NRA CHICKENS OUT

After slamming the nuts in Texas that invaded restaurants and stores carrying rifles, including military-style rifles, the NRA backed off by announcing its absolute support for the open carry advocates

I am a strong believer in the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. However, I cannot support the nuts among gun rights groups that lack common sense and make all of us pro-gunners look bad.

Recently Open Carry Texas, a group advocating the open carry of handguns, held rallies in several Texas cities. Its members invaded restaurants and stores carrying rifles, including military-style rifles, slung over their shoulders. That type of in-your-face advocacy does not work. As a matter of fact, it has the opposite effect. Several of the restaurant chains issued statements asking the public not to bring any firearms into their establishments, including handguns even if they had a concealed carry license.

TV and newspaper reports of the rallies prompted a shitstorm of public criticism. And the National Rifle Association seemed to agree that those rallies hurt its cause. The NRA released a statement last week on its Institute for Legislative Action website that called the demonstrations counterproductive, scary and "downright weird." The NRA statement also said:

Using guns merely to draw attention to yourself in public not only defies common sense, it shows a lack of consideration and manners. That's not the Texas way. And that's certainly not the NRA way.

Open Carry Texas immediately shot back by threatening to withdraw its full support for the NRA if it did not retract that statement. On its Facebook page, Open Carry said:

It is unfortunate that an organization that claims to be dedicated to the preservation of gun rights would attack another organization fighting so hard for those rights in Texas. The more the NRA continues to divide its members by attacking some aspects of gun rights instead of supporting all gun rights, the more support it will lose.

It did not take the NRA long to chicken out. During an interview Tuesday, Chris Cox, the executive director of the NRA's lobbying arm, said that the statement criticizing the demonstrators was a “mistake” made by a staffer who was just expressing his personal opinion. Cox also said:

The truth is, an alert went out that referred to this type of behavior as 'weird' or somehow not normal, and that was a mistake. It shouldn't have happened. The NRA "unequivocally" supports open carry laws.

I watched in amazement the TV pictures of the rifle toting groups. I can understand why they frightened customers in the invaded eateries. Some of those guys looked like rednecks, pot bellies protruding from their camos, that had just come out of some swamp. Common sense would tell normal people that such demonstrations are counterproductive. But those gun nuts obviously lack common sense.

I was a longtime member of the NRA, but dropped out of the organization years ago when it opposed legislation banning cop-killer bullets.

That ‘personal opinion’ made good sense. Those demonstrations were indeed counterproductive, scary and weird. But it came as no surprise to me that the NRA chickened out as soon as it was threatened with a loss of support.