2015.02.13 Charged for owning an antique gun

A 72-year-old retired schoolteacher was charged for having a 250 year old 1700s era flintlock in NJ.

Gordon VanGilde got pulled over and the police found a 250 year old 1700s era flintlock the collector had just acquired. In any other state a curio/antique gets exceptions, but in NJ a gun is a gun (there was no antique exemption), so they charged him with owning an illegal weapon. When attention came to the case, they dropped the charges, but didn't fix the law.

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~ Aristotle Sabouni
Created: 2019-07-13

A 72-year-old retired schoolteacher and historical memorabilia collector Gordon VanGilde got pulled over for the crime of driving in the wrong area, the police found a 250 year old 1700s era flintlock the collector had just acquired: a gun is a gun (there was no antique exemption in the law), so they charged him with owning an illegal weapon.

After he retained a lawyer, the NRA publicized the abuse of power, and it went viral, the States prosecutor decided not to press charges. But they could have, and likely would have without the civil libertarians at the NRA calling them on the unreasonable law. Even then, NJ didn't fix the law, and claims tney're in the right, you can't collect antiques in the garden state.

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Arrested old curio collectors

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