I don’t normally involve myself in individual requests for assistance. This one came through, and the gross unfairness of the situation struck me—as well as the implications for destroying lawful commerce in firearms. Here’s the gist of things:

Teenage reptiles plot and execute a “thrill killing” of two pizza deliverers. They obtain their weapons by breaking into a gun shop.

Lawsuits are filed by the victims’ survivors. Among those named, who settle for an undisclosed amount: the burglarized gun store and their alarm company.

Aside from having the predictable effect of scaring off New Jersey proprietors from dealing in firearms, the former owners of the gun store have also had their financial lives destroyed.

I received the following from Lawrence C. Farrell, Jr., of Gun Owners of New Jersey:

“A PLEA FOR HELP

"Hi Everyone, I am making a personal plea to help some folks who really need it. Keith and Sheila Hughes are the young couple who owned the gun shop in Sussex Co that was broken into 7 years ago and a gun stolen was used in a murder. They had followed every regulation concerning store security, however, the NJ courts said they were negligent and responsible for the crime and have been suffering ever since. I have been recently notified by friends that they are about to lose their home and belongings because of a court decision still related to the incident 7 years ago. They have lost their business, their credit, their jobs;---need I go further, simply because they owned a gun store in NJ. They are a young couple with 2 small children and they don't deserve this.

"On another note, the murder victim’s family sued and won millions of dollars from their insurance. Welcome to NJ! To get to the point, please send a small donation to them and let them know you are a gun owner and they have friends. They are really at the end of their rope after years of harassment. A $20.00 donation from each of us (or whatever you can) will go far to pay some bills and boost their morale.

"Please send donations to:

"HUGHES FAMILY C/O Vernon United Methodist Church PO Box 345 Vernon, NJ 07452

"THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ANY GUN STORE OWNER OR ANY OF US IF OUR HOMES WERE BURGLARIZED. THEY NEED SUPPORT FROM THE GUN OWNERS COMMUNITY. PASS THIS ON TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT CARE. We appreciate this very much.

"Peggy and Mike Bodner, ANJRPC"

Lawrence asks that donors write “GONJ” on the memo line of their checks.