One-time NJ gun owner pardoned by Christie now charged with attempted murder

A former Mount Laurel resident who was at the center of a gun rights case a decade ago has now been accused of attempted murder in Colorado.

Brian D. Aitken, 38, was criminally charged on Friday in Telluride, according to the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office and first reported in New Jersey by the Courier-Post.

While still a South Jersey resident, Aiken previously was convicted of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.

Aitken then had his seven-year prison sentence commuted by Gov. Chris Christie and left prison on Dec. 21, 2010 — six years and eight months early.

He wrote a memoir called "The Blue Tent Sky: How the Left's War on Guns Cost Me My Son and My Freedom."

The Telluride Marshal’s Office was in charge of the investigation, of which no details had been disclosed publicly by Monday afternoon.

There was a Friday shooting near a Telluride school that prompted a brief lockdown among students and staff, according to a report by The Telluride Daily Planet.

“There was a shooting incident in a residence close to campus. Marshals now have control of the scene with suspect in custody,” the same report said.

It was not immediately clear if that reported incident involved Aitken.