jmra wrote:mamabearCali wrote:I will say as an OC-er of a handgun, legally in my state, I have found the terms used here to be less than helpful. The disparaging terms do not help.
OC-ers want many of the things all 2nd amendment supporters want. We have much more in common than not. If you brand them as nuts and crazies, remember there are people who brand anyone who carries a gun and is not a LEO as a nut and a crazy, and they are not those people.
A baptist and a catholic may disagree on much, but if they come together on what they agree on they can accomplish much. If they call each other names, they will all go down together.
Your analogy couldn't be more off base. I believe you are far away enough from Texas that you aren't getting the whole picture of what we are dealing with. The vast majority of people on this forum support the passage of an OC bill that does not affect our current CC laws.
The "nuts" and "crazy" people we are talking about are not people who are legitimately concerned about the 2A amendment. It is people who walk thru Walmart with an AR and a film crew knowing that people are going to freak out and that they are going to be asked to leave the property by either the store management or local police. These people's sole objective is 15 minutes of fame from a YouTube video. These people are putting the hard work of people truly concerned about the 2A at great risk.
The "in your face" tactics have not been effective in getting legislation passed here before and it will not be effective in the future.
We can spin this thing however we want but it all boils down to this: Given the backlash that these OC demonstrations are causing on this forum, just think how much they are causing among the general public who elect politicians. Do you think that is helpful or productive? I don't.
You are correct in that I am not there. So perhaps my view of OC and OC rallies is different. I am not there. I am not seeing what is happening there.
Carrying a rifle into Walmart is ridiculous, of course. Doing so to with the intent to cause panic even more so. However, I must say, that some people thing that carrying any weapon into Walmart is ridiculous. I am not one of those people.
Now while even and OC advocate such as myself sees how a rifle really can cause panic, I do not see why a planned, publicized rally does the same. I do not put the two in the same catagory. One no ones knows what is going on neither the public nor the local LEO, but a rally everyone knows what is going on and what point they are trying to make.
Perhaps that could be a middle ground between the two. Perhaps a chat between the OCers and the CHLers could find middle ground there. They agree that by and large they will stop carrying rifles in Walmart, and y'all agree to support them in their rallies. Anyway, as an outsider to the situation it is a suggestion.
