RSWC #102 Alan Lau – Riding Shotgun With Charlie

Riding Shotgun With Charlie
#102
Alan Lau
ALau Firearm Training

Alan and I have been following each other on social media for a while. We were officially connected by Patrick Collins RSWC #91 & #99 Part 1. He thought Alan would be a great passenger for the show. And he was correct!

Alan grew up in Hong Kong and moved to the Boston area when he was 13. He had other family members living in the area, so Massachusetts is where they went. He’s got years of martial arts including Muay Tai and used to referee MMA in New Hampshire until Massachusetts became a sanctioned state to run matches.

Alan was a Democrat when he moved to the USA and stayed with the party for a while. During the Obama years is when Alan got into firearms thanks to a Groupon offer. He got his license and bought an overpriced rifle during the Obama administration. He joined a shooting club and started shooting but realized that being an instructor could help him get discounts on firearms.

After becoming an instructor, he would get friends and colleagues interested in taking classes. While he maintains a full time job, he teaches as a side hustle. During the early part of 2020 and the pandemic, he offered classes to survivors of domestic violence. He would get them in a class so they can get their License To Carry (LTC). He does as for some help via the Cash App (see the link below to donate to help support those clients.)

We drive from Lexington, MA, into Boston and we take the Harvard Bridge (the Mass Ave Bridge) across the Charles River. I do explain to him what a Smoot is since he’s never heard of it. I was a little off in my story. A Smoot is the height(length) of Oliver Smoot, an MIT student and not a professor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot We do grab a selfie on the Boston side of the bridge.

Alan also shares his thoughts, feelings and opinions about all of the crimes against Asians. He points out that it’s been going on for years. He says that good people are good people no matter their race, gender, sexual preference, religion, whatever. And that the labeling that is done hurts the whole society. He gives some history about the cancel culture from Asia which has been going on for decades starting with General Mao and leaving people unsure of who they really are in the wake of trying to make everyone the same. He points out that with everything that is going on we are getting more divided. And that all the Asians are being lumped together as the Asian American/Pacific Islanders, even though they haven’t gotten along as societies and cultures.

We also re-live a bit of our college days. Both Alan and I went to college in Boston, right down the road from where each other lived, during different years, of course. And we drive down Boylston St in the Back Bay, passing where the Marathon bombers detonated their pressure cooker bomb, and over the Marathon finish line. Then we head to the Public Garden and grab a selfie by Cheers. We are in Boston!

We are both instructors in Massachusetts so we have plenty of stories about our gun laws. It’s good to keep in mind that the MA politicians want to export the silly MA gun laws we have. Things like magazine restrictions, so called assault weapon bans, and many other things.

Favorite quotes:

“I make the students think. I make them evolve.”

“We want unity, but now we’re dividing the people.So which one is it?”

“We are a second class citizen already.”

“I want to be the asset, not the liability. I want the person next to me or around me just as good if not better than I am.”

ALau Firearms Training

https://www.alaufirearmstraining.com/

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https://www.facebook.com/ALauFirearmsTraining/

Contact: [email protected]

Cash App: @alautraining

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