New Jersey Man Faces 10-Years for 1760s Flintlock Pistol
Back in November, Gordon Van Gilder, who had retired after 34 years of teaching, was traveling in Cumberland County, N.J., when the vehicle he was in was subjected to a traffic stop. Van Gilder, a collector of historical objects, was traveling at the time with an unloaded and wrapped 1760s flintlock pistol in the glove compartment of his vehicle. The pensioner and a traveling companion were pressured into allowing the officer to conduct a search of the vehicle, at which point Van Gilder told the officer about the antique firearm. Eventually, Van Gilder was allowed to continue on his way.
The next day, however, several law enforcement officers came to Van Gilder’s home and arrested him. Van Gilder was charged with unlawful possession of a handgun. New Jersey law targets “[a]ny person who knowingly has in his possession any handgun, including any antique handgun, without first having obtained a permit to carry the same.” The charge holds a minimum sentence of 3.5 years with maximum sentence of 10.
An NRA News interview conducted with Van Gilder and his attorney, Evan Nappen, recounts the former teacher’s harrowing experience. Van Gilder warned viewers, “Beware of New Jersey. Don’t come here, don’t live here.” His treatment, he added, was “an insult to decent people.”
In subsequent comments made to Fox News, Nappen elaborated on the lunacy of New Jersey’s persecutory approach to guns. “I called the prosecutor to see what we could do on this, and the prosecutor told me that they were waiting for ballistics,” Nappen said. “And I’m thinking, What? Ballistics on a flintlock?” Nappen also noted that if prosecutors pursue the case against Van Gilder, the retired teacher could be forced to hope for a pardon from the governor, a route similar to the commutation of the sentence Brian Aitken received in 2010.
New Jersey man won’t be charged for possessing 250-year-old antique gun
A 72-year-old former teacher’s love of 18th century items will not land him in jail, after a prosecutor declined to press charges for owning a very old gun.
Gordon Van Gilder, of Port Elizabeth, collects all types of historic memorabilia from including a Queen Anne flintlock pistol from the 1760s, his attorney Evan Nappen told the Daily News.
But when officers saw it in a vehicle in which he was traveling in November, they charged him with unlawful possession of a handgun.
Suddenly the retired English teacher was facing 10 years in prison and having to serve at least 3.5 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
Police said they stopped the car because it was driving in a high crime area. Van Glider had recently used the gun as collateral for a loan at a local pawn shop and because of his arthritis he got a ride home. The gun was wrapped in the glove compartment when police searched the vehicle, Nappen said.
In an interview with NRA News earlier this month, he said the experience shows the “world has turned upside down” and that it’s “run by oppressors, I’m afraid to say, who get their agenda through.”
But his concerns ended Wednesday when the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office announced it would exercise “prosecutorial discretion” and dismiss the gun charge. But in a statement, Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae warned residents to be mindful of the current laws that do not exempt antique handguns.
Once I leave, if not for my parents I would never go back.