Shaneen Allen, single mother of two, is a healthcare worker trying hard to provide for her family in Philadelphia.
She was working two jobs, often pulling late shifts and odd hours. She had been robbed twice in the past year, and a family member encouraged her to get a gun for protection. She went through a firearms training class, passed a background check, and was issued a license to carry a firearm by the Pennsylvania State Police.
About a week after acquiring a firearm, Shaneen was pulled over for a minor traffic violation. As she had been instructed in her licensing class, she immediately informed the officer that she had a license and a handgun with her.
Unfortunately for Shaneen, she was on the New Jersey side of the river at the time, and her Pennsylvania license is not recognized in New Jersey.
Shaneen spent over a month in a New Jersey county jail and is now facing up to ten years in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of at least three years, along with a felony conviction on her record.
