Pride For The Team!

This last Saturday was a unique circumstance, especially for the South Bay Members’ Council. Due to the rain from the previous weekend, the Hermosa Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade had to be postponed to March 24th. Unfortunately, some of our members found that they had conflicting commitments because of other pro-Second Amendment scheduled events. Each one was significant in their own way so we found our resources were split.

I am very proud and elated to report that all three events were very successful!

Several organizations invested time, effort, and resources into the NRA Women On Target clinic at Burro Canyon. We can thank major supporters like the California Rifle And Pistol Association, Calguns.net, Turner’s Outdoorsman, and Ruger Firearms for providing the instructors, line coaches, firearms, ammunition, etc. The response to the clinic was overwhelming. There were 100 spaces available and the event was fully booked weeks in advance. On the day of the event, 100+ actually attended. You read that right. They had MORE women attend than originally expected, not less! We reached out across to our Members’ Councils, CRPA and Calguns members for assistance. Fortunately, enough members volunteered to create an optimal learning environment all of the new women shooters.

Simultaneously, the Pistol Packing Petticoats had their meeting in the South Bay. In addition to a regular meeting, the women were treated to a special class conducted by one of own local firearms instructor, Alan Egusa. The class was an extension of Alan’s book, Martial Arts Of The Gun. It too was a huge success!

Finally, there was the rescheduled Hermosa Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade. A special thank you goes out to Peter Yollin for volunteering his jeep. The South Bay Members’ Council presents Eddie Eagle every year at the parade. The crowd loves Eddie, especially the young children. We needed a minimum number of people to volunteer in order for this to work, and thank goodness, we had that. The parade proceeded as planned and we continued to cultivate goodwill with the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce and the entire community.

Critics and skeptics often whine that California is an anti-gun state and is a lost cause. Let me clarify something. California is NOT anti-gun. California residents are NOT all anti-gun. It is the California ANTI-GUN politicians that are anti-gun! Look at what the team did this last Saturday. This is the result of years of time, effort, and work from pro-gun organizations working inside the State. As a result, we had enough supporters to spread across multiple events. You can tell the critics and skeptics to “stuff it.”

Look at the Women On Target pictures. Every seat is taken under the lecture tent. There is a line of women at the NRA membership table! The picture of the students holding up their targets; that is only about 25 new women shooters. There were four other groups just like them holding up their targets with big smiles on their faces. Look at the Pistol Packing Petticoats. A group of educated and distinguished women in the South Bay taking a Saturday morning class about firearms techniques. Look at the pictures of the parade. We had members from South Bay MC, Westside MC, and Huntington Beach MC all coming together as a team to proudly escort Eddie Eagle along with his parade route.

We pulled it off! It was a pro-gun “hat trick” and we pulled it off California!
James Ma
President
South Bay Members’ Council