Sweet weeping Jesus, now they are being morons in Target! If they aren’t careful, they are going to end up losing rifle OC in Texas. Don’t think it can’t happen. But hey, at least there’s a joke to be made about Target being Targeted. What will Shannon Watts hashtag be? #GunsForTargetsNotTarget? It almost writes itself this time. I don’t think any amount of shame is going to work. I don’t think these guys have any shame. This is like a long nightmare you really want to wake up from, but can’t.
UPDATE: It’s #OffTarget. Come on Shannon. You can do better than that.
UPDATE: I should note that OCT is saying this is another case of Moms Demand digging through their archives. OK. I accept that. Now could you guys please clean up your archives so we don’t have to suffer your prior foolishness any longer?
I still don’t know why they’re seemingly protesting private businesses. Go do this outside your townhall at least, Target doesn’t write the laws.
That’s about the same as what I’ve been thinking, and why call it a protest? What are they protesting exactly? That the store allows them to come in with their guns?
Well they wont for long at this rate.
When do these actions cross from arrogant incompetence to outright sabotage?
Last month evidently
Maybe we need some folks on “our side” to go over and talk sense into them as they gather?
You can’t talk attention whores out of attention whoring. I’d like to see the pistol OC bill sponsor pull the bill over these antics that do nothing to help that bill.
Yeah when even the bill sponsors are telling you to knock it off, it’s time to stop.
Boy howdy, these guys are starting to look like a re-run of Fast and Furious. Don’t put it past the alleged moms or Bloomberg. Has anyone done any research into where the money for OCT is coming from? It wouldn’t take much but it would take some. They sure seem to be doing everything they can do do to play into the hand of the alleged moms.
I don’t know if this went to OCT or a personal piggy bank (but I’d bet on the latter):
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/2nd-amendment-legal-defense-fund
Step 1: Attention whore
Step 2: Play victim fighting for gun rights, beg for money
Step 3: Profit!
Note the lack of an “Advance gun rights” step.
According to CJ’s posting, “Texas is a right-to-carry state, and law-abiding gun permit owners can carry rifles and hunting weapons openly, so long as the weapons are not being carried in a threatening way.”
So far, all the photos I have seen of the Open Carry events have depicted people either carrying front, barrel down, or back, barrel down. None of the photos show anyone carrying back, barrel up. Seems to me that back, barrel up would be the least threatening posture.
Just sayin’. Comes under the heading of ‘How to win friends and influence enemies’.
Glenn
I’m starting to wonder if they don’t have some agent provocateurs in their group that’s paid for by Bloomberg. Sebastian is right. If you care about this, then you stage these open carry marches on the steps of the elected representatives’ workplace.
Here’s a question… are there any other groups doing this?
Other geographical regions?
I know the Starbucks thing was nationwide, but after that most people stopped.
What is having this group be so active and has them keep at it?
Is it even the same core group of people?
Texans do not have the right to open carry pistols, only rifles. OCT has taken to go to private businesses while open carrying rifles instead of marching to steps of the capitol.
Except open carry of black powder pistols is legal. But that’s always left out conveniently.
You want to OC a long arm, I think it’s dumb but at least throw it over your back. Low ready is a great way to make enemies not friends.
Yup the pictures make me cringe everytime I see them, the way they hold their rifles is basically the equivalent of walking around with a pistol in your hand, at your side. It just looks like it’s ready to be used imminently, instead of being ‘holstered’, which you can’t quite do with a long arm in the first place.
As others have said, they should really be OC’ing black powder pistols or empty holsters, and doing it in front of government offices, not bothering random businesses.
I thought OCT specifically stated they will hold no more events on corporate property?
Frankly maybe we need to have some folks show up at their events and try some of the following:
1) Patriot Guard Riders-style shield the public from them.
2) Have some signs that say “I am the NRA. That guy is NOT with us.”
3) Meet with store managers in advance and educate them on how to trespass people.
I don’t know what else to do to stop the bleeding at this point.
I’ve updated the post about this being a past event. But still, they need to clean up their archives. If you know you’re being stalked by a psychopath, it’s a bad idea to leave a wealth of improvised weapons laying about.
According to their Facebook page, the Target photo is from March, which is before they changed their policy.
That said, they aren’t getting it with regards to the crapstorm they’ve stirred up. If you disagree with them then you simply don’t support RKBA. Further, the NRA hatred and ignorance is stunning.
TSRA and NRA have been working for YEARS to get open carry, but they’ve been playing the political game and working incrementally, which these yahoos haven’t been paying attention to. So they erroneously think nothing’s happening. Ironically, nothing is going to happen now, because they’ve poisoned the well and it will take even more YEARS to undo the damage.
They think they’re fighting the good fight. They’re like the bomber crew in “doctor strangelove”.
It’s an effective strategy for MAIG/MDA, because it’s a way to “other” legitimate gun owners without having to pass legislation.
And it’s a strategy that was handed to them on a silver platter by people ostensibly on our side.
Nice going, OCT.
Plus to change the laws, you need popular support. To change corporate policy, all you need to do is have a couple people scream about it. This tactic is tailor-made for MDA.
Off Target sounds like Shannon’s ordering a hit.
It’s the Dennis the Peasant school of activism: act the retard until you provoke a reaction, then it’s “Help! Help! I’m bein’ repressed!”
To mix my movie metaphors, they need to take on board a message from Kirk Lazarus: “You went full retarded, man. Never go full retard.”
Too late.
Did you see Chris Cox’s apology for the NRA’s criticism of OCT?
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5441189/
This will be glossed over because it doesn’t fit the “preferred narrative†here.
Go post your own favorite narrative at davesgunblog.com
Um, the only thing he apologized for, honestly, was calling it “weird”.
As Chis Cox said on Cam’s show – this is a disagreement about TACTICS.
Which it has been from the very beginning. Only OCT and their sycophants want to make it about “If you don’t support us 100%, you might as well be a gunbanner, too!”
No, sorry. They’re using a bad tactic, one that has been proven NOT to work, and to have CONSIDERABLE downside — and that’s something we’ve known since before anyone outside Texas ever heard of OCT. This tactic has never worked for OC activists, and OCT refuses to use tactics that other OC activists have successfully used.
Exactly, they’re just being stubborn and drawing their line in the sand. Unfortunately the world doesn’t work that way.
I’m a little tired of folks in this discussion implying someone’s being dishonest (as you (Geodkyt) just did to me) for having a different interpretation of something. While Chris allowed this was a discussion about tactics, he also said, “Our job’s not to criticize the behavior of lawful gun owners.” I took this to mean he was apologizing for and retracting any and all public criticism of OCT.
I get where you get your interpretation. I disagree. You may be right. You may be wrong. Either way, I’m not going to imply you’re being dishonest.
I do, however, agree with your last two paragraphs.
Correction: Cox said, “…and our job is not to criticize the lawful behavior of fellow gun owners.” Software wouldn’t let me correct it before it timed out. Apologies.
All the original statement criticized was the TACTIC in the first place. And his video taped interview reiterated the disagreement was over the tactic chosen by OCT.
Since the tactic WAS the behavior in question, all he pulled back was the use of “weird” as a descriptor.
To turn pointing THAT fact out in the face of your mischaracterization (which I honestly attributed to “not paying attention to teh actual words” rather than “dishonesty”) into accusing you of lying is precisely the kind of mischaracterization I was calling out in the first place.
Thanks for proving my point about y’all reading what you want to read, not what’s written.
MDA is like a minor league team that got sick of getting their asses kicked by a Big League team, so they decided to exclusively play the local Special Olympics tee-ball squad. With predictable results.
Even OCT’s Facebook posts scream “we’re hapless amateurs!” MDA aren’t all that great. I don’t think they’re any more sophisticated than legions of #HashtagActivists pushing various causes (although they’re obviously better funded). But OCT are so far out of their depth against them, its ridiculous.
I think that’s a really insightful point. Gun control groups haven’t faired so well against organizations like the NRA. So now MDA is focused on little guys and using them against the rest of the gun community. And with great success. Why pick a fight with the NRA when all you have to do is engage in a pissing contest with gun-toting useful idiots more than willing to provide you with all the anti-gun propaganda you’ll ever need?
I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a more common strategy, especially since these little groups of morons like Open Carry Texas and Open Carry Tarrant County won’t take advice from, or work with, the NRA. In fact, these attention whores seem to feed off of pissing off the NRA as well.
You know, Oklahoma recently passed open carry handily without all this attention whore crap. And it been a non issue there since. These morons are going to screw it up for Texans like me and I personally don’t know what to do about it. I live in Arlington and have seen them marching thru town on Division street and they do present themselves as morons.
Presentation is everything in trying to change hearts and minds, mind you there isn’t much needed to win over Texas in the first place and is on track to pass open carry this next session. Unless these groups screw us out of it. For goodness sakes, dress professionally, carry properly, get out of faces of everyone and those interested in talking to them, do so in a non aggressive manor.
If we loose this in the next session, I will put them blame squarely on their backs, as well as many others will too. Its a long while to the next session which gives them plenty of time to totally screw this up and do more harm yet, such as for the first time in Texas history to ban long gun open carry. It could happen, it will happen unless someone, somehow, pounds some sense into these pea brains.
If we loose this, I will move to Oklahoma, I am a proud born and raised Texan but totally ashamed of these groups. They DO NOT represent ME!
“If they aren’t careful, they are going to end up losing rifle OC in Texas.”—
Yeah, like the guys in California did, and then a couple of the leaders moved to Texas after they screwed it up for everybody else left in CA.
So it turns out that the weirdo in the weirdo hat, Kory Watkins, actually ran for Congress:
http://texansforkorywatkins.com/
And for the local school board, and probably dog catcher too. His website says he homeschools his kids, so it makes perfect sense to run for the school board, right? It also says he has [only] a high school education, is a part-time bartender, and is generally unsuccessful in life. I don’t mention this as an ad hominem, but because it supports everyone’s suspicions about the makeup of these groups.