Gov. Chris Christie has granted a pardon to Shaneen Allen, the Pennsylvania mother and gun owner who was arrested in October 2013 for carrying a concealed weapon into New Jersey.
Her attorney, Evan Knappen, of Eatontown, said the Allen case lead to the Office of the Attorney General issuing new guidelines that allow people who are legally entitled to carry firearms in their home states to enter diversionary programs instead of heading directly to a Garden State prison if charged with violating state law.
“It was quite a fight for her down there in Atlantic County, and it led to significant changes,” Knappen said. “Hundreds of folks were helped by her case…It’s a little absurd to take someone who’s a law abiding citizen in their home state but then put them into a New Jersey state prison for a mandatory 3 to 5 year sentence and make them a felon.”
Christie, in signing the pardon, cleared Allen on the gun possession charge as well as a related ammunition charge.
