Should a person get in trouble for breaking the law if they don't know better? Ignorance of the law will not get you off the hook, so we're told, but is that fair? What if a person honestly doesn't know better?
There was a case of a man from North Carolina who was on a business trip to Maine. While on the trip he had a loaded handgun in a briefcase since he had a North Carolina carry permit. He was pulled over for speeding in New Jersey and got in big trouble for having a loaded handgun in the state of New Jersey. He honestly thought he was within the law since he did have a carry permit, he just didn't know his carry permit wasn't valid in NJ. So he shouldn't've gotten in trouble.
This is why people have their day in court, and you left way to much of the story out.
What did happen with this case, and how was it disposed of?
Ultimately it is up to the person to know what they can do, and when it comes to handguns (concealed carry, where it has to be stored, whatever else) we are talking about a subject that states continue to alter with no real uniformity across the union. It is not wise to take risks along these lines traveling state to state without knowing what they allow for.
The "ignorance of the law" in this case seems more like complacency.
Regardless we have a remedy for this argument, making it in front of a judge and let the chips fall where they may. To have some sort of an automatic out for "ignorance of the law" would cause all sorts of criminal justice system complications and fallout. It would be a criminal defense lawyers pipe dream, as the burden would fall on the state to prove someone knew something was against the law which further clouds criminal court process and proceedings.
And speaking of North Carolina, the application process for a concealed carry permit tells the applicant two things. That North Carolina does recognize permits issued in other states, and they have "reciprocity agreements with 36 other states." New Jersey is *not* one of those states, and the permit process makes it clear that it is up to the permit carrier to verify other states *before* carrying a weapon in a state outside of that reciprocity agreement.
In complete opposite of your opinion, in this case he should have gotten in trouble as the burden was on him to know where he could take his weapon. North Carolina even tried to warn him.
Your argument is a complete failure, even by North Carolina permit issuance conditions and warnings.
