http://youtu.be/46ZQHhKPeIU

“Kory Watkins, leader of Open Carry Tarrant County, recently posted a chilling video to his Facebook page that appears to level threats at state lawmakers,” dallasnews.com blogs. For once, the anti-gun DMN is being too kind. It’s clear enough that Mr. Watkins is suggesting a non-political solution to the Lone Star State’s lack of open carry – should politicians fail to restore residents’ gun rights. Well, um, first things first. Mr. Watkins says “going against the Constitution is treason.” In fact . . .

18 U.S. Code § 2381 – Treason

Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

The way I read it, failing to pass an open carry bill could only be considered treasonous if its opposition was designed to provide America’s enemies “aid and comfort” by leaving people defenseless against foreign attack. Not the most convoluted argument I’ve ever heard, especially in light of 9/11, but intent matters. So, no.

More than that, Mr. Watkins’ remarks – which he attempted to remove from the ‘net when the antis seized on them like a hungry lion on a stumbling gazelle – are another own goal. They provide gun control advocates another golden opportunity to portray open carry advocates as trigger-happy nut jobs. Like this gem from the Campaign to Stop Gun Violence’s Facebook page . . .

Tengo K. Duitt These people have genuine mental health issues and are exactly the type that should be completely barred from owning guns. Bottom line: the 2nd Amendment seriously needs to be amended to reflect the realities of modern life in the USA. Background checks are not enough! Many active shooters are young and do not YET have a mental health or criminal record! All gun owners need to be licensed by passing written, shooting skill, and mental health tests, given the lethal purpose of guns. The 2nd amendment, written well over 200 years ago provided for a WELL REGULATED MILITIA! Not a bunch of nuts with guns who think they are Superman.

Don’t feed the trolls? Too late. Sigh. After his veiled threat went viral, Mr. Watkins prevaricated thusly:

In a written response on Facebook, Watkins said his comments in the video were taken out of context.

“Let me make it clear and unequivocal: I was not talking about hurting legislators, or anyone else,” he said.

He also denied that he was calling for a more violent approach to getting open carry passed in Texas.

“I am an advocate of peaceful non-cooperation. When I speak of “stepping it up a notch” [I] mean within the boundaries of “peaceful non-cooperation. Instead of just a foot in the door. perhaps we need ‘sit ins’ chanting ‘hell no we won’t go,’” he said.

If open carry passes in Texas – and the odds are still pretty good – it will be in spite of Mr. Watkins’ efforts, not because of them. Still, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Is it?

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150 COMMENTS

  1. Very few people do the right thing the right way. Fewer than that do the right thing the wrong way. 95% of the people do nothing at all and that allows a few people to do the wrong thing the right way, and that wrong thing is to infringe on our rights.

  3. Write and call your state reps/senators fellow Texans. Tell them that people like Kory Watkins do not represent us and that it’s time to get one of our rights back.

    • Unfortunately, my sen/rep don’t represent me. Since I’m not a Latino democrat, mine didn’t even bother to send me a pre-fab response to the many emails I sent them about OC.

  4. “Tengo K. Duitt: These people have genuine mental health issues and are exactly the type that should be completely barred from owning guns. “

    I like the “These people”

    We are talking about one person here.

    But, how long will it take before our own side lumps all OC-ers and OC-activists into the same pile? 10 minutes or less?

    If Kory Watkins is a “problem” within the POTG community, the focus should be on him for what he is doing and saying. Over-generalization to “OCT” and any other group not specifically doing and saying what he is remains a fallacy.

    But still, cue comments about how “OC is bad” etc, etc, etc.

    • In fairness, we do the same thing whenever Shannon Watts, Bloomy, or any other anti-gun nut talks about limiting gun rights – As soon as someone mentions full blown confiscation, it makes headline news on this blog and is used as an example as to how all anti-gun people really think.

      The simple fact is that whenever some outlier on either side of the argument makes an outrageous statement, the other side uses it to paint the other side with a broad brush.

      Fact is that Kory is a leader among the OC movement. If he does or says something stupid, then he is held up as an example for then entire movement.

      • “we do the same thing … used as an example as to how all anti-gun people really think.”

        I disagree.

        SOME of us might do that, but there are many commenters here that point out with consistency that not all anti’s are the same, think the same or have the same goals.

        “Fact is that Kory is a leader among the OC movement.”

        No, he’s not. Word from many that live there is that he’s been shunned by the OC movement in Texas. My understanding and observation is that OCT has distanced itself from him and his tactics.

        It does little good for “our side” to accept the anti narrative that we are all the same or that Watkins speaks for us or that he is a “leader in the movement” when in fact he’s an outcast among POTG.

        • I’m afraid you’re missing two points.

          “SOME of us might do that, but there are many commenters here that point out with consistency that not all anti’s are the same, think the same or have the same goals.”

          Perhaps – but most people don’t dig through 100+ comments to see the whole chain unless they are passionately interested in the topic. Anti-gun folks don’t even go that far – they take the story and run with it. Do a search on this site for twisted mind of the gun grabber or terms to that effect and you’ll find more than a few stories that talk about a specific misguided individual then imply that their viewpoint is widespread.

          Secondly,

          ““Fact is that Kory is a leader among the OC movement.”

          No, he’s not. Word from many that live there is that he’s been shunned by the OC movement in Texas. My understanding and observation is that OCT has distanced itself from him and his tactics.”

          I read this blog fairly regularly and do read some of the comments. As far as I was concerned, Kody still was considered a leader among the OC Texas folks. Now that I’ve gone back and re-read some older stories, I realize that I was confusing Kody with CJ Wilson who is the leader of OC Texas. Problem is that since I don’t live in Texas, I don’t follow it as closely as you and others do. Chances are the anti-gun people are even less tuned into the day to day details. Nor do they care. They will take videos like this and run with them much the same way they ran with video that Yeager did a couple of years back where he said that some people were going to start dying if things don’t change.

          Every gun owner needs to remember that they are always an ambassador for the entire gun community whenever they are dealing with a non-gun person. You don’t have to like it, but it is still a fact. As angry and frustrated as we get from time to time, the image of the armed pissed off person is not the one we want to project. Cool, Calm, and Collected is what we need. By all means, make your case, but if you can be the one to keep a cool head, your perspective is more likely to be embraced by the undecided masses than the one propagated by the crazy hot head.

        • Every gun owner needs to remember that they are always an ambassador for the entire gun community whenever they are dealing with a non-gun person. You don’t have to like it, but it is still a fact.

          No, that’s pure bullshit.

      • Just because he is a leader in the OC movement does not mean he is helping the cause..AT ALL. His actions reflect poorly on us. On top of that his absolute idiocy with Arlington PD is eventually going to get him, one of his cronies or an officer hurt or killed.

        He needs to go away.

  5. I say he is a Bloomers plant intended to make the open carry lobby look evil and stupid.
    After all, these people did send plants to tea party rallies to way swastika signs.

    • That was my first thought as well. Somebody will no doubt dig into the guy’s background and find out he’s a vegan, Berekley graduate with a degree in women’s studies or something.

    • From what I’ve seen of this guy, he’s just an idiot. If he were a Bloomie plant, why would he try to walk back his statements once they caused an uproar?

      Not every idiot on the pro-2A side is a Bloomberg mole. Some people are just f*cking morons, and some of those happen to share our pro-gun beliefs. There are more than a few really stupid gun owners out there.

      Heck, most of us have probably run into a few at the range or in a gun store (often working behind the counter, it seems).

  6. It will be a miracle if Texas finally puts an end to their restriction on open carry of handguns with idiots like this on “our” side. I’m all for constitutional carry in all 50 states. Barring that I’m all for mandatory national reciprocity. But with guys like this on our side, who needs Moms Demand (Action) er All of us be unarmed and defenseless sheep?

    • This thought just crossed my mind and is meant to be academic but it fits the methodology of the antis and the left in general.
      What if they are not anti gun but rather, anti responsibility? Think about it. They feel threatened among an armed society, not because they fear POTG, because they fear having to become a POTG.
      You can trace almost all Progressive legislation back to the fact that they want no responsibility and little or no consequences for failure.
      Although stripping all gun laws in order to comply with the Constitution does not mandate anyone carry a gun, the antis feel the power will be neutralized between the people and their Deity, the almighty Government. With their Father rendered powerless, they are left to fend for themselves. For the first time in their lives, many of them will consider arming up. That terrifies them. They aren’t afraid of Kory Watkins. They are afraid of taking responsibility in a world of self reliance.
      They are no more safe now than they would be in a freer society but their illusion of safety would be shattered.

      • Yep I’ve been arguing that for awhile. The lack of responsibility is being extended to all aspects of our lives, not just gun or personal defense rights. It’s collectivism at it’s worst.This victim mentality is being pushed on healthcare, housing, taxes and spending, etc, in a sense that the government (particularly with the progressives) keeps using demagoguery to say “you have a right to something, and it’s time for the top ten percent to pay their fair share” or the infamous “you didn’t earn it” . But when it comes to individual responsibility and drive to obtain those achievements, crickets.

      • Yep. I posted a reply to the Colorado voting fiasco earlier today and hit on that hypothesis as well:

        “Part of the fun of being free is deciding one’s own path through life. I stand in slack-jawed wonder when I see so many people who wish to be led and to have decisions made for them by others. In my darkest nightmares, I see many people of the gun who secretly wish to wear these chains too, if only to have something to complain about. I wonder if that’s not why many of them can’t be bothered to do the very easiest thing to secure their independence from a tyrannical government–vote. I pray that I’m wrong, but I can see the upside to not voting. When someone else controls your destiny, you have a built-in excuse for every bad thing that happens to you. It’s never your fault. When you are free to make all your own decisions, any bad choices are yours to own. That’s scary. It’s also wonderful.”

        • @MamaLiberty

          Simple! There are major consequences to elections. When the statists control things, we are left with laws telling us what kind of toilets and light bulbs we must buy. Those choices have been removed from us unless we find some wildcat high-volume toilet manufacturer who is selling commodes on Pirate Bay.

          Who elects these statists? Not the majority of eligible voters, but rather the majority of voters who actually cast ballots.

          Everyone splits hairs over how the third-party candidates throw elections for the wrong person, but really none of this would matter at all if everyone who values freedom would vote. There would be far less statists in most cases, and there would be considerably less damage done to our freedoms by regulations and bad laws. Meanwhile, here we are counting angels dancing on the head of a pin while nearly half of the country’s eligible voters sit on their hands, refusing to participate in our system of governance.

          • Well, this argument won’t be won here.

            You might find this interesting:
            The Myth of “The Rule of Law”
            http://militantlibertarian.org/2012/02/25/the-myth-of-the-rule-of-law/
            No political system can escape the rule of men, for all political systems are created and run by men. At the same time, no political system is the result of the decisions of everyone within a society, for at a fundamental level all political systems are oligarchies in which a small percentage of the overall population are those with direct control over the state apparatus, those who actually make and enforce the laws.

    • This is what happens when a moron manages to get attention. If his efforts keep up, I wonder how long it’ll be before bills restricting open carry of long guns are introduced in the Texas Legislature…

      Anti’s look at antics like this and find a convenient (frothing at the mouth) stereotype to paint us all with. This is not the way to end the restriction on open carry of pistols. This is the way to cause a reactionary tightening of restrictions.

      • If they restrict much more then it certainly will separate the men and women from the boys and girls, now won’t it? That wouldn’t necessarily be the worst thing. 😉

  8. I seriously think this man’s words and actions are ill advised and counterproductive… just to get the record straight. But if he was truthful, yes… non-compliance is the most useful strategy. That will probably bring down the iron fist eventually, but the controllers will have to strike the first blow.

    His first problem is the fact that he still thinks any government actually has the authority to “give” rights… That’s an oxymoron. The right to self defense, whether against common criminals or tyranny, is not a gift from government at any level. Continued belief that the “constitution” somehow confers that right on people is the source of much of the confusion.

    Second, isn’t it interesting that thousands of rogue cops and politicians, destroying lives both directly and by proxy, are endlessly excused with the “one bad apple” analogy, with sick excuses for most of them – even from otherwise rational people.

    But if one fool tips his rifle barrel too far, or makes outrageous statements on facebook… that’s supposed to indelibly reflect on every other gun owner. And, unfortunately, even some gun owners accept that idea.

    • @Mamaliberty-
      “His first problem is the fact that he still thinks any government actually has the authority to “give” rights… That’s an oxymoron. The right to self defense, whether against common criminals or tyranny, is not a gift from government at any level. Continued belief that the “constitution” somehow confers that right on people is the source of much of the confusion.”
      Question though, and that is what happens when the government doesn’t recognize that right to self-defense, which they think is their job to grant? Or if the government punishes you until you prove yourself innocent at great personal cost for just doing what every rational human does in dangerous situations and protects themselves with what is at their personal disposal. If a guy says I will shoot you in the face if you try to deprive me of my right to self-defense, well then that is the most honest and real conversation to deal with political correctness and sacrificing liberty.

      “As our enemies of Liberty have found we can reason like men, so now lets show them we can fight like men also.” -TJ . The great president and man who said this quote and believed in the beauty of a free nation would piss on the following description of treason, that is soley written to protect the government not the people that constitute the sovereign to be ruled. We Americans owe our allegiance to the Constitution as it is the moral principles that guide us when we are moral people, which our morality has been sacrificed with our liberty.

      “18 U.S. Code § 2381 – Treason

      Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States”. –By this definition Kory Watkins was right as going against the constitution is treason, and a moral and egregious attack on those Americans who value our highest laws in a nation of Law.

      • While I don’t claim to know how Jefferson personally defined “treason”, the definition you quote from 18 U.S. Code § 2381 is not materially different from the definition given in Article III of the U.S. Constitution: “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.”

        Given that, I suspect Jefferson would have been okay with it, or at least not moved to urinate on it.

  9. Every movement has had its nut jobs. The civil rights movement in the 1960s had its nut jobs. My question is, did an actual group of people elect this Watkins dude to speak for them, or is Open Carry Tarrant County just something he created to give the appearance of relevance?

        • Lol I dont give a crap whether someone oc’s or not. My state (AZ) is awesome and allows it.

          Threatening people on the other hand…doesnt really help the 2a community, and from what I’m hearing Watkins isnt helping at all.

        • I would love to see your reaction posts if Thomas Jefferson were alive today and on the interwebs.

          Years ago I did a little productive trolling by taking some of Jefferson’s quotes, modernizing them, and holding them out as my own opinions. The reactions from some gun and pro-liberty folks were quite telling. I should start doing that again. 😀

        • “Threatening people on the other hand…doesnt really help the 2a community, and from what I’m hearing Watkins isnt helping at all.”

          Sorry if I misunderstood your original comment, but you didn’t mention anyone threatening anyone and you DID mention OC.

          Are you saying that OC of a firearm in Kroger is equivalent to threatening people? That’s how I take your reply…that there is an equivalence between OC in Kroger and threatening people.

        • Interpret it as you’d like. One of the TTAG staff posted pic of a guy OCing an AK w/ a fedora a while back and I thought it was him.

          One of the other commentors interpreted it as:”OMGZ ROLL IS ANTI-OC HNGGG” and ran with all buthurt with it LOL. I OC when hiking in the mountains in AZ, but mostly CC when I’m in town.

          As far a Watkins is concerned, from what I’ve read, the OC orgs in TX are not happy with him, espescially CJ Grisham (OC Texas) and consider his actions counter productive

        • One of the other commentors interpreted it as:”OMGZ ROLL IS ANTI-OC HNGGG” and ran with all buthurt with it LOL

          I count three commentors so far. Which one because I don’t see it?

    • Yea! Another “these people.”

      Define please. Is that…anyone that disagrees with you on how/when firearms should be carried? Or, is it this one guy and we are for some reason supposed to extrapolate that some other group?

      • Yes, unfortunately for the average purveyor of news, it will be “these people.” You have to consider that there are many people, even in Texas (shocking!) that are not gun owners and have no firm or committed opinions on gun-related legislation. Regular readers here should easily make the distinction between this one idiot and everyone else, but the public at large won’t. Regrettably, neither will many of our state legislators. They will equate him with all open carry proponents, if not all gun owners. In fact, I (living in central Texas) have already had several discussions with my co-workers trying to distance myself, as a known firearm enthusiast, from this moron. Believe me, they lump all OC together – wrong, but it is what it is. The challenge is to minimize the damage and put out a positive message. Anymore shenanigans like this will greatly diminish our chances at permitted open carry this session, and to the great mass of undecided Texas residents and their legislators, any OC event will likely look like shenanigans.

        • If this is true, I wonder why people don’t see the utter dishonesty and culpability of the liar in chief, and decide never to trust another politician again as long as they live?

          I think there is a lot more to it than just an example of something being taken as blanket truth for everyone.

  12. Korey Watkins is either an idiot or an anti-gun plant masquerading as an activist. He and the OCT guys from Tarrant County (full disclosure, I live here also) are the precise reason why we will not see Open or Constitutional carry this year. I would not be surprised to see stronger limitations on CHL. I am furious about this.

    • Or he’s neither.

      Your rustled jimmies are duly noted but please get, at the very least, just as angry at the politicians and law enforcement officers who are depriving you of your legal ability to exercise your natural and protected rights. If not, then you are blaming one of the victims and scape-goating him for the decisions of others which are beyond his control.

      • I am angry about the whole damned thing! I, however, exercise my right to work with the politicians in crafting the bills to restore the rights which were stolen to prevent the blacks from being armed. LAST YEAR when this whole open carry movement started I said, and posted on these pages, that it was the wrong way to go about this. I posted several pages ago that politics is that art of the possible.

        Kory and his cronies have destroyed any chance we had. So unless you are prepared to use the bullet box OC and CC are not going to happen especially now that the shenanigans have cause the pols to install panic buttons in their offices. Kory and his cronies deserve every bit of opprobrium being thrown at him.

        • Kory and his cronies have destroyed any chance we had.

          That’s utter nonsense. Any politician who would slink away from doing the right thing just because one guy says something on the internet that the politician didn’t like was not on really onboard to do the right thing in the first place.

          So unless you are prepared to use the bullet box OC and CC are not going to happen

          All Americans ought to be prepared to defend Liberty. Its price is eternal vigilance.

          A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

          We should always be prepared to defend Liberty by appropriate means. It is necessary to the security of a free state.

          especially now that the shenanigans have cause the pols to install panic buttons in their offices.

          Again, you’re confusing their choices with Kory’s actions. They should’ve been armed in the first place. Part of the problem is that they don’t believe that trouble can visit them at any time and at any place. This tells me that they don’t really understand or respect the deterrent value of an armed people and that they don’t seriously understand or care about why individuals might want to be armed everyday.

          Kory and his cronies deserve every bit of opprobrium being thrown at him.

          Nope.

  13. How is it most of the rest of the union can open carry no problem but OC Texas always goes full retard and ends up on the news?

    • Let us be VERY clear this is not an OC Texas issue, I would even go so far as to say it is not really an OC Tarrant County issue (although the line there is a little more blurry). This is a solely a Kory Watkins problem… conflating the actions and misguided rantings of one self absorbed dickhead with an entire movement is no more productive than the arguments used by the antis.

      • “conflating the actions and misguided rantings of one self absorbed dickhead with an entire movement is no more productive than the arguments used by the antis.”

        Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you.

  14. Not everyone understands how to fight political battles.

    Threatening – or even appearing to threaten – politicians is generally not going to make them like you, or like your cause.

    • “These people must be running out of their own foot to shoot.”

      “These people?”

      It’s ONE PERSON.

      What “these people” are you talking about? All gun owners? That subset of gun owners that OC? That subset of gun owners that are trying to change the (dumb) OC law in Texas?

  16. Lesson – If you’re a nutter perhaps you should stay off of Flakebook?

    Or perhaps it is the place for kooks to self identify and to congregate?

  17. Having just watched the video and reading his clarification, I don’t disagree with his statement. Of course, his misstatements regarding government “giving rights”, as MamaLiberty already pointed out, and government’s job being to “protect the Constitution” being excepted.

    I believe that only mass civil disobedience will fully restore the ability to freely exercise the natural right of keeping and bearing arms. Incrementalism will fail at the task.

  18. Seems that a lot of people here accept the idea that if some guy says something that the progs do not agree with, it is ok to infringe on our rights. Because kooks.
    I guess we lose the bigger picture: regardless of how many people misuse their rights, the rights are rights. Somebody’s else crazy statement or bad behavior should have no bearing on what rights are available to me.
    And any politician that doesn’t see that or uses that excuse that is not fit to be in office.
    So stop getting your panties in a bunch and call your politician to demand our rights be respected.
    Grow some!

  19. In my best Samuel L. Jackson, “Kory, I am afraid that we are going to have to let you go.”

  20. Let’s see here… Failed system, check. Blind leading the blind, check. Constitution being used for politicians double ply, check. The feds running the media, check. Voting not helping helping any of those things, check. Hmm what’s that whole bit about insanity? Something like doing the same thing over and over and expecting new results… Maybe we are at that level. Maybe threats are the answer. I mean hey they work for the atf and they seam to be working at a local level for your average jackboot. Give me liberty or give me death. I’m not getting busy dying so you do the math.

    • IMHO…

      Voting is a dead end these days. Incrementalism will fail at the task. Accepting legislative privilege in place of the actual exercise of the right is a huge, glaring, fatal mistake.

  21. I live in Tarrant Co. I wish Watkins would go away. Not making friends for the cause. We probably had it made till he showed up.

  22. Yep, every Texan who sincerely wants Open Carry needs to scream loud and long to their Legislators and everyone else that this guy does NOT speak for them. His remarks are so irresponsible and arrogant that they are counterproductive. It’s what I call “cunning stupidity”, which is an oxymoron of sorts, but aptly describes exactly what this guy is doing if you think about it.
    Good grief! Talk about “fragging” your own movement…this is a perfect example.

  23. My “crazy person” detector is screaming. Hopefully LE is REALLY keeping close tabs on this guy. That a guy could post a video like that and being so oblivious to how self-defeating it will be for his cause is concerning. Like he’s out of touch with reality or just recently flown off his rocker.

    Boo hoo. He’s tried activism for a little while and he’s not getting traction. He’s not getting traction because his activism sucks. On top of that people tell him his activism sucks, and why it sucks, and he just cries about it and blames everyone else. His veiled threats of violence suggest he’s out of good ideas. If he’s out of ideas other than violence already then he just doesn’t have the wisdom necessary to bring about change and should bow out for the good of his cause.

    Why not run as a candidate for office to simply replace the politicians you don’t like? Even if you can’t win, people run for office specifically to raise awareness for certain causes. It gives them publicity in a respectable forum. It gives them a chance to make the election about the issues they care about. Haven’t seen you do that yet!

    If you are standing alone in a room thinking “Gee, it smells like B.O. in here.” Don’t get mad at the room and burn it down. Connect the dots man, it’s YOU. Go take a bath.

      • Yeah, really. They’ve ignored similarly loud and clear red flags in very recent history. I’d like to assume this one would be obvious to them but they couldn’t figure out that Elliot Rodger was a psycho and his crazy was even more obvious than this.

        • was even more obvious than this.

          And there is the problem with your initial statement. Nothing, and I mean nothing, in Kory Watkins’ video warrants law enforcement action. You are advocating for thought police. Be careful of that for which you wish. It will one day come back to bite you in your own behind.

        • Depends on what you mean by action. There isn’t anything “thought police” about it . I generally just take people at their word, my Guru.

        • Hopefully LE is REALLY keeping close tabs on this guy.

          Your words right there. The action you are begging for is police surveillance and nothing in his video warrants that. Law enforcement would have to divine what he was thinking because he certainly didn’t say anything illegal. In other words, they would have to be thought police to justify “keeping close tabs”, aka surveillance, on him.

          Feigning ignorance of your own words and the meaning of words doesn’t make your case.

        • Interpret it how you like. You are allowed to be wrong. It feels so good to be paid attention to, thanks John!

        • Prove your case that he has violated the law or has given clear basis in that video for police surveillance. You made the assertion so the burden of proof is on you.

  24. The the famous southern utterance….what is the plural of you all…it is…all ya awl.

    All ya awl are wrong.

    It is not standing in a legislators or elective representative office blathering about getting your rights back. It is the whisper in the ear of elected representatives ” if you like your job, you can keep it…fail to pass legislation securing…forever…lawful self defense, and our voting block will end your career. Fail us and we’ll follow you everywhere. Every government job you apply for, even a dog catcher we will oppose it.

    Also its time to extract yourself out of the political clan you reside in. Individual lawful self defense is not red or blue.

  25. Frankly, because of this guy, I wouldn’t even vote on pro-open carry legislation no matter how much I supported it if I was a politician in the position to do so.

    I simply wouldn’t want to set a precedent that this guy’s antics and his violent threats are ways to get your way.

    • “Frankly, because of this guy, I wouldn’t even vote on pro-open carry legislation no matter how much I supported it if I was a politician in the position to do so.

      I simply wouldn’t want to set a precedent that this guy’s antics and his violent threats are ways to get your way.
      “

      Oh, come on. If that’s the case, you didn’t support OC in the first place no matter what you claimed.

      Do you think social change throughout our history or any other country’s history has come without people like him stirring the pot?

      Your comment looks incredibly naive. You are certainly free to agree or disagree with him or his methods as you choose, but get a grip and stop acting like he’s ISIS or some kind of cancer on Polite American Society.

      • If you don’t understand the SIMPLE age-old economics of political capital, it is you that is incredibly naive… and that’s probably why my comment looks as it does to you. Hold a position of power some day and you will become educated on the topic, or fail.

        • If you think “political capital” matters on whit in the real world where real people (ie, not the self-appointed aristocracy we call politicians live), you have missed the entire point of every revolution against tyranny that has ever existed.

          Further, you bely a bit of statist thinking by insinuating that I might someday be in a “position of power.” See…We The People are the source of power (consent of the governed and all that goes with that). In the libertarian sense, I am already in a position of power – the only one that matters – as a free, sovereign human being with unalienable, natural rights.

          As is Kory Watkins, if you think about it outside the Government School pigeon hole you’ve created for the concept of “political power.”

        • @JR_in_NC: According to him, he’s held office in the past (and might even still) so methinks he’s trying to rationalize his own previous compromises of values and damage done to individual liberty. In other words, he has blood on his hands. 😉

        • Sorry my statism is showing. The elastic in my underwear must be worn. Holding a position of power in the real world puts you in a driver’s seat for a little while. It’s a duty which comes with responsibilities. It is a very good way to fight for and achieve the change you want. If you leave it to aristocrats then you will get what you get. If you want to be a one man island then you’ll get to have your say in the tiny space you occupy. If you want to change laws a really good way is to take a turn at being a lawmaker and deal with the downsides of that along with the upsides. Asking the current lawmakers to give you that new toy you want is like groveling at your master’s feet. It’s as if you think they are special beyond their temporary stint in office. They aren’t. Run for office. Or fight it out in the judicial system. Fix the laws. Quit the philosophical pontification.

        • Or fight it out in the judicial system. Fix the laws.

          I already do.

          Quit the philosophical pontification.

          I do both and will continue. You think a lot of yourself and, if your statements here are any indication, it’s not justified.

        • No, I’m pretty realistic about myself. Just another turd in the herd, just like you. Thanks for cooperating and doing your part!

    • You have just labeled yourself an anti. Your statism is glaringly obvious. Here’s your sign.

      Dragline: He ain’t in the box because of the joke played on him. He back-sassed a free man. They got their rules. We ain’t got nothin’ to do with that. Would probably have happened to him sooner or later anyway, a complainer like him. He gotta learn the rules the same as anybody else.

      Luke: Yeah, them poor old bosses need all the help they can get.

      • No, I just got wiser between when I was holding all the exact opinions with the exact amount of understanding you express and now.

        • Wiser? Not hardly. You’ve lost sight of the truth and, in the process, the fire in your belly to be a free individual.

          Yeah, them poor old bosses need all the help they can get.

      • I see this all the time. Common sense and morality tells people that voting against God and American values is wrong. But deep down they are collectivists and all they need is something to hang their hat on. The Democrats are adept at mounting hat racks.

        • How does one “vote” against God – or for him, for that matter? Do you mean that you would like to impose your idea of god on others, by voting or otherwise?

          On the other hand, there are many, many “gods,” and the one most closely tied to any vote is the non-voluntary government god. The faithful obediently “vote” for ever more slavery and death.

          Don’t know just what you mean by “American values,” but liberty and justice must be lived. They are not legitimately subject to a “vote.”

          • America was founded on Judeo Christian values. We have been endowed by our creator certain inalienable rights. Yet I see men of God go against those values in order to vote for an ideology that goes against many of those values. They need a “reason” to go against those values and the progressives give them “racism”, “income inequality”, environmental destruction” and any number of false causes to perpetuate the socialist agenda.
            I’m agnostic and I don’t advocate ruling from the pulpit. That is not what i am talking about. But since most our laws are based on the Ten Commandments, I think having them in our courts is not out of line.
            Liberals don’t fear God. They fear they might need God. Just as they don’t fear guns. They fear they might need a gun.

        • I can vouch for that! My own creators (Mom and Dad) did in fact endow me with inalienable rights. However, it is up to me to keep them.

    • That’s exactly what my friend who works at the Capitol said was the prevailing attitude there – that even pols who supported open-carry would be hesitant to vindicate this kind of approach.

  26. Idiot gun rights spokesman award:

    Ted Nugent-“if BHO is re-elected I’ll be dead or in jail”
    James Yeager-“I am ging to start killing people”
    and add this guy to the trophy.

    • IF you had the nuts to ask Nugent what his take is today he would most likely tell you that things aren’t as bad as he predicted them to be.

      You pussy ass Yeager haters are getting so tiresome. James was specifically talking about the event of a full blown assault weapons ban leading to mass confiscation, which is in direct violation of the 2nd amendment. If you are not willing to kill for your God given rights then you can go to hell, or better yet, California.

  27. LIsten carefully to this man. Not just his words. The pacing. The emphasis. The inflection.

    What he says probably does not rise to the level of a Terroristic Threat (our Penal Code crime)……..BUT, it is obvious from the “way” he says what he says that a 24 hour mandatory pscyh hold would not be inappropriate.

    He just ain’t right.

    • It certainly would not be appropriate.

      Some consider the fact that you want to carry or even own a gun to be a sign of mental instability. Are they correct? Of course not! Please stop being so dramatic over a video which does not clearly indicate mental instability. It might indicate frustration and perhaps even a tinge of apathy but it in no way ought to be held out as a reason for a psychiatric hold.

  29. Summertime soldiers and sunshine patriots will always criticize the more radical fighters. It’s human nature for some people to assume that they can get more favors from the monarchy by bowing down than by standing up.

  30. This is what happens when you let another human represent you, politician and ideologues alike. When a man is so closely associated with a movement, destroying that man often destroys the movement. I’m begging my fellow Americans to model themselves after our founders and start speaking for yourselves, stop letting others speak for you.

    This guy could have easily gotten a nice fat check from a certain insidious billionaire, or he could have been a plant to begin with. We need fluid grass roots movements with informal leadership structures, I refuse to allow a man I don’t know to speak for me, I also reuse to allow another man’s actions to reflect upon me, I don’t lose my rights when someone misuses theirs.

  31. Carry concealed. DO NOT open carry a firearm. That is my opinion and I am the most adamant gun rights supporter there is. However, open carry is not the way. It hinders law enforcement in ways people fail to realize. For one, police officers go through extensive training in weapon retention tactics in the event someone attempts to get their gun. They also wear Level 3 retention holsters with at least two retention mechanisms to prevent the weapon from easily being extracted from the holster. Most people who are going to open carry, strictly my opinion of course and not fact, are going to use simple slide holsters where the weapon extracts by simply pulling up and out. And these people have also not had training to retain a weapon during an assault like law enforcement officers. Second, there is going to be incidents of misidentification which will result in open carry citizens being harmed or even killed. It makes it very difficult to identify the bad guy when multiple people are carrying guns during a shooting incident. This has also lead to off-duty officers being shot as well by their own, due to misidentification. The dynamic nature and physical aspects of the body during intense life and death situations at times, I would say most times, causes people to lose hearing and have tunnel vision which restricts their ability to hear orders being directed at them from responding officers, sometimes leading to tragedy. I would advise all responsible concealed carry citizens to do the following immediately after an incident where you justifiably use your weapon in defense of yourself or a third person:

    1. Immediately make sure the threat is neutralized, first and foremost, and no longer poses a threat to you or others.
    2. If the situation allows, and the threat is incapacitated, call police yourself and make it very, very clear to the dispatcher that you are carrying a gun, have been involved in a shooting, describe the gun you have in your possession, describe your clothing from head to toe, provide your name, and explain you are no threat and simply responded to the threat to protect yourself and others from harm. Also describe where you will be at the location, whether you will be guarding the suspect with your weapon deployed, or whether you have secured your weapon.
    3. Besides describing your clothing and appearance to the dispatcher, the most important thing is to never ever turn toward a responding officer with a gun. If your back is to the door (your back should never be toward the door by the way, accomplices sometimes respond when they hear shooting) you can look back at the officers but don’t turn toward them if your gun is deployed. And attempt to immediately explain to them who you are, what you are doing, and that you are no threat. At that point, they may then ask you to secure your weapon because once they arrive, they’re in control, and you needn’t worry about the suspect anymore. If you’re in a tactical position where you can see everyone coming, once you see the officers pull up, it’s okay to then re-holster; granted the suspect is not still a threat.

    I tell you this for the safety of everyone involved. Because, just like everyday citizens, officers themselves are a mix. Some are totally calm and collected in situations while others are tense. And yet others are just not cut out for those situations. Just realize and tell yourself to be cognizant of what would be perceived by someone walking into that situation and plan accordingly. As always, what would a reasonable person do?

    • And yet Ohio has been an open carry state since 1803. 😉 We open carry handguns and long guns without the drama and doom that you’ve predicted. Respectfully, there’s a lot of hand wringing in your comment and not a lot of reality.

  32. Open carry is absolutely not the way the go. People need to think logically. There’s a reason off-duty cops carry concealed and it’s not because they’d carry openly if they could. I wrote a longer post on this but it didn’t go through. It’s asinine and would cause more harm then good. Strictly my opinion of course.

  33. I have a friend that works at the State Capitol – the day this video came out he sent me a link to it. He pointed out that it was circulating like wildfire around the Capitol offices, and that “THIS is why open-carry will fail to pass”. *sigh*

    I personally think that attitude is more so political expediency to get out from under a contentious issue, rather than a direct result of the video, but damage was definitely done.

    Ultimately, every movement has it nut-jobs. Unfortunately for most of us, in a media rich environment, those nut-jobs to easily become the face of the movement.

    So now, what?

    • personally think that attitude is more so political expediency to get out from under a contentious issue, rather than a direct result of the video,

      Bingo.

      but damage was definitely done.

      I don’t believe his video did any damage. Remember, we’re talking about scape-goating here. They would’ve found a reason to vote against rights if they looked hard enough. His video was just low hanging fruit. If those politicians are so weak on rights then there are deeper problems in that statehouse.

    • Please clarify that argument because I can’t for the life of me figure out what “great argument” he’s making against the right to keep and bear arms. Or, are you stating that his actions would convince you to violate the individual right of others?

  35. And, seriously, see a psychiatrist. age 7 or 8 you should have learned how to deal with not getting what you want better than this. Paul, RN.

    • Based upon your last two posts here, it looks to me that you are the one acting childish. But Mom might take it away! You’ll ruin it for the rest of us! (Goes catatonic in the corner while sucking his thumb.)

  36. I don’t know anything personally about this Kory Watkins. I disagree with him in making any veiled threats.
    Between Peace and Violence, it is always better to resolve issues when they can be done peacefully. By all means when while all peaceful means have not been exhausted.
    But when peaceful means will not accomplish certain freedoms it may have to come to violence.
    Has there been any cause to show or threaten violence at this point?
    No, and Kory is wrong and should have listened to wise counsel before spouted off his wild opinion.

    There are times for peace and there are times for violence and this is not a time for violence. So long as people can live in peaceful means to accomplish their political goals then by all means peaceful means should be used.

    BUT there are times when violence is called for.
    Sometimes violence is the “right and the duty of the people”.

    In the words of Jefferson himself,
    That whenever any form of government becomes destructive o these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it [the government]…

    It is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government.”

    Even if that government does not want to be abolished or thrown off.

    If the people always have the right to alter and abolish its the government that it creates, then it should always have the right to the” means” to alter or abolish that government and that includes violence if need be.

    There are times that do require violence.
    For instance when Martin Luther King Jr was going through the South he and his bellow Black people were protected by a Black Armed Militia called the Deacons for Defense at a time when it was illegal for a Black man to be armed.

    Or when the Jews were forbidden to have firearms in Nazi Germany. Should they have broken the law and kept their firearms anyway?

    When the government is violently oppressing its own people or casts a blind eye that allows one subgroup of people to violently oppress and terrorize another group of people the situation calls for and DEMANDS that violence be used.

    But is this the case for the Texas government, now? No.

    However, “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable,…”

    • That was a very reasoned post and I can’t really disagree with it except that I don’t think Kory Watkins was as out of line all that much as it has been stretched to sound by some, especially in light of his clarification. I heard more hyperbole and frustration in his video rather than real threats of violence.

      Thank you for posting that comment. It was refreshing. 🙂

      • Right.

        If you are going to wage Civil War for perceived or experienced offenses up to and including feigned or actual encroachment of our Constitution, you should have to get the approval of your neighbors first. The same goes for any preparation for the repelling of foreign invaders, even if they are empty-handed and on-foot (and maybe even dehydrated). Your neighbors have the final say, and they should also know what your intentions are and what you would do to them so that they can interdict you in time.

        Further, as has been shown, the only proper way to affect change is jihad, or yell Allah Akbar before/during, so that at least you will have the President firmly behind you, and you will not do more than ~ what, like maybe eight years. But you’ll get your pardon and a ticket to umm Yemen? Whatever, work-place violence. You should NOT keep these things secret, or do them in defense of America or Christianity, because that has been shown to be radical and wrong.

        • Joe R, in July of 1776 the original 13 states banded together in a confederation and wrote out the Declaration of Independence telling the whole world and especially Great Britain why they were seceding from their mother country.
          Our neighbors did not have the final say.
          Canada, France, and Spain had NO say in the matter.
          The people of each state had the final say in their own fate.

          The colony of Virginia had actually made their Declaration of Independence in May 1776 before the states united and stated their sovereignty and independence from Great Britain.
          Virginia was our model state.
          They did not request any permission from ay of the other colonies, especially their neighbors, because no permission was required.
          The people of each state formed political bodies and developed the will to declare their sovereignty and independence. This required the will and recognition of sovereignty of each of the people.

          So I tend to think that the Texas OC thing is still just a Texas thing that has to be decided by the people of Texas and I will respect that.

          Jihad? You are kidding right?
          I disagree with you that the only way to affect change is by Jihad.
          I grew up in the 60’s and watched the left-wing radicals do their thing.
          Their movements failed because society does not favor radicalism.
          Radicalism, violence, and war are just too costly unless they are for your own self-defense.

          What makes real, long-lasting change is from working within the system.
          Real, lasting change takes a long time, and it may take generations.
          I do believe change can happen.

        • Yes Glenn it was a poor attempt at tongue-in cheek.

          My opinion of the 2nd Amendment is that the Founders were (self-admittedly) NOT clairvoyant. They didn’t know if they would succeed in their venture. They wanted citizens to be able to guarantee a vote in whatever may come next.

  37. This whole comment area is a circus of rant getting no where. Too many long gun toting Tarrant nut groupies here analyzing every word you say and getting y’all steamed up by hitting reply.
    Glad Bloomie gave em enough money to sit in the bar all day and cruise these areas.
    It’s not just a Kory issue alone. What about the ball lickers staying in sniff range of him. They think the next coming will be through man. That’s why they dig through his poop.
    Kids now days……..

  38. “shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000”

    Death or 10 grand?

    Hm…

  39. Fucking moron. Pardon my French. It’s people like this that make gun rights advocates look like crazy militia men.

    • KKKory you idiot – stop youtubing while stoned, and stop making veiled threats.
      You dont represent me. You dont represent responsible OC.
      Get some psychiatric help, dude.

  43. This is an open letter to a one Kory Watkins:

    Please, just shut up. For the love of everything that is holy, you claim to work for god on your Facebook, keep you idiotic mouth closed for the duration of the time you have left in the spotlight with tarrant county chapter of open carry Texas.

    You make the rest of the law abiding, sensible gun owners in this great state of Texas look bad. I for one am tried of the bile that spews from your mouth every time you open it. And if I had a choice in the matter I would have a media black out placed on you.

    You have done nothing to support the cause you so adamantly support, and have only hurt the other supporters of the 2nd amendment and open carry groups alike. I’m sure bloomberg is loving every time you show up in the media, I’m sure his goons in MDA are spinning your idiotic rants to suit their means.

    You have all but derailed open carry in this state and if you keep going you will. So again I say ” shut up and go away”

    Sincerely adamant supporter of the 2nd amendment and all civil liberties brought to us by the Constitution, I’m just sane

  44. Ok ole wise one. If someone takes an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and does not keep that oath, which takes away rights and gives “aide and comfort” to any enemy who would harm any american, that is Treason.

    So, knowingly not keeping an oath is indeed TREASON. All lawmakers and or public authority’s who fail to keep their oath of office have indeed committed TREASON and should be hanged by the neck in a public place until dead.

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