TexasCHLforum.com

Charles L. Cotton wrote:

Jason K wrote:If OC does pass, we really need to work on changing this attitude of holstered OC gun automatically means threat....

I agree. Unfortunately, that job has been made harder by open-carry demonstrations with long guns and to a lesser degree with black powder handguns. I wrote an article during the 2013 legislative session designed to lessen fears that the general public might experience if open-carry passes. (Some people think there will be no such fears, but that's precisely what happened in 1995 when CHL passed.) I didn't think it would pass in 2013, so I intended my article as the first in an effort to educate the public about the great track record CHLs have earned and to put folks at ease at the sight of openly armed citizens.

The plan was to write more articles and hold live and video conference "town hall meetings" on the open-carry issue with a goal of building a strong consensus among all Texans that open-carry does not post a threat and that those doing so are CHLs who are 16 times less likely to commit a crime than the general public. The political landscape has changed and I don't think such efforts would help. In fact, they may even hurt the cause because people could well think they are nothing more than a political stunt designed to counter demonstrations.

Chas.

Charles, I am no expert but I'm not so sure that you should abandon that idea.

Yes, the fringes of the OC group have made it more difficult but we still have a long way to go until the next session.

Many of the groups are changing their tactics so that they are OC'ing during community outreach events. The CATI Austin group recently did a feed the hungry drive, I know that several of the groups are trending towards litter pickup events, more feed the hungry types of events. If those events are successful, we could see them start moving more away from the crazy protester theme that they have been going with. IF (I know it's a big if) they can steer their image towards a more positive one through these public outreach events, the articles and town halls would go along with them tremendously.

Charles,
I hope you understand my frustration. A VERY small minority of OC supporters is poisoning the well not only in the legislature, but with our own lobby. The vast majority of OC supporters are sitting back and waiting for calls to action and letting the people who know how to affect legislation do their thing. What we want is in jeopardy of never seeing the light of day because of these folks. It's like the whole family being seen as odd because of our crazy uncle Ron. We have not asked these groups that look like the Occupy Wall Street crowd with guns on their backs to get involved nor can we control what they do.

Almost makes me want to organize my own Brady campaign that uses in your face tactics to support gun control so that we can kill all proposed gun control legislation.

Let me get this straight, a couple of dozen mouth breathing jerks behaved in a way that irritated a couple of dozen legislators (could be less could be more , I don't know). I'm assuming that said legislators are being made aware that the buffoons do not represent the vast majority of CHL holders.

Texas CHL holders, as a group, have been proven to be the most law abiding among all citizens. More law abiding than those who write and those who enforce the laws. CHL holders have overwhelmingly spoken out against the tactics employed by over zealous OC supporters (at least on this forum). The majority of CHL holders either support or do not oppose OC but the actions of a few mouth breathers will prevent reasonable legislation from passing because they irritated the wrong folks? The difference between a law abiding CHL holder and a law breaking CHL holder will remain the presence or absence of a peice of cloth because one shunned chapter in one movement didn't behave the way they were told to.

For reference, I support OC. I think the guys parading around with ARs are making fools of themselves. I don't want OC because I want to parade around and have folks look at me. I want it to pass because I find the concealment requirement to be silly. "It's only legal if we can't tell your doing it". It would also be convenient to just go to lunch after an IDPA match without either changing clothes or disarming. (I won't go out to eat in my pink vest)