February 28, 2011 3:15PM # Libertarianism Happens to People By [David Rittgers](https://www.cato.org/people/david-rittgers) --- SHARE You are probably familiar with the story of Brian Aitken, the responsible gun owner [wrongly convicted](http://reason.com/archives/2010/11/15/brian-aitkens-mistake) of violating New Jersey’s draconian gun laws. Governor Chris Christie [commuted Aitken’s sentence](https://www.cato.org/brian-aitken%E2%80%99s-sentence-commuted/), and his appeal is still pending. As Radley Balko often says, [libertarianism happens to people](http://www.theagitator.com/2006/01/04/libertarianism-happens-to-people/). It happened to Brian Aitken: > Aitken never thought of himself as a libertarian, but two years in the clutches of the state system has changed him completely. Before the arrest, the young, apolitical entrepreneur was on his way to a successful career in digital marketing. > > > “I never considered myself a person who is really interested in politics,” Aitken says. “But after all this happened I am definitely a hardcore libertarian now.” [Read the whole thing](http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/23/man-freed-by-gov-chris-christie-speaks-out-about-prison-life-becoming-a-libertarian-activist/). ##### Related Tags [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).