posted 04-25-2005 10:33 PM         

She's armed but hardly dangerous

The gun was supposed to be safely tucked in the trunk of her car. Or at least that's where Rebecca Solomon thought she had put it Wednesday morning, right up until the guard at the Essex County Courthouse started looking at her strangely.

"Is this your bag?" she remembered him saying as she passed through the metal detector.

"Yes," Solomon replied.

"There's something that looks like a gun in there," the guard said.

"Oh my," Solomon said.

The guard was quick to determine the gun, a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson, was not a threat. It had never been removed from its original box. Solomon didn't seem too dangerous either.

She's 87.

"I asked the guard if he could just keep it until I got back from court," Solomon said. "He said, 'I can't do that. I'm afraid I'm going to have to call my supervisor.'"

That's when Solomon's trip to Landlord/Tenant Court in Newark hit a snag. While Solomon has a permit to own the gun and can keep it in her house, she does not have a permit to carry it in public. The Essex County Sheriff's Office charged her with unlawful possession of a handgun.

"We had no choice," Sheriff Armando Fontoura said. "We felt bad about it. But there was nothing we could do."

Unlawful possession is a third-degree crime that carries a three- to five-year prison sentence.

"I hope the prosecutor will see this for what it is and either downgrade the charges or just dismiss them," Fontoura said. "She's 87, for goodness sakes. She didn't mean any harm. And she's such a nice lady."

Solomon said she couldn't remember when she bought the gun, just that a few years back she felt she needed one for protection. She had retired from her maintenance job with the Newark school system in 2003, at age 85, and was spending more time at home by herself.

"When you get to be old and you live alone, people take advantage of you," Solomon said.

She's never used it, never even taken it out of the packaging -- though she said she knows how to load it and does own bullets.

"Sure I have bullets," Solomon said. "I got a whole box full. I never opened that, either."

She seldom thought about the gun until this past year. The city of Newark bought her out of her home on Highland Avenue, where she had lived for 52 years, to clear room for a new Home Depot.

Solomon moved to the South Ward, to a duplex on Weequahic Avenue, where she said her home has been broken into three times.

She said thieves stole the medallion she was going to give her nephew for graduating Seton Hall and the Jack and Jacqueline Kennedy salt and pepper shakers she kept in her china closet.

"I paid a lot of money for those," Solomon said. "I'll tell you, I was so heartbroken. They took everything, everything they thought they could get a penny for."

And even though she since has installed a burglar alarm, she said she is increasingly fearful that crooks might eventually find her gun. So she never leaves it at home.

"I couldn't leave it here," Solomon said. "Imagine what might have happened if the wrong person got their hands on it? Someone could get shot."

Most of the time she puts the gun in the trunk of her car when she goes out.

Then came Wednesday.

She was scheduled to appear in Landlord/Tenant Court -- she's trying to get her tenants evicted -- but said she started running late.

She just doesn't get around as well as she once did, with her arthritis and all.

"I meant to put it in the trunk of my car, but I was worried about getting to court on time," Solomon said. "I know I made a mistake. I just get forgetful sometimes."

Following procedure -- albeit gently -- sheriff's officers took Solomon to Central Judicial Processing Court for booking.

"They were so nice," Solomon said. "I'm telling you, they got all these nice people in that office. I've never met such nice people."

The court released her on her own recognizance, though she does have that gun charge to deal with.

"They said I would get a letter, and that I would have to go to court again," Solomon said.

This time, she said she'll try to remember to leave her gun behind.

SET HER FREE,,,,SET HER FREE!

posted 04-26-2005 11:21 AM         

quote:

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Originally posted by ed monahan:
Nothing like an 87 with a handgun to make you feel comfy all over.

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posted 04-26-2005 11:26 AM         

quote:

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Originally posted by ed monahan:
Nothing like an 87 with a handgun to make you feel comfy all over.

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my dad is 83 and is fully armed at all times....he is also 90% blind.....scares the crap outta my mom....not sure he could fire it anymore, but he still likes to carry it....

...just recently he pulled it on a guy at Walmart over a parking place...I could see Kent State happening all over again, people shot several hundred yards away never knowing why...