by David “Rosey” Rosenthal, Editor in-Chief for Black Wire Media
www.cnjfo.com/join-us
Sussex County, New Jersey Deputy Freeholder Director Dawn Fantasia, a single mother of 3, is awakened at Zero Dark Thirty by unwanted parties on her property exiting their vehicle. Pistol in-hand, she calls 911 from her bedside at 2:30am and her local Police respond in 5 minutes. They do a thorough perimeter check, finding neither the vehicle or its unwanted occupants, chat about her having a pistol is a good thing, and clear the scene. 18 months ago, the unarmed Fantasia would have been a fearful wreck. Not so this time, as she estimates she had only 1/10th of the fear since “I have the great equalizer—my Sig Sauer pistol”!
Fantasia is very astute to the discriminatory practices of our state’s leadership when it comes to gun control and how it affects lower and middle class New Jerseyians:
“The Red Tape and hoops you have to jump through, the months of waiting, Governor Murphy’s BLATANT (attempted) discriminatory fee schedule ($200+ for 1st gun–Ed.) is nothing more than a GUN CONTROL SCHEME! When NJ residents need guns the most, they’re BLOCKED! Covid was used to shut down all the gun stores and ranges; that’s unconstitutional. Legal guns aren’t the problem, they never were!”-Dawn Fantasia
Her journey into firearms ownership started just 18 months ago, when she was invited to attend a sporting clays fundraiser at Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays in Coplay, PA. (the same venue we’re holding our CNJFO fundraiser on Sunday Nov. 15th (www.cnjfo.com/Event-4007823). With law enforcement officers and hunters in her family, she’s been around firearms virtually her entire life, but had never shot before. That changed 18 months ago with a simple invite and getting over any fears.
Shooting sporting clays was as much fun as it was eye-opening. For the first time in her life she felt “empowered” by a firearm. You KNOW that feeling, every gun owner does. The ability to stand up and declare you won’t be a victim because you have learned to use a tool for survival.
“I’m there, I’m surrounded by all these men, and I wasn’t comfortable–at first. That changed rather quickly. They accepted me, showed me what to do and were very encouraging. I got comfortable, something I’ve found (since that day) is really easy to do with the shooting community. People that shoot are so NICE! I was hooked and wanted to protect my family. That’s when I bought my Sig!”- Dawn Fantasia
Fantasia picked up her .380 Sig P238 compact at Pequest Sporting Goods and loves the magazines with built-in extension so she can wrap her pinky finger around the grip for better control of the compact pistol. Her wish list includes a 9mm Sig P226 and a 20 gauge shotgun. We weighed-in on her excellent choices, suggesting a 20 ga. youth model, gas-operated semi-auto shotgun with a rubber butt pad for both correct “fit” and reduced recoil (she had a bruise from not knowing how to shoot a 12 ga.).
Realizing that firearms ownership comes with responsibility, Fantasia sought out hand gun training with NRA Training Counselor Paul Raynolds. The full-day NRA Pistol class was held at the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs Cherry Ridge Range in Highland Lakes, Vernon Twp., NJ.
A staunch 2nd Amendment proponent, Fantasia practices at Gun For Hire and at Reloaderz-NJ ranges, often bringing her 17 year old daughter, who’s really accepting of the shooting lifestyle. Recently Dawn doubled her target distance to 10 yards while still maintaining decent groups with her compact Sig. She’s shot other guns, including long guns at these ranges.
CNJFO strongly believes that women and their offspring will save our precious 2nd Amendment, since it’s usually the Mom that forbids firearms in the home. By getting more moms to the range, we have a better chance of Anthony Colandro’s “EACH ONE, REACH ONE!” mantra taking effect.
Most ranges have women-only shooting clubs, so it’s even easier these days.
Check out the Second Amendment Women Shooting Club :
(http://sawshootingclub.com) based at the Gun For Hire Woodland Park Range
and
The Well Armed Woman has 5 chapters in NJ:
https://twawshootingchapters.org/find-a-local-chapter .
Please help us and bring a new person to the range SOON! You never know – YOU might empower THEM to do what Dawn Fantasia did! If you’re interested in learning about firearms and don’t know where to turn, reach out to us, and we’ll give you a hand!
Questions about this story can be directed to: info@cnjfo.com
Black Wire Media is the communications division of The Coalition of New Jersey Firearms Owners, CNJFO, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization as defined by the Internal Revenue Code can be found on the web at: https://www.cnjfo.com/