TexasCHLforum.com

That's impressive; billboards aren't cheap!

Chas.

Frost wrote:

casingpoint wrote:

Sounds nuts.

Seems fine to me. Only problem is the police occasionally overreact, but that just means that sometimes the police need to be educated as well as the general public.

I'm not sure how relevant Virginia's experience with open-carry of handguns at a picnic is when compared to open carry of rifles and shotguns. Having a handgun in a holster on your belt is visually much different from having people with AR-15s and tactical shotguns slung over their shoulders. You can be sure there will be some people with their short AR-15s festooned with every imaginable accessory on Picatinny rails, vertical fore-grips, "tacktical" slings and collapsible stocks. There is nothing wrong with any of these accessories or these guns, but to a large segment of the population, it's going to scare the snot out of them! The media will have a field day condemning the "easy access to assault weapons!"

The irony in this is the stated purpose of long-gun picnics is to get Texans used to seeing good people carry guns openly, so this can be used to promote open-carry of handguns. But open-carry of long guns will probably be far more intimidating to the general public than handguns, so this could backfire not only in terms of restrictions on long guns, but in hurting the effort for open-carry of handguns.

When we set out to educate people, we must remember that all we can control is the material presented, not the lesson learned by those in attendance. We should also remember that first impressions are often the lasting ones.

As I mentioned, Texas law was changed as a direct result of the legal carrying of rifles and shotguns at the Republican Convention in Houston. It was quite a fight to keep the bill that passed from doing more than allowing cities to ban firearms at parades and political gatherings. I'd hate to see a concerted effort to bring this issue up in the legislature again, perhaps with an "assault" weapons ban in tow. I'm not saying it would pass, but the old saying about gun battles is equally true of political battles; the best ones are the ones you don't have to fight.

Chas.

mr.72 wrote:

casingpoint wrote:

A group of people sitting around a Houston park with shotguns and AR's while having burgers and barbeque...to "educate" the general public that good, law-abiding people can openly gather with long-guns and have fun without harming anyone

Sounds nuts.

That's precisely what many people say about concealed carry of handguns, or gun ownership in general. . .

And these people don't know when they are standing or sitting next to an armed CHL, but they will know when they see a handgun carried openly.

Chas.

I hope a Houston "long-gun picnic" doesn't generate the same response from the Texas Legislature as did Quanell X's long-gun protest during the Republican Convention in Houston some years back. He and his New Black Panthers marched to the George R. Brown Convention Center holding rifles and shotguns, being very careful not to point them at anyone. The legislative response was to amend the State's preemption statute to allow cities to ban firearms from parades and political gatherings. (CHLs are exempt and can carry.)

A group of people sitting around a Houston park with shotguns and AR's while having burgers and barbeque is going to draw a lot of media attention and that's rarely good. Sound bites and creative editing can make the story anything Belo Corp. wants it to be. The stated motive is to "educate" the general public that good, law-abiding people can openly gather with long-guns and have fun without harming anyone. Whether this message will get to the public via the media is doubtful, but one thing is certain. Somewhere around 4 million people in the Houston viewing area are going to learn that Texas law doesn't prohibit the carrying of long guns pretty much anywhere you wish. I think that's an education program we can do without.

Chas.