NRA: Texas open carry rallies ‘downright weird’ and ‘scary’

Houston Chronicle ^ | 5/2/14 | Lauren McGaughy

[TalonDJ]

The anti gunners make ALL THE SAME arguments about carrying a handgun concealed.

[TalonDJ]

I carry openly, or concealed, as I feel the situation dictates.

Right on! And I am tired of people trying to decide for me what the situation dictates. That is for me to decide. Honestly I don't open carry much, but I like to have the option.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Its a personal choice. It does not make me uncomfortable to be around someone who is open carrying. I personally like to keep the element of surprise and I don’t want needless and unwanted attention. Open carry, concealed carry either one is fine.

[RC one]

It does work fine in Arizona and I completely respect that but not all states are as cowboy as Arizona. I wish they were, but they aren’t. Trying to act all Arizona when you’re living in...Wisconsin (for example) will get you in trouble and cause harm to our movement IMO. BTW. I’m looking at land in Arizona. I love everything about Arizona and especially their firearms policies but I know better than to assume that what works in Arizona will work equally well everywhere else.

[Syntyr]

“Yeah, that's a real effective protest. A secret, invisible one. /sarc “

You want to protest? That's fine. Gather a bunch of like minded individuals and go form a protest group and grab your rifles and go protest in front of the state capital or a local city hall or other governmental agency. I will even join you!

Don't be a goof ball and take an AR or AK slung low ready in to a restaurant and get everyone all exercised about it. If I am in the same restaurant and I see you come in my threat level is going to go up a notch or two. I carry concealed.

Go take your group with your rifles and clean up a park as your protest. Give the public a good image of gun owners. Not the lunatic view.

The goof balls are doing more harm than good. They are providing a great PR for the Moms Demand Action types. They are getting more places to ban open carry and possible concealed carry. I would have said that the chances of Texas passing open carry in the next legislative session was %90 until all of this started. Now I doubt i will happen.

[TexasGunLover]

The problem is, I refuse to ask permission to exercise a natural right. I am also not a law breaker. Ergo, I carry open.

Doesn't work that way in Texas. Concealed is only with a license, open is only allowed with long guns. No open carry in public is allowed for handguns.

[TalonDJ]

I don’t see how these jokers are doing anything other than moving our agenda backwards.

Then you have not been paying attention to the carry movement for the past two decades. Several states have gone this way. A few years go in VA no one carried open. Then the activist started doing this. They would gather at restaurants and places all carrying. It took time and several very delicate confrontations with polices that did not know the law. Today where I live in VA I can walk most places open carrying and no one bats an eyelash. It is that way because people like this FOUGHT HARD to exercise their rights and inform the public. A right you can't exercise, out of fear of outrage, is a right you DON'T HAVE, regardless of what the law says.

[TexasGunLover]

Open carry of long guns is permitted in Texas, but handgun open carry is not. The public, even the moderate 2nd amendment supporters have turned against them. Not only will this result in Long gun open carry being banned, they won’t get handgun open carry.

[RC one]

With rights come responsibilities and all rights are subject to limitations. we have managed to significantly minimize the limitations on our second amendment rights over the past couple of decades. Now more than ever, we need to move the ball down the field intelligently, not arrogantly or we will see that progress undone. I don’t see how openly carrying rifles in public restaurants is any kind of intelligent. I see it as extremely counter productive. It will not move the ball down the field. It will move it backwards.

[Dead Corpse]

In this regard, I am 100% “pro-choice”. Open, concealed, long gun, pistol, pintel mounted M2...

“Element of surprise” works great if you are trying to ambush someone or trick them into attacking you to begin with.

I’d rather do the “Cold War” thing and appear strong enough that the bad guys look elsewhere...

As I said though, personal choice and I applaud you for exercising it as you see fit.

[TalonDJ]

And this is why what these folks are doing is IMPORTANT. This has been done in several states successfully including VA, PA, and WI. I for one wish them all the best of luck in their mission.

[DTogo]

I'm not sure what benefit a generally civil society, not at or on the verge of war, gets from everyone slinging longarms everywhere.

OC your sidearm? Sure, it's a self defense/personal protection option - "just in case."

OC your AR? Uh, are you off to go hunting, or conduct squad maneuvers in the hardware aisle of Home Depot?

IMHO.

[TexasGunLover]

Sheesh. What is with all the second amendment hate here? I carry open on occasion and concealed all the time. I like to have options. It is rallies like this that are making it safe to carry concealed. How you ask? Because in places where no one ever sees a gun they freak out if you accidentally show your concealed carry piece. Accidents can happen it is not cool to have the cops storm in and gun you down. In places with open carry people are use to seeing ordinary citizens with guns. I see them all the time around here and I find it comforting. Not everyone wants to ask for permission to exercise a right. And don’t give me any of that blah blah concealed is better. Sure it is... so is walking around in body armor but not every ‘better’ option is always practical. I like having options and I am sick and tired of so-called allies telling me which options I should and shouldn’t use. Yall and the ATF and all the other haters can buzz off.

As a daily CC I agree, but in this case, you've got the public opinion now turning to focus on banning long gun open carry (legal today) instead of supporting handgun open carry. I believe the 2nd amendment makes all carry legal, but I can assure you, in Texas, if you open carry a handgun in public, you will be arrested, prosecuted and convicted.

[Dead Corpse]

With rights come responsibilities and all rights are subject to limitations.

No. They don't. Well, up until 1934 they didn't.

We have a Right to both KEEP and to BEAR armaments. It doesn't stipulate what kind of armaments nor the manner in which they should be born. During the Founders time, it was rare to find a firearm small enough to conceal in any practical manner.

The Left boldly and arrogantly makes in-roads dismantling our freedoms on a daily basis. Do you really think playing this "softly" is going to reverse that?

[TalonDJ]

Right on! Who is going to rob a store where ever 10th person is packing heat and the badguy KNOWS some carry concealed? I particularly like open carry when I am walking with my family in park. It is more comfortable than IWB when hiking and it is a good way of warning potential badguys from a distance.

[TexasGunLover]

We don't care for any "licensing and regulations" around here. Her type can move to Chicago.

Not sure where you live, but in Texas you cannot CC on you person, outside your vehicle without a license and you cannot open carry a handgun except while engaged in sporting activities on private property.

[TalonDJ]

If the outcome of this is Texans banning long guns then I think it is time to just abandon the state as a total loss.

[TalonDJ]

Which is some of the more restrictive rules in the nation. It is about time yall started fighting to get your open carry rights back.

[TexasGunLover]

I carry openly, or concealed, as I feel the situation dictates.

Not in Texas you wouldn't. You couldn't carry a handgun openly except for on your own property, and you wouldn't carry concealed without a license.

[papertyger]

I’d rather do the “Cold War” thing and appear strong enough that the bad guys look elsewhere...

Your enemy is not the "bad guy," it's the irrational female voter who won't say a thing to you, and there are more of them than men.

If you wish to precipitate an eventual fight with the state, I can think of no better way.