TexasCHLforum.com

Charles L. Cotton wrote:I never should have posted that first reply and I apologize for doing so. I deleted it, but obviously not before you saw it.

Chas.

DKSuddeth wrote:Charles, I had a nice post all set up to answer your replies, but it seems to have gone away. I'll make do with a short follow up instead.

no apology necessary. I should probably have made my initial post more 'political', but I find it extremely difficult to deal with the fact that we COULD have a major impact on our rights in this state if it wasn't for such divisiveness among the many factions of gun owners. The difference in viewpoints of right and wrong between 'fudds' or absolutists and every position in between is all that is needed to give the anti gun folks hours and hours of entertainment and holds us back from major steps in our gun rights to 'settling' for little accomplishments. To me, it's ridiculous.

To all here who may have been insulted by my post, my apologies.

Charles, I had a nice post all set up to answer your replies, but it seems to have gone away. I'll make do with a short follow up instead.

purplehood wrote:Can you provide an explanation of where you have gotten the feeling that CHL folks consider themselves elite? Is that your rationale for open-carry?

whether it's been on THR, Glocktalk, this forum, or face to face with others, the two main reasons for opposition to open carry has been training and/or tactical or fear of people carrying that shouldn't be. This tells me that most of those who are licensed feel a sense of elitism because they've been 'trained' or feel that because they've passed some sort of government background check, it makes them somehow better than those who haven't.

Broncrider, my difference in terms is facial only. I consider carrying a handgun, concealed or openly WITHOUT a license, a right no matter who is exercising it. When I use 'privilege', it's being used to describe what we actually have right now because of the limitations and restrictions put on to it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Well . . . I'm sure a kind, considerate, well-reasoned post like that will generate a lot of support for open-carry.

Chas.

I've gotten far worse from those that oppose OC...Not on THIS board, with the exception of one single person, and I also feel that if WE (gun rights advocates) really desire to have our full RKBA intact, we need to fully support total RKBA and not piecemeal it. If i'm angry and lash out about it, well that's just me.

Purplehood wrote: Are those "Yahoos" going to go through the same screening that the CHL "yahoos" are subjected to?

Open carry = no licensing fee? Great. Are CHLers going to get the same pricing schedule?

Nothing you have said has changed my opinion regarding open carry. In fact, the entire post seems to be a flame towards anyone with a differing (i.e. hypocritical) opinion.

nothing you have posted has changed my mind about the embarrasment I feel concerning my fellow texans then. Do you truly think that because there is a 'screening' process, that everyone that carries is therefore a trained good guy? Does being granted permission to carry a hidden weapon (after paying $250) give you an elite feeling about yourself?

My post is a flame towards those who have no concept of the difference between rights and privileges and would choose instead to consider themselves an upper class citizen better than the average Texan because they carry a laminated card that affords them a privilege that the lesser off people can afford.

you still didn't justify why I should be denied my right to bear arms because I can't come up with the fee.

In the last 4 years since i've been posting on numerous gun rights boards, two years on this one, I'm now more embarrassed than ever to live in TX or even call myself a Texan. Most of the people I've talked to, on boards or in person, have no concept of what is actually a right and what is government privilege. Understand this one simple fact....YOU have NO RIGHT to carry, concealed or open. NONE at all. The terms and restrictions of your permission to carry a firearm are completely written in state code. Have any of you here realized that at all?

Also, for all of the supposed pro gun people that live in TX, to watch most of you on here talk about being alarmed or scared of any old 'yahoo' carrying an openly carried gun on their hip clearly shows that there is no cognizant thought process behind it. Those 'yahoos' you would see open carrying could just as easily be concealing, but then you wouldn't even know it. out of sight, out of mind and the ignorance is bliss dimension. You sound like a bunch of brady campaign members when you post like that.

Next, I'm part of the opencarry movement in TX. Have been for two years. Why do I want open carry? Because I can't afford the $250 to get a permission slip to conceal carry. It's not that i'm living below the poverty line, but extra money is impossible to come by when you have a critically ill spouse. Nearly every dollar I make goes in to living expenses or her health care. Given that information, why don't some of you people on here try to justify to me the extreme cost of getting permission to carry the best means of defense while denying me that very same? Then justify to me the denial of the supposed right to carry period?

Reading 90% of the posts around the internet about the hazards and evils of open carry is EXACTLY the sole reason why most consider it necessary to take baby steps in advancing so called gun rights. It's because nearly all of you cannibalize anyone who steps outside of that mainstream thinking and dares push for the full rights of keeping and bearing. You know this to be true and denying it smacks of hypocrisy.

flame on but I'm interested in the so called justifications I asked for. Please post them and convince me.