4. Brian Aitken
In 2009 I was arrested for having firearms I owned legally locked and unloaded in the trunk of my car while moving from my parents house to an apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey. In a Family Court hearing a judge told me gun owners were essentially unfit to be parents and he, in all practical terms, revoked custody of my then one-year old son. I turned down almost a dozen plea offers because I felt I had done nothing wrong. I had even called the New Jersey State Police 3 days before I was arrested to ask them how to transport my firearms while moving. At trial, the judge refused to let the jury know what the Federal and State laws are that protected my right to transport my firearms without a concealed carry permit. I was sentenced to 7 years in prison and spent 4 months behind bars before tens of thousands of people convinced Governor Chris Christie to commute my sentence. The New Jersey Appellate Division has since overturned the convictions of Illegal Possession of Firearms and Illegal Possession of High Capacity Magazines. My experience is the subject of the bestselling memoir The Blue Tent Sky: How the Left’s War on Guns Cost Me My Son and My Freedom. I have not been allowed to see my son in six years and am presently crowdfunding to raise money for the legal fees to regain custody of my son.
