New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has pardoned Shaneen Allen, a mother of two and concealed carry permit owner who was arrested in New Jersey for carrying a weapon in her car.
Allen, a resident of Pennsylvania, had a concealed carry permit and a lawfully registered handgun while she was traveling through New Jersey, when she was pulled over by a New Jersey police officer for making an unsafe lane change.
She informed the officer of the handgun in her car, unaware that it was illegal in the state of New Jersey. Because of the misunderstanding, she was arrested and faced felony prosecution.
Allen’s case became a cause for gun rights activists, such as the National Rifle Association. Executive vice president of the National Rifle Association Wayne LaPierre celebrated the news in a statement to Breitbart News.
“This ends a vulgar chapter in an endless series of shameful episodes where political opportunists seek nothing but their own advantage. I compliment Gov. Christie for doing the right thing,” he said.
Her case drew more attention after Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain refused to allow her pretrial intervention to avoid jail time but did the same for NFL star Ray Rice after he was videotaped beating his wife.
“That’s not justice for me or my children,” said Allen at the time. “What makes Ray Rice so different from me that I couldn’t be accepted by the same prosecutor and judge? Is it that he was a pro athlete but I’m a single mother of two?”
Christie watched the case develop, but frequently stated that he would not act until the verdict from the justice system in the State of New Jersey was in.
“I have real concerns about it, but I have to give the criminal justice system an opportunity to deal with this,” he said last September.
“If we get to the end of the criminal justice adjudication, and I believe that justice was not served in a manner in which my authority under the constitution allows me to fix, then I’ll certainly consider that,” he added.
Read Christie’s statement:
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