27 year-old Shaneen Allen wanted to protect her family. She took a gun safety course, applied for and was granted a concealed carry permit and she purchased a gun. “One of my family members, he thought it was appropriate for me to get one because I’m a single mother and I have two children and I work two jobs and I work late and getting up at that time of night I got robbed twice last year and he felt the need for me to get my license to protect me and my kids,” Allen explained.

However, while Allen, from Philadelphia, was covered to carry a gun in Pennsylvania, she made the mistake of crossing into New Jersey with the weapon and now she's facing a mandatory minimum of three-years in jail. Allen said that she didn't know her permit didn't apply to New Jersey so when she was stopped for a minor traffic offense she told the police about her gun and her permit to carry.

In this case, being honest may have cost her.

http://www.ebony.com/black-listed/news-views/black-woman-faces-prison-time-over-legally-purchased-gun-981#axzz37kHjPXq7

mind you I removed the word BLACK from the title of the article because it was not germaine to what happened.

This might come off to those predisposed to think everything has an underlying tone of discrimination, but I assure you that's not the case...

If there ever was a case where a legal gun owner could actually gain some support from the general public, this would be one. Being a black female brings all kinds of support to her, from blacks, womens rights advocates, the gun community, etc that simply would not be afforded to a white male who committed the same offense.

 Case in point -  I live in florida, and I am very aware of gun laws and firearm cases ongoing in the state. You may have heard of a recent case, the Zimmerman trial. If you know and understand florida's defense laws, you'll understand that the jury found the exact correct judgement in this case. The case had nothing to do with race, but screaming " racism" makes everyone take a sep back, and then findings of fact are clouded by a completely unfounded allegation. As you know, there was a huge push by the black community to repeal the "stand your ground " laws - even though stand your ground was never a consideration, this was a case based purely on justifiable use of force for self defense.

 Now what you are probably not aware of is the case of Marissa Alexander, which was ongoing concurrently with the Zimmerman case.

  Alexander, a black woman, was involved in an argument with her husband, who had previously been abusive to her. During the arguement, she went into the attached garage and retrieved a pistol from her car. She could have escaped out the garage, but did not, she went back into the house, and fired a shot at her husband, that missed him.  At trial, she was convicted of ag assault, as she had an opportunity to escape her husband, but rather went after him. Florida, like  NJ, has minimum mandatory sentences when firearms are used in commission of a felony. Alexander, was sentenced to 20 years for using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

  Now here's where it gets really interesting - the EXACT SAME PEOPLE  Who were screaming that Zimmerman was racially motivated to "hunt and kill" Martin were the most outspoken to claim Alexander's conviction was racially motivated , and that SHE should have the full benefit of "stand your ground".  This hue and cry became so strong that as of July 1 of this year, another law went on our book of statutes that is affectionately referred to the "warning shot bill". Basically the law allows you to threaten use of deadly force, including firing warning shots, if you would have been allowed to actually use deadly force in the given situation.

  So now, other groups around the country ignorant of the history of this new law are trying to make Florida appear to be the crazy wild west, with comments that now blacks have to be afraid not only of the disparate use of "stand your ground" laws against them, but now actually get shot at as well, all done legally of course. The reality though, is that the new law was done strictly to satisfy the NAACP, and secure Alexander's release.

  Another interesting thing is that most concealed carriers in fForida do not like the "warning shot" bill, as the thought is basically "if you're shooting the air, or the ground, then you really didn't need to shoot at all" I agree with that, police don't do it, it's an unsafe practice.

All considered, the NJ case has a lot of similarities with Alexanders case. Mark my words, she will likely be convicted of something (as she should be, if you carry you better learn the laws ) but they'll find a way around the 3 year mandatory sentence.

  Now if this were a white male...not so much. 

 JMO, Steve

I have to follow the same laws as this woman, as I reside in the same state. The New Jersey boarder is only minutes from
my house. I've had my CCW for a number of years, and I know the laws of my state, and any state I travel in. I made it
real easy for me, I downloaded an app, and receive constant state law changes thru the app.
Bottom line, the law states that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Sorry Charlie..
NJ laws need to change, but voter pressure is needed.

Bummer for her. But she's lucky she didn't do that in Texas with the Mexican border. She would be facing 20 years in a seriously bad prison. This has happened to others.

I don't want to start a controversy but I cannot think of anything good that would result from volunteering that your carrying to a LEO.

Yeah the laws should be the same everywhere .
http://www.amazon.com/Firearms-Ownership-Authoritative-Explains-Self-Defense/dp/0964195852

At the last minute my wife said lets drive to Buffalo NY  area for Christmas last year , she just had knee surgery so we were going to stay home, we always fly , I carry a Glock 26 with me hidden well in a mod I made in my center console ,  I just looked up NY pistol laws , I thought all I had to do was make sure I only had 10 round mags for my 26 which is standard , well I was wrong . 

yeah, it's called the SAFE act.

what a crock.

Steve

At the last minute my wife said lets drive to Buffalo NY  area for Christmas last year , she just had knee surgery so we were going to stay home, we always fly , I carry a Glock 26 with me hidden well in a mod I made in my center console ,  I just looked up NY pistol laws , I thought all I had to do was make sure I only had 10 round mags for my 26 which is standard , well I was wrong .

Careful with that.  You can get arrested and lose your car just for having a "hidden compartment".

http://www.timesdispatch.com/opinion/their-opinion/columnists-blogs/guest-columnists/car-trouble-bill-would-outlaw-hidden-compartments-trigger-forfeiture/article_86b38062-c731-5cb0-9d76-209c3fb2ee9a.html

http://reason.com/archives/2014/02/16/the-crime-of-having-a-hidden-compartment

I love this phrase:  Lawmakers in Ohio are not alone in enacting or envisioning bans on unauthorized empty space.

Careful with that.  You can get arrested and lose your car just for having a "hidden compartment".

I love this phrase:  Lawmakers in Ohio are not alone in enacting or envisioning bans on unauthorized empty space.[/color]

The perfect grounds for a recall petition.

At the last minute my wife said lets drive to Buffalo NY  area for Christmas last year , she just had knee surgery so we were going to stay home, we always fly , I carry a Glock 26 with me hidden well in a mod I made in my center console ,  I just looked up NY pistol laws , I thought all I had to do was make sure I only had 10 round mags for my 26 which is standard , well I was wrong . 

yeah, it's called the SAFE act.
what a crock.
Steve

It's not only the SAFE act.  NY doesn't recognize any other state's permits.  And NYC doesn't even recognize NY permits from other counties. 

  Better not be driving a late model Ford Escape like my wife's. Because every one of them come from the factory with a hidden compartment under the floor mat behind the passenger seat. This is not just "perfect grounds for a recall petition" as GP stated but perfect grounds for revolution and to start hanging the bastards. 

Careful with that.  You can get arrested and lose your car just for having a "hidden compartment".

http://www.timesdispatch.com/opinion/their-opinion/columnists-blogs/guest-columnists/car-trouble-bill-would-outlaw-hidden-compartments-trigger-forfeiture/article_86b38062-c731-5cb0-9d76-209c3fb2ee9a.html

http://reason.com/archives/2014/02/16/the-crime-of-having-a-hidden-compartment

I love this phrase:  Lawmakers in Ohio are not alone in enacting or envisioning bans on unauthorized empty space.

mind you I removed the word BLACK from the title of the article because it was not germaine to what happened.

The $% D@mn Germans ain't got nuttin to do with it! 

LOL