Watch: Gun-Control Activists Rally at GOP Bash

Around 200 gun violence prevention advocates, including the sister of a woman who died in the 2011 mass shooting in Seal Beach, gathered on the sidewalks just outside the gated Shady Canyon neighborhood of Irvine on Thursday, waving signs and flags in an attempt to make their presence known to some rather big political names partying on the other side of the security checkpoint.

The biggest of those names was House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the main draw at a fundraising dinner in the home of private equity fund CEO David Horowitz and his wife, Michelle. Boehner also brought along fellow  congressmen Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) and John Campbell (R-Irvine).

The outside rally was sponsored by three Orange County gun violence prevention groups -- Moms Demand Action, the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence and South County Citizens Against Gun Violence. All were united in a single message -- wanting Congress to pass a measure that in their view has some teeth, including background checks, a ban on assault weapons and a closure of the so-called "gun show loophole."