Kidnapped by Mistake, Pet Store Owner Wins Concealed Carry OK, Based on ‘Urgent’ Need, a Year Later

In January 2010, a pet store owner in New Jersey was kidnapped at gunpoint by suspects who mistook him for another man with the same name who reportedly owed them $500,000 in a business deal. Today, the New Jersey man obtained a court order authorizing him to carry a concealed handgun for his own protection due to "urgent necessity," after a court battle.

Jeffrey Muller, 61, was abducted in front of his Newton store in January 2010 and taken to Missouri before he escaped after the car in which he and the kidnappers were traveling broke down, according to the Morristown Daily Record and the Star-Ledger.

A Morristown Superior Court judge initially refused Muller, who is a former competitive shooter, a concealed carry permit, finding that any danger to him was abated by the fact that five suspects, who are from Missouri, have been arrested in the Sussex County criminal case. (The gun permit matter was handled in neighboring Morris County to avoid any conflict with the criminal case.)

However, further information provided by Muller and his lawyer, David Jensen, persuaded another judge today that both a justifiable need and an "urgent necessity" mandated approval of Muller's application for the concealed carry permit, the newspapers say. The judge cited Muller's concern that he might be targeted for retaliation by relatives of one or more of the suspects as a factor in his decision.