CJ Grisham wrote:Sigh. More NRA attacks on Texas pro-gun groups. I realize the NRA/TSRA cabal probably finds us threatening as a Texas gun rights organization (I don't speak for OCTC, not affiliated with Open Carry Texas) because it threatens their stranglehold on power. After all, these are the same organizations that said we wouldn't last six months, we were hurting any chance of open carry passing in the 84th Legislature, and continue to say we have no political clout while ignoring our achievements. These are also the same groups that have perpetuated the liberal fear mongering by attacking the public display of certain firearms.
Well, it's been 18 months and we're larger than ever. Open carry is a virtue certainty next year. We are heavily involved at both the state and grassroots level in the political game. We were heavily involved in several races around Texas that got us pro-2A candidates in primaries and general.
Charles Cotton is agitated because his and Alice Tripp's attempts to bully me and our members didn't work. It seems obvious the NRA/TSRA is dependent upon licensing away your gun rights because many states use their training and certification efforts in the CHL process.
When was the last time you heard the NRA mention "constitutional carry" as an agenda of theirs? If this legislation is already submitted, why wouldn't the NRA throw its weight behind it? And why is, yet again, the NRA attacking pro -2A groups who are (successfully) fighting to bring more gun rights to Texas? In fact, why hasn't either organization submitted such legislation themselves? Instead, they preemptively attack us for daring not to budge on our rights.
I'm an Endowment Life and Golden Eagles member of the NRA, so I'm not speaking from the outside here. I've paid my dues, so to speak. I've given thousands of dollars to the NRA over just the past two years, much more over my life. What did the NRA ever accomplish to bring open carry to Texas before we came along? Nothing. Over the past 20 years, how many bills has the NRA sponsored to lower the cost of the CHL, make it easier to obtain, or even do away with it as a requirement altogether? I'm sure there are some here and there, but if they have such clout, where are the results?
I learned pretty quickly that my money is best served supporting a national organization that isn't interested in licensing my rights away - National Association for Gun Rights. What Cotton here won't admit is that homegrown groups like Open Carry Texas, Texas Carry and Come and Take It Texas are the reason we will get open carry next year. The NRA/TSRA have done nothing but ride our coattails and try to undermine our efforts. They've virtually demanded that we stop exercising our rights because the gun control extremists weren't happy with such blatant exercising of a right. Instead of standing up to them, they stood against law abiding gun owners. It's threatening to the gunopoly to have these upstarts showing them up. We aren't multi million dollar corporations, we're member led.
Now that the pissing contest is out of the way, let's talk open carry. The FACT is that five states already have constitutional carry and it benefits those states. 31 states have UNLICENSED open carry and it isn't a problem. There is absolutely NO REASON why Texas needs to go to licensed open carry. None.
Our more than 30,000 members have worked the streets for pro gun candidates, walked thousands of miles handing out literature, spoken at hundreds of tea party and civic events, marched in parades, contacted leaders in Texas politics, held more than 2000 open carry events, secured support from hundreds of open carry friendly businesses across the state, worked tirelessly with law enforcement, and made clear all along we won't accept having our rights legislated away while standing first on our rights as protected in our state and federal constitutions.
Why should we beg for the right to carry a handgun openly with a license when we've spent the past 18 months carrying rifles and black powder revolvers (something else both the NRA and TSRA tried to stop us from doing) openly without a license. We've proven that open carry doesn't cause crime, doesn't hurt people, and can be done responsibly. No one was hurt, shot, raped, assaulted, maimed, or killed.
It's a sad day that Charles Cotton continues his attacks on our members without cause. He must be getting desperate and bitterly clinging to his relevance. Perhaps he should focus more on unity and gun rights and less on splintering gun owners.
CJ Grisham
Open Carry Texas
You got a lot of nerve.
What you
proved by open carrying long guns into businesses is that they will in fact, with the assistance of soccer-moms who might have stayed home, make it harder to carry openly OR concealed in public. You want to know who gave rise to Moms Demand Action? Exactly people who allied with Bloomberg funding
in reaction to Open Carry Texas's tactics. We need friends like OCT like we need a hole in the head.
You'll find that almost every single member of this forum supports OC in some form or other, with Constitutional Carry being the odds on favorite, but almost none of them can abide by OCT's lies and cheap tactics, and willingness, as Bladed said on page three of this thread, to demand the keys to the kingdom, or "If I can't be king, I'll burn the kingdom to the ground."
The NRA is a national organization, run by
seasoned and
mature men and women, who represent—NOT the couple of thousand OCT members—but the
5 MILLION NRA members...... and TSRA is its state level counterpart with
tens of thousands of members. These people devote their lives and careers to the advancement of firearms rights in this state, and they do it with remarkable humility and service. The leadership of most of OC militancy is by contrast megalomaniacal and prideful.
I have personally met and know people who were
generally favorably disposed to the 2nd Amendment, concealed carry, and firearms ownership, and who
reconsidered their viewpoints because they did not want to be in any way associated with egomaniacal firebrands, and your organization's OC protests with long guns frankly scared the crap out of them when my friends saw them in person.
Like I said, we need that like we need a hole in the head. Thank you very much. And now that you've driven fence sitters over to the other side, remember that these people VOTE.
The wilfully blind stupidity of OCT makes me want to tear my hair out. We might have had OC 2 years ago if your organization had learned how to behave like adults on the political landscape.