Open carry Texas is keeping the heat on the Texas legislature. This time with an open carry march this past weekend in Amarillo. In the snow.  More than 2,300 open carry marches have been conducted in Texas in the last 18 months. No other social movement has been as effective in organizing and gaining followers in the last few decades. Open carry has struck a cord with the Texas gun culture. Many became educated as to the state of the law. Some could not believe that they didn’t already have rights that are commonly in place in most of the other states . . .

Others couldn’t believe that they had the legal rights that they did. Both groups were emboldened to march and protest the current state of the law. Reports from the marchers show overwhelming support for their actions.

From amarillo.com:

They marched on Soncy Road through the snow and the wind with rifles and shotguns on their back, pausing occasionally to wave to drivers showing support with honks.

“In a lot of the bigger cities, we’ll usually have at least one person who screams at you,” said CJ Grisham, president and founder of Open Carry Texas. “I didn’t hear a single person scream at us.”

About 30 demonstrators showed up for the walk to advocate for laws that would lighten government restrictions on carrying guns. Though the organization has conducted more than 2,300 walks and rallies across the state, it was the first of its kind in Amarillo.

Because the march was the first of its kind in Amarillo, perhaps the honks were in appreciation that the city was no longer being left out of the action. It seems unlikely that the march will be the last one to take place there.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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54 COMMENTS

  1. Why do you losers want to take 2A rights away from everyone? The blowback from these stunts threaten concealed carry across the nation. Go away!

    • eh i don’t know many would say that this is helping raise responsible firearms ownership awareness. I for one am for it as long as they are responsible, respectful and courteous.

    • Not the case in Ohio. 😉

      Besides, ought people be afraid to exercise a right because you are worried about your privilege? You might be satisfied with exchanging the exercise of a right for a privilege but not everyone is on board with such supplications of servitude.

    • The second amendment is the right to keep and bear arms, not the right to keep and conceal arms.

      • Do you know how right you are? Stupidly, our legal tradition does not apply the right to bear arms to concealed carry. This is why somewhere around 40 states do not require a license to openly carry a firearm.

        I maintain both are covered.

        • I wonder if the OC/CC distinction in our 19th century jurisprudence isn’t working to our advantage; and, especially so that TX is the seat of the current controversy.
          Imagine the difficulty the uncommitted mind must cope with when hearing about OCT. The first question is: Why are they carrying rifles in Texas? A: because they can; it’s Texas after all. Oh; yes, of course. It IS Texas and I suppose I shouldn’t be any more shocked to see someone carrying a rifle in Texas then I would be if it were Montana.
          But why are they carrying rifles in Texas cities? A: Because they want to carry handguns openly, but that’s against the law. So, they are protesting by doing what they can do lawfully. You see, Texans are a law-abiding peaceable crowd and they don’t want to violate the law.
          What? You say that in Texas, it is lawful to carry long guns openly but not hand guns? Yup; that’s right. Seems odd; which is more dangerous, a handgun or a rifle? A: A rifle, of course. Oh . . .
          Well, then, can’t Texans get a concealed carry permit? A: Yes they can. However, they can only carry concealed, not open. So, when a Texan is leaning over to pick something up or reaching for something high on a shelf he could get caught with his butt sticking out; no pun intended. He could get arrested for that.
          Anyway, Texans are a forthright bunch. They want to be free to carry openly and not try to hide their guns as if they were something to be ashamed of. You see, in the 19th century people thought that carrying a gun concealed was sneaky and underhanded. To carry openly was said to be “carrying in a manly way” (no offense to the ladies). So, generally, concealed-carry was prohibited or regulated but open-carry was socially acceptable. In 45 States now, carrying a handgun openly is legal. Texas law is kind of an outlier.
          Well, what changed? It was a Republican conspiracy to prevent Confederate veterans from carrying guns; and, the policy was continued to keep guns out of the hands of the freedmen.
          Oh, I see . . .

          Without Texas’ strange laws and OCT, we could never have such a conversation with an uncommitted voter; he just wouldn’t be interested. Thank God for Texas and may she bless OCT too. Because of the demonstrations we are given the opportunity to strike-up such a conversation with a fellow voter.

          Once Texas falls, we need to move on to Florida. There, we need to have open-carry demonstrations with PotG carrying fishing poles to the pier and camping equipment to parks. Then, we go through the whole conversation again.

        • Spot on, MarkPA! With little clean up and citations, your comment is flyer-ready for the next OC walk in Texas.

          Texas OC highlights the racist roots of gun control, the arbitrary nature of controlling one type of carry over another (CC vs OC), and how fickle & contradictory government can be about the subject of bearing arms.

          Shall not be infringed -> we can’t trust freemen with guns -> only someone with bad intent would conceal their handgun -> open carry is scary so everyone must conceal after asking for a license

          RKBA -> right for some & privilege for some -> right for fewer & privilege for even fewer -> right for nobody & privilege for some

    • Bob can you explain how these open carry marches threaten concealed carry across the nation?

      What state do you live in that concealed carry is considered a right?

    • Completley false. You have no clue what your talking about. You think the 2A is a privledge appearently.

    • You think that thousands of gun owners across the state marching in the scorching heat or biting cold actually want to screw others out of their 2A rights? I get that you disagree with the tactic, but do you honestly believe their purpose is exactly the opposite of their stated goal of expanding firearms freedom? If not, then you should really tone down the hysterical hyperbole. It makes you sound mentally ill, and that maybe you shouldn’t have a gun.

      As for practical impact, that’s tough to measure. Still, carry rights are being expanded in many states, from Georgia to Michigan to Illinois to Idaho, with many laws having come into effect last year or scheduled to take effect in 2015. Even in Texas, ground zero for these civil rights marches, a pro-OC governor was just elected and bills are sailing through the state legislature.

      Maybe these marches don’t deserve the credit for the good that is happening, but neither can they take the blame for the bad that isn’t happening.

  3. No blow back in Amarillo, we are about as pro-gun as you can get. They could have choose better weather to march in though. The city owns a nice shooting complex open to the public, tons of gun clubs and people that are comfortable with firearms. When I moved to Amarillo from New England, the local guys at the gun club would tease me by asking how I like living in a free state. Personally I don’t think OC is a good strategy for self defense, but I respect my fellow citizens the right to public protest on on laws they believe are unfair. This is the same right we extend to all sorts of special interest groups, nothing special.

  4. Hey Texans –

    Would you trade your right to OC long guns for the right to OC pistols? It’d suck to have to decide.

    Glad I live/work in two free states.

    • I don’t think you’ll find many Texans who plan to voluntarily give up any rights under any circumstances. A trade isn’t even a player.

  5. Yep. New Mexico, land of the free and home of the brave. Mostly.

    We can OC loaded pistols and rifles without a permit and conceal carry an unloaded weapon with a mag on the belt or pocket without a permit. Wierd, I know.

    We then have shall issue conceal carry with an 8 hr. Class and 8 hr. on the range.

    Just get rid of the class and range requirement to carry a loaded concealed weapon and we would be golden.

    • In some VA jurisdictions you can do it all on-line. Only thing you show up in person for is to present ID/Cert. and pay for the background check. The state doesn’t need to determine my level of training – anyone with the conviction to carry will handle that on their own.

  6. “Snow”

    Also, I have yet to see one of these things that hasn’t come off like a bunch of petulant toddlers stamping their feet and/or bully boys whipping it out and daring anyone to tell them it’s not big enough.

    Sorry. I own over a dozen guns. I fully and absolutely believe in the armed citizen. And I believe you are hurtful to all of us.

    Cut it out with the sniffy little tirades and be a proper ambassador for the gun community.

    • I believe you are hurtful to all of us. Cut it out with the sniffy little tirades and be a proper ambassador for the gun community.

      What have you done in the last year to advance liberty?

    • “I own over a dozen guns” Oh how impressive, who’s waving it out now? Oh, you must be sssoooo knowledgeable on our rights because you own so many guns. Quit acting like a toddler. So you have a bunch of guns that your too afraid to bring them out of the gun safe. What good are they? And if you’d pay attention you’d know OC Texas are typically very respectful and intelligent gatherings.

  7. More than 2,300 open carry marches have been conducted in Texas in the last 18 months. No other social movement has been as effective in organizing and gaining followers in the last few decades.

    Thanks for bringing this out. The obtuse among us continue to argue this point. They think OC hurts them good CCers.

    • I don’t like OC, but I fully support the right to OC.

      I don’t understand all the OC hate, we (OCers and CCers) are in the same boat here. I’m all for turning the tide.

      • IMHO, there are a variety of reasons someone might be against freely open carrying. There are people that make money because of concealed carry licensing; training, accouterments, publications, etc. There are statists that fear anything but a controlled privilege. There are people that simply believe the anti-OC propaganda.There are people who feel special because they have a license and freely carrying in the open somehow detracts from their specialness.

        I’ve carried concealed far longer than I’ve opened carried since we haven’t required a license in my state until 2005. I support both modes of carry and would like to see individuals able to do both with no need of government permission. Although, I will admit that I’ve grown so used to open carry that I doubt I would go back to concealed only. Presently I do both at the same time as I carry a concealed BUG.

  8. A wee bit off topic:
    “In October, Mr. Hicks came knocking while they were cleaning up from a dinner party where they had played the board game Risk. He growled that they had woken up his wife, lifting his shirt to reveal a holstered gun. The students did not call the police, but there was little the authorities could have done if they had. Mr. Hicks had a concealed-carry permit.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/04/us/chapel-hill-muslim-student-shootings-north-carolina.html?_r=0)
    That’s brandishing, a threat. That’s illegal. And nothing like Amarillo.

  9. They’ll have to do this for two more years to get the right recognized for handguns. Texas neocons will require a license to OC a handgun, if they allow it all.

    • Yeah – it’s nice that they would sacrifice their time and effort to protest against the state taking their rights in an effort to secure them for all Texans while some people sit back in their armchairs sucking up the political nanny state nonsence embracing helplessness and state dependency while referring to selfless people such as this as “losers.”

      What’s your contribution? Or is that it?

      • Nah, I’ll stick around and call it like I see it. These dopes have nothing else to do, why not go “look at me” parade around town.

        • ” These dopes “

          You mean ‘civil rights activists,’ right?

          I don’t believe for a second you own guns or support fighting for Second Amendment rights.

          Statist troll astroturfer fits the pattern of your comment much better.

    • So citizens who are peacefully gathering to advance a civil right enumerated in the United States Constitution that ends with “shall not be infringed” are losers in a soup kitchen?

      So the question then follows, if standing up to be heard in support of our constitutionally recognized rights is being a “loser,” then I take it you look upon our rights as a privilege granted by government that we have no say in?

      You would have made an outstanding Tory not to long back my friend.

    • What you cannot say about those demonstrators is that they were violence crazed psychos who shot up the town. Rather, they were organized and carried flags in an exercise of their First Amendment enumerated right to gather peaceably and exercise free speech.

  11. Polite, courteous, and informative. No wonder we got trolls screeching against them here each time a post about OC rallies comes up.

  12. People that saw it here weren’t impressed. One of the women kept sweeping folks with her muzzle. I mean yeah they safety checked but FFS, that ain’t cool. stop pointing your popgun at me.

    • So, out of 2300 people one woman muzzle swept you? And that is justification for sh*tting on all gun owners? Arrrgh, the stupid, it burns!!!!!!!

      • This wasn’t 2300, it was more like 20-30 (and I’m being generous). I’m judging this march, and this group of participants off what we saw.

        • Ops, my bad, article says 2300 marches during last 18 months, such a tiny little minority agitating against, well, losing their rights. So, why did you not ask her to stop sweeping the crowd? Point out it is breaking one of the 4? Instead you crap on people advocating for reinstatement of their Constitutionally guaranteed right to bear arms. See how that works?

  13. I remember everyone was freaking out saying how detrimental OCT was to gun rights and now TTAG embraces it as they’re making progress? I always figured any step towards helping the 2A was good when done legally and responsibly.

    • I remember everyone was freaking out saying how detrimental OCT was to gun rights

      That was mostly the pastor Paul. He’d come on here and rant, throw around insults, and even the occasional lie. He’s gone now.

    • “I remember everyone was freaking out saying how detrimental OCT was to gun rights”

      Then you remember wrong because it was never everyone…nor even a majority…nor even close majority.

      There was a vocal few.

      Then, superimposed on top of that vocal few were the ‘drive-by’ trolls that show up for a post or two…trying to sound like “regulars.” In short, they are astroturfers that from the very tone of the remarks can NOT be gun rights supporters.

      These trolls show up for every OC related post, almost as if they are part of some organized effort to discredit open carry.

      Don’t confuse the wayward remarks of sh1t-stirrers with the genuine sentiment of the true majority.

      • I don’t disagree with your comment at all and the following isn’t directed at you.

        It always puzzles me how some who truly believe in freedom don’t support unlicensed open carry to some degree. The whole notion of privilege vs right and out-of-sight means out-of-mind strikes me as basic to the notion. IMHO, majority or not, those interested in real rights ought to be firmly behind unlicensed OC at least.

        • Hey, John, I have met people just recently who really believe there should be some govt. control over who can carry, so as to keep fruitcakes from carrying, or something. These were people who had serious credentials, not pure antis. I explained that I could not even imagine why they would feel that way, why anyone would seek to give that kind of power to government, and we agreed to disagree, since they KNEW there were people out there who needed to be controlled. The indoctrination is many decades old, it will take a while to wear off.

        • Most of the people that I encounter IRL believe this; politicians, government administrators, attorneys, judges, cops, physicians, nurses, and just regular Joes and Janes. It’s disheartening at times for me.

  14. My concern here is trading a Right for a Privilege… Will The RIGHT to OC long guns be lost in exchange for a Privilege to OC a Handgun?

    As uncouth as the concern trolls think it may be… If you’re not willing to tolerate a little social discomfort in the name of The Bill of Rights, no wonder it’s being shredded. Insulting your betters doesn’t make you a hero.

    I’m saddened by the “tubgirl gun owners” of today: “Throw away your rights before you lose them! Then you can talk about not losing the fight because you never bothered to put up a fight! Crap in your own face before someone else does! Then you can be a concern troll and act like you’re somebody by insulting people better than yourself!”

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