Weapons charges against a Maurice River Township man found to be in possession of an antique handgun have been dropped, the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office announced Wednesday.

Gordon Van Gilder, 72, of Port Elizabeth, had been returning home Nov. 19 after retrieving a nearly-300-year-old flintlock pistol from a Vineland pawn shop when his vehicle was pulled over by Cumberland County sheriff's officers in Millville.

"The public should be forewarned about the prescriptions against possessing a firearm (even an antique) in a vehicle," Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McCrae said Wednesday in a written statement.

"Notwithstanding, upon careful review of the circumstances of this case, I am exercising prosecutorial discretion to dismiss the (unlawful possession of a weapon) charges in the interest of justice in accordance with," the Graves Act governing firearms offenses in New Jersey.

Sheriff's officers cited seeing Van Gilder's vehicle "acting suspiciously in a known drug area" ahead of the traffic stop.

Adam Puttergill, 21, of Maurice River Township, had been operating the vehicle while Van Gilder was a passenger.

A subsequent search of the vehicle resulted in possession of a controlled dangerous substance charges against Puttergill from the sheriff's department.

Van Gilder was arrested Nov. 20 and charges with the alleged weapons offenses.

"My client and myself are extremely happy," said Nappen Wednesday evening of news that the charges against Van Gilder would not be pursued further.

"I would like to commend Prosecutor Webb-McCrae for dismissing this," although more work needs to be done in Trenton to address the issue, he suggested

Debate over Van Gilder's arrest has led several state lawmakers to look at changes to New Jersey's laws regarding antique firearms.

Assmemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (R-Monmouth) has said that she plans to introduce a bill that would align the state's law with a federal statute that exempts firearms manufactured before 1898.

State Senator Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May, Atlantic, Cumberland) has called for a bill that would allow a person convicted of unlawful possession admittance to pretrial intervention of supervisory treatment if they had no known association with a criminal street gang and no criminal convictions.

- Alex Young contributed to this report.

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