Earlier this month, Shereen Gamboa, like many women in the U.S., was looking forward to a fun night out with her friends. She and her friends had made plans to visit Riverside Magnum Gun Range for the regular Thursday night ladies night event that had become very popular at the gun range, particularly because it was a space where women could learn “how to properly handle a gun in a comfortable setting.” To attract women to the event, the gun range even waived the “$12 range fee for women.” Unfortunately for Gamboa and other women who enjoyed the event, it’s been cancelled after a man claimed the event was discriminatory.
Earlier this month, Shereen Gamboa, like many women in the U.S., was looking forward to a fun night out with her friends. She and her friends had made plans to visit Riverside Magnum Gun Range for the regular Thursday night ladies night event that had become very popular at the gun range, particularly because it was a space where women could learn “how to properly handle a gun in a comfortable setting.” To attract women to the event, the gun range even waived the “$12 range fee for women.” Unfortunately for Gamboa and other women who enjoyed the event, it’s been canceled after a man claimed the event was discriminatory.
In response to the news, Gamboa said, “I am disappointed. It’s definitely a night that we like to come in and get a discounted rate as this is a male dominated thing.” The gun range’s firearms instructor was upset about the news as well because he was one of the people who thought of the idea for the event in the first place. When talking about the event and the women who enjoyed it, he said, “They come in, they see other women, they don’t feel as intimidated when they see other women in here practicing.”
But who filed the complaint in the first place? Well, the event was “called off after owner Peter Lee received a letter from an Orange County man by the name of Gregory Rolando who claimed that waiving the fee for women is a form of discrimination and a violation of his civil rights.”
Upon canceling the popular event, Lee received a thank-you from Rolando, who then proceeded to put forth ideas for a resolution. But Galleta claims the matter wasn’t so cut and dry. According to him, the initial letter the gun range received from Rolando was “basically, in my opinion, was extortion. This gentleman said he would call off his attorneys if the range owner would pay him a certain amount of money.”
However, it turns out this wasn’t the business targeted by Rolando. After conducting a brief investigation, ABC7 discovered that many other lawsuits against other businesses throughout San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties alleged similar civil rights violations. For example, “Super Corona Detailing Car Wash was sent a similar letter in May” where Rolando “claimed they offered a ladies day promotion giving female customers $2 off their service.” That particular lawsuit was later settled for $1,500.
For now, Lee isn’t backing down and plans on taking the fight against Rolando in court.
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