Who gets to interpret it?sunny beach wrote:The Constitution of the United States says what it says, no matter what its enemies say or wear.
Chas.
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Who gets to interpret it?sunny beach wrote:The Constitution of the United States says what it says, no matter what its enemies say or wear.
The problem with this argument is that it is an extension of the "you're either with us or you're against us" philosophy long espoused by the open-carry supporters like those found in VCDL, OpenCarry.org, LoneStar CDL, and more recently Open-Carry Texas. That's a blatant attempt to force others into supporting their issue and it has been an abject failure. The fact is most gun owners and Texas CHLs aren't the enemy of open-carry supporters, it's simply a matter of their issue not being our issue. Texas gun owners are far more concerned with who can carry and where they can carry than how they can carry. You seem to argue that open-carry supporters somehow deserve the support of all gun owners regardless of their own priorities concerning legislative and/or legal battles that lie elsewhere. That's unfounded. Open-carry supporters are no more entitled to widespread support than are campus-carry supporters, or those seeking to reduce the number of off-limits areas for CHL's, or those seeking to remove deferred adjudications from the definition of "conviction" for CHL eligibility purposes, or those who want to change knife laws. We each have our priorities and if we feel strongly enough to get involved, we join and support groups and organizations that share those goals. Rational people do not then label everyone outside that group as an enemy.mamabearCali wrote:03Lightningrocks wrote:Just for the record, this thread is not about how one feels about open carry. The topic was about how one feels about "in your face" tactics by a very small but very vocal minority of OC proponents. Somehow it is being twisted to discuss how one feels about OC and how prevalent it is or will be.
They are being pushed into making ridiculous in your face tactics due to the fact that they are dismissed by gun owners and CHLers on the whole. If they had not been dismissed as kooks and dissed by Internet memes as above, perhaps they would have been able to be more circumspect. People ignored, who desire the freedoms they have been promised, will tend towards more and more drastic action.
The "fifth columnist" comment was taken directly from an open-carry supporter's no-so-subtle attack on those who don't jump on the open-carry train. See the 12th post on the first page of this thread: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=70053" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;stevem wrote:Chas, the "battle" is fairly plain to see, witness the "fifth column" accusation and unanswered "Mall Ninja" post above in this thread. There is definitely "friendly fire" being directed from 2A supporters towards OC supporters with the intent of marginalizing them.
Either you are new to this issue, or you haven't looked at OpenCarry.org's Texas section.stevem wrote:I personally haven't seen the OC movement blasting any other part of the 2A community beyond the "your part of the solution or the problem" kind of rhetoric.
I, the NRA and TSRA have been accused of this numerous times and it is a groundless accusation. The simple truth is the NRA is the only organization that can pass open-carry, so there's no threat that another organization will up-stage the NRA. Many will try to take credit for what we do, but that's nothing unusual.stevem wrote:Now I expect that guys who have been fighting the 2A fight inch-by-inch for years probably feel like the OCers are jumping on their train, and rightly so, but it's really a moot point. I think everyone needs to acknowledge the newcomers, invite them into the party, and ask them to come "assert their liberty" by OCing at a productive structured 2A event.
Fine by me; that makes us look much more reasonable and that aids passing our legislation. If the radicals kill open-carry, that too is fine. While I'm working on open-carry, it's not a major issue for me, I'm just a good soldier. If some faction makes open-carry a futile effort, that will give me more time to work on much more important issues. I'm far more concerned with expanding who can carry and where they can carry than I am how we can carry.stevem wrote:The alternative is to have a radical-led OC movement that appears unfocused and unpredictable.
I'm not sure who you mean by "the rest of the 2A community." The NRA, TSRA and I are working for open-carry on behalf of our members. In fact, I just gave a phone interview to TexasTribune supporting open-carry. (It should publish this week.) We neither need nor want the radicals as you call them, because they hurt the changes of passing legislation. You have stated several times that no one can get them to stop their counterproductive tactics so why on earth would we align ourselves with a group that will be poorly received in Austin?stevem wrote:The message from the rest of the 2A community should be "OC is our fight too, come join us" instead of "you guys are ruining our party" IMHO. In this way the radicals can be marginalized and the growing interest in OC can be productively channeled into other 2A efforts.
I'm not at all sure why you keep claiming there is some battle between the open-carry camp and the rest of the Second Amendment community. There is no such battle, unless you also feel that not jumping on their bandwagon constitutes a battle. The OpenCarry.org and LSCDL folks have always taken that position, i.e. "you are either with us or against us," but you do not seem to have done so to this point.stevem wrote:I'm with you Chas, but I think the OC demonstrations can't be stopped. As a result the 2A community is giving up an unforced error to the antigunners through this internal division. Instead of attacking the OC movement, it needs to be legitimized and embraced by experienced 2A guys who know how to organize in a productive manner. Let face it, the entire 2A community could use some of the energy the OC movement has.Charles L. Cotton wrote:Continued in-your-face tactics are far more likely to result in a bill to make it unlawful to carry long guns, with certain exceptions for hunting, sport shooting, cars, etc., than it is to result in passage of open-carry.
You are exactly right and this is the approach that must be taken if we are to pass open-carry. I wrote an article pointing out that open-carry will be exercised by relatively few people and then only by CHLs who are 15 times less likely to commit a crime than is the general public. This article was used in Austin to support open-carry. We are accurately telling elected officials and the public that open-carry is a tempest in a teapot, not a sea-change event. Once the media hype is over, nothing will change and there is nothing to fear. Unfortunately, this quiet message can and is being overshadowed by people walking into Wal-Mart with an AR-15 and making the evening news.rotor wrote:Texas, Florida, New York, Illionois, South Carolina, District of Columbia and Territory of Virgin Islands seem to be the only places that don't allow open carry ( correct me if I am wrong). This alone is an argument to allow open carry. Doesn't seem to be much of a problem in Oklahoma which I think is the newest state to allow it. Would I open carry? Probably not and I don't agree with the people that are over the top about this but there might be a time that I would carry outside the waist band unconcealed. Would I want to see a bunch of guys coming into WalMart with their AR15 in swat type outfits- no way. Would it bother me to see a nice S&W 19 on someones hip while doing routine shopping- not at all.
I agree in theory with most of what you say, but I think you overstate the power and impact of the very limited number of open-carry supporters. Their in-your-face tactics have and perhaps will again kill any chance of passing open-carry in Texas. However, their numbers are so small that they will never be a political factor in Texas politics. Therefore, they pose no danger to Texas gun owners, other than the distinct possibility that they may bring about legislation to make it unlawful to carry long guns except for certain purposes. We will be able to kill such a bill, but we will expend valuable political capital doing so. Cooperating with bomb-throwers is neither necessary nor wise.JSThane wrote:This right here is the problem. So long as the CHL and the OC crowd treat each other like this, the issue won't be solved. Yes, I know, there are OC idiots. There are idiots everywhere, though, including the CHL community, too. I personally find the idea that a "backlash" will occur against all carry because of OC to be ridiculous, unless full OC is NOT passed, and the "idiots" feel the need to ramp up their own demonstrations, scaring Joe and Jane Citizen Sheep. Passing OC won't do it. Refusing to pass it will only egg on those on the fringe, and encourage them to get ever more flamboyant, outrageous, and angry. Refusing to pass it will only encourage those upset at the fringe to actually -look- into legal signage to keep the kooks out.jmra wrote:I'm outraged anytime someone brings a bucket of gas to a fire instead of a bucket of water. The radical OC idiots are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem.stevem wrote:Thanks for the welcome Chas.
I'm really not inferring anything. Organizing at the local level is the cure, period.
My further suggestion is that instead of displaying "outrage" at OC activists, people concerned about 2A rights should recognize these events as justified blowback from unjust laws and redouble efforts to send the right people to the legislature and repeal them.
I live in New Mexico. We're fairly "blue," and the Democrat / liberal / socialist platform gets a lot of traction here, much to my chagrin. However, we do have open carry, and have for a very long time. We don't have the in-your-face open carriers here. Most folks are vaguely aware of the fact we can openly carry, but unless they are themselves gun owners (and not always then), they still don't pay it any mind. CHL and OC haven't been at each others' throats, generating drama the anti-gunners could use (except for that idiot who stirred up the legislature by carrying an AK or something into the state capitol).
So, why all the drama and turmoil in Texas? The gun culture in Texas is far more alive, far more vibrant, far more outspoken, than it is here. Guns are a background, a fact of life that many folks don't think about here; it's an active issue with a great many adherents in Texas. And yet, it's been fighting itself in Texas for how long now? CHL'ers are upset at OC'ers for causing drama and rocking the boat; OC'ers are upset at CHL'ers for not continuing to push the issue. And the longer it goes on, the more the extreme elements of the CHL crowd fear the repercussions of allowing the OC crowd have their way. The longer it goes on, the more the extreme elements of the OC crowd regards the CHL crowd as traitors, and ceases to care what they think.
We can be our own worst and bitterest opponents sometimes. What we need to do is obviously not what we've been doing, but I'm not certain we ever will do it. Instead of CHL regarding OC with apprehension, or OC regarding CHL with scorn, the two sides need to figure out we're NOT two sides, but one. But that will be difficult; there's been enough bad blood stirred up, enough provocation, that repairing this artificial split will take some time.
Until then, I suggest, from the perspective of a former Texas CHL holder, current NM CHL holder, that we go to some effort to not make this divide worse. I recognize that, while a backlash -is- possible, it's not very likely. So far, it really hasn't happened anywhere I've seen. Backlashes have been attempted over several different gun rights causes, but by and large, they have failed. When Starbucks' politely requesting that guns be kept out is regarded as a victory for the antis, we know we're winning. We don't need to be apprehensive about pushing for the proper expansion of a right clearly and cogently codified in the Constitution. If we push for it, we WILL get it. But if we're afraid to reach for it, we will never get it.
Likewise, from the perspective of an OC fan, those of us on "this" side need to recognize that it wasn't that terribly long ago a backlash would have been not only distantly possible, but a distinct likelihood. The AWB of 1994 expired less than a decade ago, and was a current event for most activists. While a repeat is not likely given the current state of affairs, a lot of the people who have helped repair our Constitutional rights saw it passed despite their objections, and don't want it to happen again. They've seen how bad it can get, and rightly fear a repeat. Colorado's new law is an anomaly, extremely unlikely to happen again - but it DID pass in Colorado, and likely or not, can get passed elsewhere if we don't pay attention. Additionally, shoving what we perceive as our right to carry anything in any manner, and almost anywhere (a perception I actually agree with) in everyone else's face will win us no allies, and turn some current allies into enemies, or at least unfriendly neutrals.
In short, CHL folk must trust OC folk not to be stupid... and OC folk must not show that trust to be misplaced. So far, we've all failed, CHL and OC alike.
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GA Heath's post referencing California is, I think, a little inapplicable, due to the fact that it's California. Rights and responsibility have been illegal there for decades; it should be no surprise that the slightest inkling of the exercise thereof gets slapped down hard and fast in California. But I hardly find it representative of the rest of the nation currently, only a representation of how things -could- be, and an exhortation for us to stop the infighting and actually work together to prevent its repetition.
But this is precisely what did happen in Texas! When the New Black Panthers marched on the Brown Convention Center in Houston to protest against the Republican National Convention, they carried rifles and shotguns. This so inflamed and/or frightened a sufficient number of Texans that the very strong Texas firearm preemption statute was amended during the very next legislative session to allow cities to prohibit the carrying of all firearms at a public park, public meeting of a municipality, county, or other governmental body, or at a political rally, parade, or official political meeting. CHLs are exempt from this provision. (See Tex. Local Gov't Code §229.001(b)(6))stevem wrote:Great discussion. I hate to get into a point-by-point quotathon on my first day here, but you bring up a lot.
Overconfidence in ourselves is a problem, overconfidence in what is moral and right is never a problem.G.A. Heath wrote:Here's my take on the situation. The concept that we will win because the law and the constitution are on our side will lead to our defeat. It is the overconfidence that statement leads to that will get us.
Totally different context, first off, Texas is (thankfully) not California. Second, as you pointed out, California already had OC on the books, there was no clear linkage between OC and what they were trying to accomplish. Whereas here in Texas the linkage is quite apparent: OCers want OC legalized.Unloaded Handgun OC was legal in California until the "In your face because its the law and the constitution" OC crowd pushed a little too far and their legislature outlawed handgun OC completely.
I haven't seen any, but as long as there aren't any inflammatory statements or photos, I think that's a fine way to get the general public to focus on the issue. However, the question arises "do we really want 22+ million Texans focusing on open-carry?"Beiruty wrote:Chas,
What is your take on Large Bulletin boards next to highway promoting open carry?
We can debate whether in-your-face tactics are justified, but the immediate question is whether they help or hurt the cause OTC seeks to promote. The clear and unequivocal answer is that they hurt the effort to pass open-carry. The presumption made by OTC and others who support their tactics is that there is a sleeping giant of voters who will see people carrying long guns and say, "Gee, we need to change Texas law so fine folks can carry handguns openly."stevem wrote:Thanks for the welcome Chas.
My further suggestion is that instead of displaying "outrage" at OC activists, people concerned about 2A rights should recognize these events as justified blowback from unjust laws and redouble efforts to send the right people to the legislature and repeal them.
You get to Gerrymander once a decade and that's if the federal courts don't get involved as they have in Texas in the last two decades. Do you really think that we aren't organizing at the local level now? Do you believe that there is some gold mine of voters who we have not tapped? While you are technically correct, your statement implies that we political activists haven't been trying to do precisely what you propose. You couldn't be more wrong!stevem wrote:We have a fix for that in Texas, it's called Gerrymandering.chasfm11 wrote: But doing the right thing requires Legislative action. That action today is thwarted by a minority of the Legislature who is granted extraordinary power by the politically powerful in order to maintain their power. It will take some exception event to break the cycle. Texas is headed the same direction as many other States where the populous centers are solidly Liberal and anti-gun and are slowly usurping control of the State level politics. That is not a prescription for correcting the Constitutional infringements.
The Starbucks OCers are a symptom, the disease is 2A infringement. The cure is organizing at the local level and sending the right leaders to the state legislature.
Welcome to the Forum Steven.stevem wrote:I understand all the tactical and cultural sensitivity issues involved, but the bottom line is bearing arms is a constitutional right that shall not be infringed.
IMHO it's only an issue here in Texas because we have made it illegal. I grew up in a state where OC was legal and I almost never saw anyone OCing. We have created this problem, it's time to do the right thing and legalize OC (and Bowie knives while we are at it).