I had a great time at the rally. I carried two concealed firearms to mark the occasion.
A million thanks to GeekwaGun for getting up earlier than everybody else in our party, picking us all up (4 in the vehicle), and driving the round trip. (That was one
well-protected SUV. Carjackers beware!)
I agree with several other observations and will add some of my own:
- We are a friendly, polite group. This means we weren't loud and raucous. . . which is good and bad. The crowd was larger than reported in the news, but probably seemed smaller because everything was orderly, kids were safe, and nobody was in a fit of rage.
- Texas is a big state and we didn't have a lot of notice or advertising beyond gun forums and social media. I met a family that drove down from Wichita Falls. I met a couple that drove in from El Paso. We were from Fort Worth. It was a good turnout considering all of these factors and the fact that we might've lost a few dozen to the Dallas rally.
- The weather couldn't have been nicer for a rally like this.
- The speakers were great, especially the land commissioner. He made some great points about the consequences of freedom. . . there are negative results of every single one of the Amendments in the Bill of Rights.
- The mood was overall respectful. There was a prayer, the pledge of allegiance to both the American and Texas flags, we sang the Star-Spangled Banner, etc. The infowars guys were a little aggressive, open carry was well represented, and there seemed to be some definite anti-Federal contingents in the crowd. They asked the giant Texas flag with "INDEPENDENT" written on it to go to the front, but they didn't realize that when somebody tried to start a "U-S-A" chant, that guy had been countering with "R-O-T" (Republic of Texas). I'm as pro-Texas as you can get, but in these types of events, I don't want the reporters to be able to cast us an unpatriotic or anti-American.
- I was almost interviewed by a Japanese television crew, but they wanted me to remove my sunglasses and I'm not supposed to in bright sunlight like that. It could take 45 minutes for my vision to recover to low light (going inside or putting my glasses back on). Instead, they interviewed a Vietnam vet near me who was very well spoken - although he did add one line about Obama's imperialist agenda that the Japanese may not relate to very well.
- Using the CHL line to get into the capitol building was AWESOME! The DPS trooper was jovial and in a great mood. The line I got to skip was very long. I'll trade the fact that I was essentially "outed" to those people in the other line for the fact that they got to see a CHLer enter the capital as a "no big deal" non-event while they were scrutinized in a metal detector.
- At one point, I declared the north lawn of the capital to be the safest place in Texas. We had one heckler about 30 minutes before the event started, a young male on a bicycle drove by screaming "people with guns kill people" and other silly phrases. We mostly laughed. Nobody got enraged. He didn't slow down. Then somebody behind me pointed out a great observation: he demonstrated in his actions that he didn't feel we were as threatening as he accused us of being with his mouth, or he wouldn't have confronted 1,000+ gun owners on a public street. If he thought we were loose canons, he would've fled the city on the day we came to town.
- Guero's Taco Bar on South Congress was a perfect way to "fill up" before the journey home. We got to practice carrying in a VERY crowded venue where we were shuffling sideways and excusing ourselves past the masses as we waited for out table. Great recommendation, Pucker!
- The Czech Stop in West worked its way into our plan on the way home. . . we got gasoline, a nice snack, and most of us grabbed enough kolaches for breakfast on Sunday.
- I got to meet about a dozen or so TexasCHLforum folks. . . Bennies, SlowPoke, OilField (sp?), and others I don't remember off the top of my head. Some were admitted lurkers.
(j/k!)
I'll upload some pictures when I get a chance.
