cb1000rider wrote:The Annoyed Man wrote:Supid, Stupid, STUPID! What is WRONG with these people that they can't wake up and get a clue?
My guess is that we're busy dividing up into "us" versus "them". Anything that "they" do is wrong. Anything "they" do is stupid.
IF you're an OC demonstrator you:
1) Are stupid.
2) Don't support concealed carry.
3) Are helping support anti-firearm factions via public confrontation.
My guess is that if we weren't so "us vs them" we might make some progress. I believe there are some moderate OC advocates out there and some that understand why carrying an AR-15 at Starbucks isn't going to win friends and influence people in the right direction.
I'm not sure how you'd illustrate, maybe by associating confrontational tactics with downstream legislation attempts... And by confrontational, I don't mean peacefully assembled, permitted (if required), constitutional speech in an area where you'd expect to see such demonstrations.
Rather than calling them stupid and drawing lines, why not engage in a little conversation?
And sure, there are those that will be fringe and won't compromise one bit, but they're not the majority... They are the guys that you're noticing - the guys that are causing you to select a "side" on this issue, when there really is a vast amount of common ground...
And then there is that solution we don't want to talk about. Brand me anti-gun (I've been called worse here), but if we don't want to see AR-15s in public places, maybe we should change the law? That would certainly clear the issue up.
I am on record as an OC supporter many times over. I go further and advocate for Constitutional Carry. This has been my record or years now.
I have nothing to apologize for in this regard. When I have,
respectfully, suggested over the years on various forums that confrontational tactics are counterproductive to the advancement of our gun rights, I have been called "anti-gun", "anti-2nd Amendment", and "un-American". To hell with them. They
ARE stupid. There are none so blind as those who are willfully so.
Open Carry Texas was founded and continues to be lead by a person who has a LONG history of tangling with authority, making death threats against people, dereliction of duty while in the military, documented psychiatric issues, and claimed PTSD (from someone who rarely if ever went outside the wire according to on-scene observers). The reverence in the voices of his acolytes when they refer to CJ Grisham as "our Founder" is almost cultic. You'd think they were talking about Thomas Jefferson. Take a moment to read his Bronze Star citation. It is noticeably short on specifics, and speculation is that it was a favor from a "godfather" higher up his chain of command, but to his initiates, it legitimizes every pearl of "wisdom" which drips from his lips. To them, he is hero of the faith and can do no wrong.
cb1000rider,
you are one for always challenging the rest of us to do our due diligence before posting anything. I am challenging you to do the same with CJ Grisham.
Thoroughly vet his background, then come back and tell me if you think this man should be leading a statewide open carry advocacy group, in what is a politically perilous time.
I would not have a problem in general with a statewide open carry advocacy group; just not
this group, led by
this Self-aggrandizing buffoon. This is not about me engaging in the politics of personal destruction, this is about a
healthy skepticism when choosing who will lead such an important movement. Too many OC Texas members buy into Grisham's self-created mythology with FAR less questioning than they reserved for Obama's birth certificate. Why? Because they choose the siren song of instant gratification over the kind of long ball wisdom that will actually work. In so doing, they risk more than just killing the passage of
handgun open carry........they in fact risk the loss of
long gun open carry, and a drastic change to
signage requirements that will negatively impact
concealed carry.
How stupid is that? I'll tell you.... it's
REALLY stupid.
You say that I am allowing myself to be part of dividing and conquering the gun rights movement.
I say that I am refusing to be buffaloed into supporting a group who will do more harm than good to the movement because it is lead by a firebrand with a disturbing past, who is leading a fair number of people who lack any sense of self-examination and healthy skepticism. That probably doesn't describe ALL of the members, but it describes enough of them that, when combined with the names
I have been called, I don't want any part of the stain of that association upon my own character.
I will continue to support and argue for passage of OC and Constitutional Carry, but through other means than that group....means which are more likely to profile long term positive and tangible results. OC Texas has lost me until they get someone with a sober mindset to lead it in a sober and thoughtful direction.
Again, I urge you to do your due diligence.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”
― G. Michael Hopf, "Those Who Remain"
#TINVOWOOT