Armed protestors show up for meeting of Mom's against guns

[Purplehood]

I wouldn't (and don't) hesitate to carry a long-gun in its case about town in order to get it to where I need it. But I don't wander around town carrying it at Port-Arms wearing camo and flying a "take it away from my dead hands" flag.

[talltex]

I don't disagree, I just lament the loss of the culture I grew up in where walking down the street with a long gun was not considered suspicious activity.

I don't think there ever was a time where just hanging out with an openly carried long gun was common. I remember pick up trucks with gun racks. I remember guys walking to/from a quick hunt along country roads. But anybody not in hunting gear & not headed somewhere would've most certainly had to explain what they were doing.

Well, you'd be wrong...I don't know your age, but I'm 57, and I grew up in a small town, (have lived in the same county all my life, except for College), and as kids in the 60's and early 70's we walked around town with shotguns and rifles quite frequently. Occasionally, someone might pull up alongside us in a car, but not to question what we were doing...it was to ask us if we'd got anything for supper. If we were going very far out of town to hunt, we actually wired a gun rack on the back of our bicycles after finding out the hard way that strapping it to the handlebars wasn't a good idea if you rode to close to a tree or bush. Once we were able to drive, every PU in the school parking lot had a gun rack in it...with guns in them. When someone got a new gun, it was normal for a group of kids...and sometimes the teachers...to be out in the parking lot between class or at lunch to get it out and let everyone have a look at it. In Grade School, at Christmas for the class party, we all exchanged gifts with a maximum cost of $1.00...all the boys brought a boy's gift & the girls brought a girl's gift ( I know, not politically correct now), and the boys all wrapped up a box a .22 Long Rifles (cost $0.79) to give to each other...and nobody thought anything about it. It WAS a totally different culture back then, and I too lament it's passing.

[cb1000rider]

I wouldn't (and don't) hesitate to carry a long-gun in its case about town in order to get it to where I need it. But I don't wander around town carrying it at Port-Arms wearing camo and flying a "take it away from my dead hands" flag.

I flew into a local airport this weekend with the intention of going target shooting. I walked right into the terminal (non-secure) building carrying a cased rifle and handgun in a bag.
I have to tell you that I considered telling the tower prior to exiting the plane that we would be offloading firearms and that we had no "ill-intent", but decided against it. No one batted an eye. They asked me if I was parking overnight (I guess they assumed I was hunting). That was it.

I think that perhaps carrying that rifle without a case could have caused a problem. I carry it in a case as I don't want it knocked around (scope) - but also for transportation, as people tend to get stopped and charged with other crimes while carrying long guns in Texas.

[gigag04]

people tend to get stopped and charged with other crimes while carrying long guns in Texas.

[Wes]

I think it is all about how you protest or show your support, and if done right these events can actually do good. The idiots toting in stores for no good reason tho are morons.

One of the guys in that picture is actually running for the House of Representatives, Kory Watkins. His wife and two kids, all in the pic, have done several of these with no incident. He is also having a meet and get at Joes pizza in Arlington tomorrow if anyone really wants to know what happened at this thing.

Http://texansforkorywatkins.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(This is not an endorsement, just FYI)

[VMI77]

I don't disagree, I just lament the loss of the culture I grew up in where walking down the street with a long gun was not considered suspicious activity.

I don't think there ever was a time where just hanging out with an openly carried long gun was common. I remember pick up trucks with gun racks. I remember guys walking to/from a quick hunt along country roads. But anybody not in hunting gear & not headed somewhere would've most certainly had to explain what they were doing.

Well, you'd be wrong...I don't know your age, but I'm 57, and I grew up in a small town, (have lived in the same county all my life, except for College), and as kids in the 60's and early 70's we walked around town with shotguns and rifles quite frequently. Occasionally, someone might pull up alongside us in a car, but not to question what we were doing...it was to ask us if we'd got anything for supper. If we were going very far out of town to hunt, we actually wired a gun rack on the back of our bicycles after finding out the hard way that strapping it to the handlebars wasn't a good idea if you rode to close to a tree or bush. Once we were able to drive, every PU in the school parking lot had a gun rack in it...with guns in them. When someone got a new gun, it was normal for a group of kids...and sometimes the teachers...to be out in the parking lot between class or at lunch to get it out and let everyone have a look at it. In Grade School, at Christmas for the class party, we all exchanged gifts with a maximum cost of $1.00...all the boys brought a boy's gift & the girls brought a girl's gift ( I know, not politically correct now), and the boys all wrapped up a box a .22 Long Rifles (cost $0.79) to give to each other...and nobody thought anything about it. It WAS a totally different culture back then, and I too lament it's passing.

My experience too.....guns in the parking lot were common. Now an aspirin or a hunting knife gets you expelled. We made gun powder in Chemistry class and launched rockets at school too. I don't know what "just hanging out" is supposed to mean, but I walked through a residential neighborhood, visible from a highway one block away, carrying rifles and shotguns. Not in a case, and not slung either, but at a sort of modified port arms or over my shoulder. Carried them into the local store too. Sometimes there was a group of us in the store parking lot posing for photos with the results of our hunt. One of the things that changed the culture is all these imports from Commiefornia and the Yankees from up in the Northeast. My son worked security for awhile, and his boss had someone call the cops on him because they saw him cleaning a handgun through his kitchen window....they didn't think handguns were legal.

[TexasCajun]

I don't disagree, I just lament the loss of the culture I grew up in where walking down the street with a long gun was not considered suspicious activity.

I don't think there ever was a time where just hanging out with an openly carried long gun was common. I remember pick up trucks with gun racks. I remember guys walking to/from a quick hunt along country roads. But anybody not in hunting gear & not headed somewhere would've most certainly had to explain what they were doing.

Well, you'd be wrong...I don't know your age, but I'm 57, and I grew up in a small town, (have lived in the same county all my life, except for College), and as kids in the 60's and early 70's we walked around town with shotguns and rifles quite frequently. Occasionally, someone might pull up alongside us in a car, but not to question what we were doing...it was to ask us if we'd got anything for supper. If we were going very far out of town to hunt, we actually wired a gun rack on the back of our bicycles after finding out the hard way that strapping it to the handlebars wasn't a good idea if you rode to close to a tree or bush. Once we were able to drive, every PU in the school parking lot had a gun rack in it...with guns in them. When someone got a new gun, it was normal for a group of kids...and sometimes the teachers...to be out in the parking lot between class or at lunch to get it out and let everyone have a look at it. In Grade School, at Christmas for the class party, we all exchanged gifts with a maximum cost of $1.00...all the boys brought a boy's gift & the girls brought a girl's gift ( I know, not politically correct now), and the boys all wrapped up a box a .22 Long Rifles (cost $0.79) to give to each other...and nobody thought anything about it. It WAS a totally different culture back then, and I too lament it's passing.

My experience too.....guns in the parking lot were common. Now an aspirin or a hunting knife gets you expelled. We made gun powder in Chemistry class and launched rockets at school too. I don't know what "just hanging out" is supposed to mean, but I walked through a residential neighborhood, visible from a highway one block away, carrying rifles and shotguns. Not in a case, and not slung either, but at a sort of modified port arms or over my shoulder. Carried them into the local store too. Sometimes there was a group of us in the store parking lot posing for photos with the results of our hunt. One of the things that changed the culture is all these imports from Commiefornia and the Yankees from up in the Northeast. My son worked security for awhile, and his boss had someone call the cops on him because they saw him cleaning a handgun through his kitchen window....they didn't think handguns were legal.

Both of you proved my point. People carried guns to & from a quick hunt (short walk to the woods across the highway from the neighborhood before school or some such). Or rode around in pick up trucks with a filled gun rack. In this cases, it was pretty evident what was going on. But nobody stood around on the street corner or met at the local diner with a 12ga or a 30-30 strapped to their back just for the heck of it.
For reference, I'm 41 and grew up about 20mi from where they now film Swamp People - St Martin Parish, LA. As such, I would routinely hunt the woods near my house on foot before school without anyone batting an eye. But I guarantee you, if I'd have gone to New Orleans and stood around Bourbon St with my shotgun, it wouldn't be long before I'd be answering questions from the law.