Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey and a candidate in the Republican presidential pack, has just issued a full pardon for Steffon Josey-Davis. Steffon was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon back in 2013 because he forgot his legally registered firearm (which he used in his work as a security guard) in his glove compartment. In the state of New Jersey, having a gun in your glove compartment is considered the same as carrying it concealed, and as Steffon didn’t have a concealed handgun license (which are nearly nonexistent apart from politicians in NJ) he was arrested and charged with a felony. After having the NAACP reject his case for not matching their political agenda, he appealed directly to the governor — and got his pardon.
From Steffon’s GoFundMe page:
Hello, My name is Steffon Josey-Davis I’m a 24 year old from New Jersey who became a convicted felon for a legally owned firearm. As an armored Guard for Loomis, As a Armed service company who transported U.S & foreign currency to banks and service ATM’s. I was also on the road to a successful career with my township police department.
One Morning on September 20th 2013. I was preparing myself for work, grabbing my firearm out of my safe, bulletproof vest, Making my way to the garage. While in the process of disarming my firearm. My little sister came into the garage. To avoid any accidents, I put the firearm in the glove compartment moments after putting my bulletproof vest on the passenger seat. After securing my firearm, I took my sister upstairs to put her back in bed. Losing track of time, I noticed I was running late, grabbed my keys and continued to leave my house that morning for work. Not realizing my firearm was still in the glove compartment.
When I left out of the house that morning I was later pulled over in my vehicle. During my traffic stop, I notified the officers who I was, Who I worked for and I had my Legally owned firearm in my glove compartment.
The officers took my fire arm and let me go, When I went to claim my fire arm from the police department they arrested me and charged me with unlawful possession of a firearm I legally owned.
I was facing 10 years in prison for a simple technicality. I am now a convicted felon.
Americans all across the country face similarly ridiculous punishments for violating draconian gun laws every single day. Steffon’s case just happened to fit with Chris Christie’s political agenda, but the reality is that most of NJ’s gun laws should probably be kicked to the curb. Thanks to the prevailing culture of the state that probably will never happen, but we can still hope.
Caught his TV interview last week. He’s got his head on straight and wants to be a cop. Draconian laws in Stalag New Jersey again, still.
Good on the Gov. Smart move in a dumb state.
He wants to be a cop, so he can arrest other people for causing no harm to anyone.
I would hope that given his experience, he’d have an epiphany and realize that modern cops are part of the problem.
And as for Christie, how many victimless gun convictions has he not intervened in? He’s about as much of a friend to the American gun owners as Hillary Clinton. Both will espouse whatever opinion gets them the most votes on that topic, or any other.
While not a ‘gun guy’, Christie is NO WAY as bad as HRC…or the Governors of CA, NY, DE, RI, or for that matter, VA (Mr. Terry McAuliffe). NJ is RUN by the DEMOCRAT machine, and there isn’t much he can do about the laws there, except veto anti-gun legislation…which he has. Firearm laws are not his main focus, he has been fighting the sky-high, DEMOCRAT imposed taxes, and the sky-high salaries and benefit packages of cops, teachers and other state employees, which are bankrupting the state, and who scream bloody murder whenever he tries to bring the fiscal policies of NJ in line with rest of the country. BTW…”Krispy Kreme” is a DEMOCRAT imposed moniker, which just illustrates the hypocrisy of those that decry racism, gay-bashing, etc. Just wait until 2016, when another Grade F, DEMOCRAT, is elected Governor of NJ…then you’ll have something to REALLY complain about.
How long is NJ going to continue making criminals out of law abiding citizens? When will they restore the constitution and join the republic? How long will they be content to be the idiot state of America?
Considering that NJ has the HIGHEST average standard of living in the USA…most of the people there consider the ‘rest’ of the country…’idiots’
Where did you get that statistic? New Jersey is one of the costliest states to live in no doubt, but that doesn’t automatically translate to highest standard of living either.
OK, YD, you got me…NJ is #2 according to the poverty rate…my thought being that the fewest people living in poverty, makes for a higher standard of living…but there are lots of stats out there to play with and lots of people making $0, in every state, dragging down the averages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_poverty_rate
*mutter*
Good he was released, unfortunate circumstance. I find it odd he was arrested seeing as his letter stated he was off to a good start with the local police department. Still don’t trust Chris crispy cream as far as I can throw him, I’m a strong dude but probably not able to throw him more than a few feet, and would probably give myself a hernia.
Yeah it’s just too bad, even though he was pardoned. Because of NJ he’s still a felon and his 2A rights have been forever revoked.
AFAIK, the pardon erases the conviction and restores his gun rights.
No a pardon can say whether or not your gun rights can be restored or not. According to other states regardless of situation, because he was pardoned he’s still a “criminal in the system.” I doubt even if his rights were restored the FBI would let him pass on a 4473. Remember a Pardon only gets you out of jail or incarceration, it does not erase the record of arrest and incarceration, it’s only a get out of jail early card by higher government official.
Sorry but you are 100% wrong. A pardon removes all records it is the same as expungment.
You are mixing up clemency with a pardon.
think scooter Libby
Good for him! Big Chris is still on a rino list I will never vote for…
This should have been a bigger learning experience for Christie to the point of him realizing that his state is so restrictive yet has attained nothing in the process except for making citizens less safe. Too much of NYC rubbing off on NJ.
Can’t help but wonder if the whole arrest was a setup so crispy cream could pardon him.
Not on Josey-Davis’ part. He was an unfortunate pawn.
Thank you governor. But how about changing NJ gun laws so that law abiding citizens can actually carry firearms and don’t have to worry about facing a 10 year minimum prison sentence for something perfectly legal in 40+ states? Nah, don’t bother. Makes too much sense.
LOL. He wanted to become a cop in NJ so he could make felons out of people exercising their rights. Too rich.
I was thinking the same thing.
he got a taste of the medicine he wants to shove down another persons throat. If he dont like it, he may want to consider a career change.
Reminds me of the girl protesting border patrol checkpoints who is in the process with the border patrol. Huh???
I’ve lived in NJ all my life and I love a lot of things about it, but I also love my guns, the target sports they’re used for, and the protection they offer me in-between. I’ve written my congressmen and senators, I’ve posted open letters, and I’ve even proposed some hit-or-miss ideas to persuade or compromise a middle ground for anti-gunners to come to terms with Amendment number two… but they all have gone unread or misunderstood.
I’m simply not prepared to be revolutionary or persuasive enough to fight for this right in a state that abandoned it long before I was even introduced to it. High taxes, long commutes, and small wits have all pushed me away from a familiar place that I’m embarrassed to recognize now.
…so I’ve closed on a house in my neighboring Pennsylvania, which is prepared to welcome my hobby with open arms, open ranges, and concealed carry. I love the Garden State, but the Keystone State is now the only “free” state in the mid-Atlantic region – so I wish Mr.Josey-Davis well, and I congratulate his pardon, but it’s still a very small victory in a very arduous battle that no one else is willing to fight for.
I’ve got a business idea for ya…
Find a location on a major roadway to New Jersey and build a self-service gun locker for those who live in PA and commute to NJ…
So hopefully he’s going to be a cop somewhere other than NJ?
Pennsylvania?
I hope he does become a cop. I hope he remembers this moment and takes it with him on the road to being an LEO – the moment he now understands all too well that good people are made felons by a system of unfair and unjust laws.
My three least favorite RINOs are Christie, McCain and Graham. Don’t trust them and the pardon was done by Christie only for the publicity. Most gun freedom stops north of the Mason Dixon line. There is a reason almost nobody retires in the North.
“There is a reason almost nobody retires in the North.”
Yes, there is: old people tend to like hot weather.
Senility, I calls that.
INDIANA is pretty good-cold in the winter though… I. know because I live a mile from the border(sigh) …
Good on him. This needed to be done.
Shaneen Allen and Steffon Josey-Davis got pardons, but Brian Aitken only received a commutation by Christie. And the charge for which Aitken got a commutation was later kicked on appeal.
Either Christie got smart, or Aitken got screwed. Or both.
Ah, well. Forget it, Jake. It’s New Jersey.
Has Aitken exhausted all of his appeals yet? From what I’ve heard, a pardon removes a defendant’s standing. If that’s the case, then Christie did the right thing, and the appeals process can continue, and hopefully the laws will be overturned by the courts.
If Christie is endeavoring to get the Supreme Court of New Jersey to fix what the NJ legislature refuses to do, then I applaud him for his course of action.
In the meantime, Brian Aitken has his freedom.
Aitken wasn’t pardoned, but his sentence was commuted. Do you really think that Christie gave him commutation instead of a pardon to preserve Aitken’s appeal rights?
Yes, Aitken is free, kinda. Even though two of the three charges against him were kicked, he still has a criminal record for transporting hollow point ammo. That conviction was not reversed on appeal and Christie did not pardon him for that. That conviction is on him and won’t go away by itself.
Aitken was shafted, royally. The only thing that Christie did was assuage his own conscience by releasing Aitken from a lengthy prison sentence.
I just watched the video on the Townhall.com page of Josie-Davis’ with Fox&Friends. He took a plea deal, (plead guilty, not found guilty by a judge or jury) as did Shaneen Allen, so for both of them a pardon is the only avenue left to explore.
What most people fail to realize is most pre-trial diversion programs require you to plead guilty or nolo contendre first, Pay fines and court costs, and forfeit your property(Allen lost her gun), and complete a term of probation. The records are then sealed-somewhat. The record will be accessible to any agency doing an in depth background check, and will in most states disqualify you from a career in law enforcement, any security clearance, and a host of different professional licenses(insurance investigator/surety agent/private investigator). It all depends where you live.
If I were ever charged with a felony, I’d plead it down to a misdemeanor with jail time, before taking adjudication withheld & probation on a felony.
Chris Krispy Kreme can exploit his second black gunowner (blaxploitation? gunploitation?) in an election cycle to burnish belatedly his pro-2A bona fides all he wants. I still don’t buy it.
For one, this pardon recipient got caught leading off base a bit and practicing first class citizen privileges before he was a real cop. Busted. I don’t buy his “forgot” it story, either. He knowingly broke the law, but just figured his future cop buddies would let him slide if discovered. Screw him, he’s undeserving of a pardon.
Far more importantly, the Governor hasn’t done anything substantive to roll back the abomination that is NJ’s assault laws. He does not believe in people’s freedom itself, only in freedom’s facsimile insofar he can cash it in for a few more votes.
Yeah, the guy is a horrible felon, busted for the crime of transporting his legally-owned gun in his glove compartment instead of his trunk. Hang the b@stard!
?? I think it should be legal to transport guns in the glove compartment. Criminals intent on harm already do so. It is also already against the law to kill people with guns (or anything else). If you have a conceal carry permit – you can in most states carry in the glove box anyways. He was a security guard (whose job entails being armed). They trusted him in that circumstance – but once he gets in his car and puts the gun in his glove box – he is automatically untrustworthy? I don’t get it.
You are responsible for your gun 24/7. In this case and under the circumstances and it was good he was pardoned. He seems like a good kid with a lot of potential who got tagged for trying to do the right thing.
Christie couldn’t walk the walk if he didn’t pardon J-D. I hope he did it for the right reasons.
Shame on the blowhards, political hacks and hypocrites at the NAACP.
Stunned…common sense prevails in government.
The NAACP and the KKK agree on one thing: disarm all blacks.
Will you all please stop insulting Krispy Kreme. The doughnuts not the politician screw the governor.
The fresh hot doughnuts, butter popcorn flavored Jelly Bellys & the buttered toast are all addictive.
What was the pc for the traffic stop? NJ is the strangest state ever been in, legally I can carry a firearm under federal law in the garden state but can’t carry hollowpoint ammo.
At my wife’s grandfather’s internment a cousin that’s an officer in Newark told me it was because hollowpoint ammo overpenenetrates. He said yes he knows it’s. Total B.S. but the union and politicians want it that way. Asked if I would write a letter of reccomendation for him he is willing to take a pay cut to go to PA local Sheriff’s office. The sheriff and I have run into a few NRA-ILA meetings over the years, he’ll be getting a good deputy that believes political correctness is total garbage and the people will be getting a law officer that respects rights.
His idiot mother called 911, concerned for his safety.
Good synopsis of the case here.
http://reason.com/archives/2010/11/15/brian-aitkens-mistake
Give him a republican majority house and senate then see if the gun laws get reformed.
Hopefully, the young man will become another Black republican and vote for his rights and not Al Sharpton’s pocketbook
I have a question to any “Progressive” that’s listening: Is not using laws to trap the law-abiding, turning hard-working tax-paying individuals into felons that we have to pay to incarcerate, counterproductive?!
Thank you for doing the right thing governor Christie.
Sounds like somebody is hoping Republican voters OUTSIDE of NJ will nominate him for something…
What about Brian Aitken? When does he get his life back? And his son back? Chris Christie is WAY TOO LATE to the party!
Regarding NJ gun laws. Using the little people as propaganda to send a message to the mobs that we are control here in government so watch out? One error and we got ya.
On another note. Does the syndicate still control guns there? Them “bosses” don’t want citizens with guns to happen along and interfere with “business”?
Is NJ still corrupt? Where’s Hoffa?
Where’s Hoffa?
I think Christie swallowed him.
If the South would have won and US capital in Atlanta we would have no need for these types of discussions.
Go back to Stormfront azzwhole.
It’s a bit difficult to discern your meaning, but there are a few things to clear up:
First, the southern states formed the CSA, not the USA.
Second, the CS capital was in Richmond, not Atlanta.
Third, and finally, do you honestly believe that had such a major event turned out different that all other developments would have still developed along the same lines they really did? If the South had won, would we still see the political lines we do today, or would they be completely different?
Perhaps in the context of guns, 2A and other rights be less challenged?
If the South won.
Comments are closed.