I'm Just Sayin' by Patricia C. Kelley



Brian Aitken had his prison sentence commuted on Dec. 20.

Gov. Chris Christie granted a pardon to the 27-year-old man who was arrested in 2009 after police found two unloaded, disassembled handguns with ammunition in the trunk of his car while he was visiting his mother in Burlington County. His mother, fearing that Aitken was despondent over a custody battle, had called police to check on him and was shocked when he was arrested.

If you are unfamiliar with the facts in this case, here are the pertinent details.

The guns were in the trunk of Aitken’s car because he was in the process of moving from Colorado where he had legally purchased them. Before undertaking the move back to New Jersey, Aitken checked with NJ State Police to make sure he was in compliance with local gun regulations and restrictions on owning and transporting the weapons.

Despite his best intentions to move the guns legally, he was charged with a felony, arrested, tried and given a seven-year prison sentence. He’s been sitting in the Mid-State Correctional Facility Annex in Wrightstown with a seven-year prison sentence hanging over his head while his family and friends have campaigned to have him freed.

I will admit I don’t know the first thing about guns and I’ve always wondered why anyone, other than members of law enforcement, even has to own a gun. So, I’m not writing this in support of gun ownership. I’m writing in support of justice.

The only reason I even know about this case is that I occasionally listen to DJ Dennis Malloy on NJ 101.5 FM. Malloy took up Aitken’s case and pushed for his release claiming he was wrongfully imprisoned. In fact, if it weren’t for the media attention Malloy gave the case Aitken would probably still be sitting in prison.

The case was brought to the governor’s attention and on Dec. 20 he signed a pardon for Aitken. No matter what you may think about the other things Christie has done this year, he did good on this one. Assuming the facts in the case are accurate, this was an innocent man who was jailed despite doing what he was told by authorities to do in the first place. Good job, governor.