Carrying a legal gun out of state started with a single mom

For a couple of years now we've been talking about legal gun owners and the challenges that New Jersey's strict gun laws present to law abiding citizens. One of the victims that fell into NJ's anti-gun dragnet was Shaneen Allen. Remember her? She was the single mom arrested and facing nearly 12 years in prison for having her firearm in her vehicle when she crossed into Jersey from PA. Thankfully, Governor Christie issued her a pardon and she can move on with her life. She's one of the newest and to some unlikeliest faces of the second amendment movement pushing for reciprocity among the states when it comes to gun carry permits. The bill that just passed the House of Representatives will allow legal gun owners with a right-to-carry in their home state the right to have their firearm with them when they travel across state lines. It's headed to the Senate and then hopefully to President Trump's desk.

Her story is an incredible journey from jail cell to celebrity among gun rights advocates. Looking at the history of gun control in America, having a young, black single mom is just about as close to exactly who should be the face of the movement.

Gun control in the US has some ugly roots in the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws designed to oppress blacks in America despite the Confederate loss in the Civil War.

The post Civil War environment was violent and dangerous for freed slaves. The horrors committed by terror groups like the KKK in the years following the war prompted action by the President that was met with incredible political resistance from the opposite party in Washington. Seems to me, given our nation's history of slavery and violence against people of color, having Shaneen Allen as one of the many faces and voices of gun rights advocates is perfect and a long time coming.

The fact that a black, single mom, with her compelling story as to why she needed a firearm in the first place and then the pardon from the Governor is already a dramatic departure from typical media portrayals of the "gun nuts".

Left-wing advocates of gun control typically start the history lessons intended to further their agenda with an attack on survivalists and the NRA. It's interesting how they always seem to leave out the conversation about the KKK and the Republican President Ulysses Grant having to fight Democrats in Washington in order to use federal resources and troops to protect black families from terror. The KKK certainly wanted newly freed slaves to be denied the rights of other Americans. Armed people have the ability to fight back against terror and oppression.

The fact that Shaneen is a woman of strength and commitment, not afraid to speak truth and common sense, is inspiring. Especially in a day where everything is politicized and it's difficult for anyone to stand up in public for President Trump, let alone a representative from the demographic who is supposed to hate Trump.

It is common sense that a licensed gun owner acquiring the right to carry a firearm for personal protection be afforded that same right regardless of the state she is traveling through. The fact that throughout history governments have used gun control to suppress liberty is reason enough for a change in the current laws. The fact is that gun owners are not all survivalists and militia members. Sometimes they're just moms trying to get home from the night shift.

Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015. Tweet him @NJ1015 or @BillSpadea.

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