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9-year-old Shyanne Roberts, a nationally sponsored competitive shooter from Franklin Township, will be testifying against the proposed limit on magazine rounds at the statehouse on Monday, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014. (Staff Photo by Joe Warner/South Jersey Times)

Shyanne Roberts fired a gun for the first time at age 4, sitting on her father’s lap.

She got her first rifle — pink, of course — on her 6th birthday. Six months later, she could hit bullseye after bullseye at the shooting range. At 7, she started competing.

Now, at 9, the Franklin Township fourth grader is a highly skilled competitive shooter who proudly shows off her second place medal from the New Jersey State Ruger Rimfire Challenge Competition in October, when she beat not one, but two retired police officers.

“When she steps up to the line, it’s like a switch goes off,” her father, Dan Roberts, said. “She’s methodical.”

That focus, speed and spot-on aim, combined with her confident grin and cheerful poise has gained Shyanne national sponsors, a growing fan base, attention from reality show producers and the chance to, in her words, “kick everybody’s butt.”

Her father however, says her competitive shooting career could be stunted before it really starts, if recently proposed legislation reducing the state's legal limit of rounds in a magazine is signed into law.

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9-year-old Shyanne Roberts, a nationally sponsored competitive shooter from Franklin Township, poses with her unloaded and locked pink, bolt-action .22 rifle, at her home, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014. Roberts will be testifying against the proposed limit on magazine rounds at the statehouse on Monday (Staff Photo by Joe Warner/South Jersey Times)

The bill — which would reduce the legal maximum capacity of magazines from 15 rounds to 10 — didn’t gain much traction when it was first introduced last year, partly due to Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3 West Deptford) declining to back it.

But with Sweeney coming out in support of the bill at an emotional press conference last Monday, where he was joined by parents of Sandy Hook shooting victims, it's likely to pass both houses with ease.

If signed by the governor, Roberts said the law would force him to choose between giving up the tools that could advance Shyanne’s skills to the next competitive level or leaving the state entirely.

A New Hamspire-based sponsor is currently making a fully custom, $3,000 AR-15 semi-automatic rifle built specifically for Shyanne. Both the AR-15 and a Glock 19 9mm pistol, also on its way to Shyanne from another sponsor, come standard with 15-round magazines, said Roberts.

“If this proposal becomes law, both guns will essentially be worthless for competitions,” said Roberts, also a columnist for Ammoland.com. “Her season starts in just a few weeks and there is currently no ‘grandfathering’ language or exemptions for competitors in the proposed bill.”

That’s why Shyanne will spend Monday in Trenton with her father, testifying against the legislation at the Statehouse.

“It doesn’t make sense for them to [pass] it,” said Roberts.

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Supporters of the bill limiting magazine rounds will also make the trip to Trenton to argue on its behalf, eager to point out how the legislation could save lives, particularly in a mass shooting event.

The inconveniences placed on competitive shooters and sportsmen is minuscule compared to the bill’s potential to do good, said Bryan Miller, executive director of Heeding God's Call, a faith-based gun violence prevention organization that is based in Philadelphia and works in the mid-Atlantic region

“The sport shooters that might be affected by the limitation constitutes a tiny, tiny portion of the population,” said Miller. “Unfortunately when any law is written about any product or any practices, inevitably, a certain portion and hopefully a tiny portion is affected in a way that makes them unhappy.”

He said that comparing regulating guns to any other product is misleading, since guns are specifically designed to be as lethal as possible.

“We’re seeking to make the whole population safer by restricting the ability of people intent on mayhem to fire a whole load of bullets before they have to reload,” said Miller.

He pointed to the Newtown, Conn. shooting, where he said gunman Adam Lanza had to stop to reload, allowing 11 children to escape. He also noted the shooting of former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, when the 13th bullet in shooter Jared Loughner gun killed a nine-year-old girl.

“When his magazine ran out, that’s when he was knocked down and captured,” said Miller. “If that had been 10 bullets, she might be alive.”

Sweeney also defended his change of heart earlier this week, saying it was the parents of children gunned down in Newton, Conn. that finally swayed him.

“I looked into the eyes of parents that lost their children. If it’s an inconvenience ... it’s really not the end of the world, but it is the end of the world when you lose a child or loved one,” said Sweeney

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Whether Gov. Chris Christie, who vetoed a slew of gun reform bills last year, signs the bill or not is anyone’s guess. Roberts thinks there’s little chance. Miller has hope. But if Christie does, one thing is clear, whether it’s in New Jersey or elsewhere — Shyanne’s not stopping.

“I feel really good [when competing],” she said, smiling. “It’s awesome.”

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Contact staff writer Michelle Caffrey at 856-686-3686 or mcaffrey@southjerseymedia.com