The Blue Tent Sky

As a result of a messy divorce, Aitken, a law-abiding citizen, has to move from Colorado to New Jersey. While he’s moving some of his things to his new apartment, he is detained by police and his car is searched. Although he is legally transporting his personal firearms from his parents’ home to his own, he is arrested and charged with illegal possession. The NRA gets involved in his case, and Aitken becomes the poster child for the gun rights movement. The judge seems determined to make an example of him, so Aitken goes to jail; there, he is treated well by guards and is held at arm’s length by prisoners. His sentence is finally commuted by New Jersey governor Chris Christie, but, nevertheless, Aitken is tied up with legal battles and his ex-wife won’t let him see his son. Aitken has mined the transcripts of his trial carefully, and the presentation he makes here is that of a man in the wrong place at the wrong time being used for political ends. Readers of all political stripes will sympathize with his experience, but he is too quick to blame a leftist conspiracy for gun control, running the risk of alienating readers who might have a different attitude about citizens owning guns. But Aitken does present a solid, clearly written memoir that will make readers more thoughtful about gun legislation. (BookLife)