Grown-ups can learn a lot from

children, especially 9-year-old

Shyanne Roberts of Franklinville,

N.J., and that’s why we are

recognizing this courageous young

lady as the Gun Rights Defender of

the Month.

 

She earned it.

In an interview with Point Blank,

Miss Roberts, a student at Main Road

Elementary, became a standout for

her generation. She did that while

telling a room full of adults a lot of

things they should already know.

When Miss Roberts testified before

a legislative committee discussing

a new gun control measure in the

Garden State, there was only the

honesty of a child with a love for

the shooting sports.

 

She reminded lawmakers that

instituting a magazine capacity limit

“was punishing me instead of the

other people that did something

wrong.”

 

“I started shooting in my dad’s lap

when I was five,” she told Point Blank,

“and started competing when I was

seven.”

 

Miss Roberts has become an icon on

YouTube. She has her own Facebook

page that her dad, Dan, monitors

because some adults simply cannot

control their foul sentiments toward

even youngsters who support gun

rights.

 

Shyanne competes with a Ruger

10/22 semi-auto rifle, a Walther P22

pistol and a bolt-action single-shot

Cricket .22-caliber rifle. She is moving

up this year to an AR-15, a Remington

11-87 shotgun in 20-gauge, and a

Glock 19 pistol.

 

She was nervous, but was willing

to go for it after having seen 15-yearold

Sarah Merkle testify against

restrictive gun laws in Maryland last

year. As with Merkle’s case, the video

of Shyanne’s remarks went viral with

tens of thousands of views.

 

Her fellow students were “stunned,”

Shyanne recalled, that she had been

able to testify, and one of her teachers

told her, “Girl power rocks!”

Indeed it does. When she was

finished, the crowd broke out in

applause.

 

Miss Roberts told lawmakers that

if they adopt new magazine capacity

limits, it will seriously handicap her

ability to compete in some matches,

where speed and accuracy count.

Having to reload in the middle of a

relay will cut seconds off her time,

her father noted.

 

Shyanne has two older sisters and

one younger brother. She will turn 10

in August, and she is already thinking

about one day trying to earn a

national title in shooting competition.

Dan Roberts told Point Blank

that, because he owns firearms, he

wanted his children to learn to be

safe around them.

 

 

Shyanne appears

to have inherited his interest, but is

definitely developing her own knack

for defending not only her rights, but

everyone else’s in the process.

“I just walked right up and testified.