By Galen Muhammad

One year ago on May 26, 2020, I chartered the Onyx Sharpshooters of Forestville, MD. We, by default of our founding date are the oldest NAAGA chapter in Prince George’s County, Maryland, but I learned this after the fact. I only knew that there was no chapter in Washington, D.C. or Prince George’s County at the time I chartered Onyx Sharpshooters. Happy 1^st Anniversary to us!

In the beginning of May 2020, I’d heard of this Black gun club and searched for information about it. I didn’t own any guns, but I had some “limited” experience handling guns. I was willing to learn more about handguns and support the chapter and, eventually, purchase my first handgun.

I wasn’t a complete novice: I was an SPO (Special Police Officer) and carried a .38, as a Maryland Army National Guard officer, I shot the M-16 (expert qualification), M-60, M-203 grenade launcher (expert qualification) and .45 pistol (once, also expert qualification).

When I spoke with Mr. Oliver Price, National Director of Chapters, he asked how close I lived to the Owings Mills and Great Mills chapters (the only chapters in Maryland at that time). Both were over an hour away from central Prince George’s County. That’s when he told me that I could charter a chapter here, once I pass the background investigation. An hour later, he called me back and Onyx Sharpshooters was chartered!

Ironically, the NAAGA chapter in New Carrollton, MD was chartered around the same time. If I’d reached out to Mr. Price a week later, I would have been joining the New Carrollton chapter since the goal is to not establish chapters within 25 miles of one another.

When I got off of the phone with Mr. Price, I actually put some deep thought into what I’d just done: I’d just chartered a gun club, a Black gun club, in PG County. Am I really ready to take on the responsibility of organizing a chapter of NAAGA?

While I’d been the president of my college chapter of my Fraternity (AΦA), this was going to be much more diverse with its own set of unique challenges. Besides all that, I was looking forward to joining a chapter, learning more about handguns that I already thought I knew and hopefully aiding and assisting the chapter in whatever way I could. I had no expectations of chartering a chapter, producing the ball and getting it rolling at the same time!

I mentioned to my friend, Ahmed, that I’d chartered a chapter of a gun club. He and I were former co-workers for a number of years and had never mentioned guns before. He thought that I was playing and he surprised me telling me that he owned three guns. I didn’t even own a cap gun!

As I’m explaining the gun club to him, he and his sister were signing up for their NAAGA membership and sending their CashApp payment our chapter for their dues! So after the chapter’s vice president: my wife, Roslyn and me, they were our first members.

Ahmed, coincidentally, was working in the User Services Department when I met him. Of course, he knew how to put a basic website together. He set up a website for the Onyx Sharpshooters. Since I’d already set up a Facebook page, he set up the stand-alone pages www.OnyxSharpshooters.com & www.OnyxSharpshooters.club and our web presence greatly increased! We’ve never had to recruit anyone or pay for Facebook ads (though they’ve offered us discounts for their ads)!

A group of us went to the Dulles, VA gun show. While there were many obvious vendors who were Trump supporters, we felt in no way unwelcome. The chapter’s vice president, Roslyn and I ran into Marvin and Troy Muhammad while we were at the York, PA gun show. Again, even MORE Trump supporters….and this was before the 2020 election. Still, there were no unwelcoming attitudes.

In fact, at one point in time, I was walking around and my knee was bothering me. I was on the telephone doing a phone interview with my Frat brother, James Wright. One of the nearby vendors was waving to me saying, “Sir…sir…!” I asked Brother Wright to hold on, not knowing what to expect. The man (who was White) asked me, “Would you like a seat? I see that you’re limping.” Shocked, I gladly accepted the offer as my old knee recovered.

I also had a situation where I bought some .22 LR ammo online from a man in Texas. At the end of the transaction, he asked, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” Taking a stab in the dark, I’d been looking online for a 10-round magazine for an ISSC. I’d purchased it to train my HQL students and didn’t consider just how difficult it might be to find more magazines for the gun (it only came with one).

I asked him if he had one, and unfortunately he didn’t. But he didn’t leave it there. He said that he’s check the gun shop near him and let me know. I told him that he didn’t have to go through that trouble, but he insisted.

Two days later, he called back and told me that they had one magazine for that type of gun. He said he’d go in, purchase it, and let me know once he did. I couldn’t believe it! Some folks on eBay had been inflating the price of those magazines, selling $24 magazines for $75 -$135!!

The next day, he said that he’s bought it and thought it was overpriced at $30. I told him that I was happy to pay the $30 plus shipping. He said not to worry about the shipping and that he was glad that he could help!

Given that we were chartered during Covid-19, we adopted the same format that everyone else was using to hold meetings: on Zoom. Even if we weren’t under Covid restrictions, I had no idea where exactly would we have been meeting. This was all escalating so fast!

By the end of June 2020, we had about 52 members in the chapter and emails were coming in weekly, requesting information about the gun club. As the emails began coming in, I questioned if this was really happening. And it was. I’d chartered a chapter of a gun club and people were truly interested in joining.

As a Maryland requirement, anyone who wishes to purchase a handgun in MD must have the HQL (Handgun Qualification License). While prior military personnel and law enforcement are exempt from the classroom handgun instruction, everyone else has to take that handgun class which discusses basic handgun safety, basic operations of handguns and Maryland law. So, with the influx of new members, many of whom had no handguns and no prior military or law enforcement background, this meant many members had to receive the HQL training.

Initially, we outsourced: We found out when and where trainers were offering the HQL class and promoted their classes during our first few meetings. We were just happy that people were joining NAAGA and Onyx Sharpshooters!

At some point in July, I wondered what we, as members of our chapter, would have to do to become firearms instructors. I reached out to a USCCA (United States Concealed Carry Association, now known as Delta Defense) in Frederick, MD. He said that he would come to us if we could secure a location and a range. Done! Our initial class of four grew to eight students.

Ironically, the chapter vice president and I completed the training without owning any handguns! I borrowed my Frat brother’s gun and Roslyn borrowed another chapter member’s gun! We completed our class on September 13th and within two weeks, we were all licensed in the state of Maryland as firearms instructors!

A few of our instructors have gone on to be instructors certified also with the NRA (National Rifle Association). They are more popular and recognized across the country (old guard) while USCCA is relatively new (the new kids on the block). The NRA certification allows us to train students in states that do not recognize USCCA as a national firearms training association.

A few of us have also traveled to Utah to become Concealed Carry instructors for the Utah CC license. One has to physically attend the class offered in Utah. Their license is fairly popular as it is recognized in 38 states.

While the incoming emails have slowed, we still receive requests for information about NAAGA and Onyx Sharpshooters. Recently, our membership rolls have swelled to 180 members, despite there being three other NAAGA chapters in Prince George’s County and one in Washington, D.C. Prince George’s County has a population of 909,308 and 61.3% of which is Black/African-American. Given the size of our chapter’s membership, we could actually use a few more chapters in the county.

We look forward to the end of Covid as a health threat as many of our more senior Onyx members have decided to stay indoors and away from unnecessary, potential exposure. We are planning a road trip to Freedom Armory, a really nice range in southern Pennsylvania about eight miles north of the MD/PA border off of I-83. It’s just something to “get out of our own backyard”. Right now, the vice president, Roslyn Mickens, is planning some social events outdoors where we can socially distance ourselves, but still get together. On the list are paintball events, games at the park and cookouts.

Being a firearms instructor certified with USCCA & the NRA gives me a broader outreach to not only help to teach and train the 180 members of our chapter, but the greater community. It has allowed me to understand the phobias that are taught, particularly in the Black community that “guns are bad” and work past that mindset. My goal is to continue to encourage gun ownership in the Black community while stressing firearms safety.

You can inquire about joining the Onyx Sharpshooters on their website, on their Instagram page, or their Facebook page. And be sure to follow Galen Muhammad on his Instagram page.