the right to vote and you can't own guns anymore. Should you have known better?
An honest mistake should not carry such dire consequences. Someone with no ill intent should not be made into a criminal. Sadly, the way our current legal structure is, you are all criminals waiting for that one bad encounter with law enforcement.
Instead of standing in judgement of those who made an honest mistake and are paying unjust consequences we should be standing by their side in protest of a system that turns honest people into outlaws while outlaws are allowed to prey on the innocent. There isn't anything wrong with Ms. Allen's actions, there is something wrong with a system that would seek to prosecute someone like her.
(Disclaimer: This was not directed at anyone specific at TGT but was inspired by yet another article on Ms. Allen's plight)
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