Jacob Sullum on Shaneen Allen, a Pennsylvania Gun Owner Who Faces Prison for Thinking Her Carry Permit Was Good in New Jersey

Shaneen Allen faces three and a
half years in prison because she made an honest mistake, followed
by a mistake of honesty. Allen, a 27-year-old phlebotomist who
lives in Philadelphia, drove to Atlantic City with a gun in her
purse, erroneously thinking her Pennsylvania carry permit would be
respected in New Jersey. Then she told a state trooper about the
gun when he pulled her over for a traffic violation.

Last week a state judge refused to dismiss the
resulting charges against Allen, a single mother of two with no
criminal record, or to order that prosecutors approve her
participation in a pretrial diversion program. Jacob Sullum says
her trial, scheduled for October 6, will pit New Jersey’s draconian
gun laws against compassion and common sense.

View this article.