Derrick Hunter, who identifies himself as a "special police officer" (emphasis on special), is suing a Maryland gun range for giving women free admission on Mondays.
That day has long been ladies day at the Maryland Small Arms Range in Upper Marlboro, but now its being sued over the day. Derrick Hunter filed a $200,000 lawsuit against the range.
“Just because I’m a man doesn’t mean I should have to pay more,” he tells CNN.
Hunter is a special police officer and said he ran into the issue last October when he went to the range on ladies day.
“They told him he had to pay $15, he said fine, he paid the money,” says Hunter’s lawyer Jimmy Bell. “Two ladies came up behind me. He told them they were free. So I asked him, I said why did I have to pay to use the range and they didn’t,” Hunter says. “He said because they’re women, and you don’t fit the criteria.”
Hunter complained to the Prince George’s Human Relations Commission, who agreed the range was breaking the law. Gun range president Carl Roy says if what he’s doing is illegal, then so are discounts for seniors, children and the military.
“I don’t see anything discriminatory about it,” Roy says. “It’s a promotion that we run, just as any other business is entitled to run a promotion.”
I have a sneaking suspicion Hunter's case will be thrown out. But what a colossal waste of time, money and energy this gun range must now spend to defend itself against this rent-a-cop's outrage. The Maryland Small Arms Range is a private business doing nothing more than trying to attract more women to the sport. And that's a good thing! Why not encourage women to learn to shoot. Heaven knows they might need it to protect themselves especially during a time when prominent politicians see no problem urging an entire city's police force to go on strike.
And while, the number of women participating in shooting sports has doubled since 2001 to a total of around five million women shooters today, that's peanuts compared to how many men are in the field.
It's clear mall cop Derrick Hunter isn't aware that "Ladies night" promotions are nothing new (one suspects he's kind of a homebody) and they certainly aren't limited to gun ranges. Bars and restaurants regularly host ladies nights–the reasoning being that men will go where the ladies go. And as the gun range's president notes above, businesses often give discounts for the elderly, children and the military.
Special police officer Derrick Hunter wants us all to believe he's waging this brave little battle in order to get equal rights for men, but his real target is pretty obvious: he's looking for a payout. Be a real man, Mr. Hunter: drop the case.