Open Carry Texas Group Calls Off March In Predominantly Black Neighborhood

Talking Points Memo ^ | 06/23/2014 | Tom Kludt

[Responsibility2nd]

A predominantly black neighborhood in Houston has gotten a temporary reprieve from having a group of armed gun enthusiasts pay the area a visit.

The Houston chapter of Open Carry Texas called off a "walk" that was planned for this past Sunday in the city's Fifth Ward because an organizer was scheduled to attend a separate demonstration in another community. It would have doubled as a canned food drive.

Previously, organizers encouraged supporters on Facebook to "make this a big event."

"Let's once again show that gun rights belong to all," they said.

David Amad, a member of Open Carry Texas, told a blogger at the Houston Press newspaper that the group will use the extra time to communicate with Fifth Ward residents before the food drive is rescheduled.

"If you go marching through the Fifth Ward like a bunch of stuffy old white boys carrying guns and spitting tobacco you'll get a bad response, but if you go in there talking to people like human beings and explain what you're doing, the response will be different," Amad said.

It's already been a month of awful press for Open Carry Texas. The group's stunts at various chain restaurants prompted Chipotle to ask customers to leave their weapons at home. Even the National Rifle Association called the group's demonstrations "weird" and "scary." The pro-gun lobby ultimately walked that criticism back after Open Carry Texas members cut up their NRA member cards in protest.

 

[Responsibility2nd]

A bunch of gun toting crackers marching in the Fifth Ward?

Boggles the imagination.

[cripplecreek]

Sounds like a situation where predominantly black pro 2nd marchers would have been more effective.

[Oliviaforever]

One would hope that local Fifth Ward residents would join in on the march.

[Nachoman]

Marching into a black neighborhood looking like a white lynch mob is sure to win a lot of hearts and minds. /s

[slouper]

I’m dyed in the wool 2nd amendment but whose bonehead idea was this. Hey guys, lets go provoke a bunch of black folks by parading through their neighborhood with our ARs slung over our shoulders.

Really? Common sense is a virtue. For shame.

[Menehune56]

Are these guys agent provocateurs?

[Balding_Eagle]

Wars are won with a hundreds of strategies, and thousands of tactics. Each plays a role in the successful outcome.

This march is but one of those strategies in our war with those who would take away our guns.

[Ben Ficklin]

Or better yet, if those black pro 2nd marchers did a group march thru an all white neighborhood.

[cripplecreek]

Better to call for pro second amendment blacks to join a march in a neutral area. As much as I don’t like playing race games, sometimes you need to reach out in the right way to advance your cause.

Its not at all unusual to see mixed race crowds at 2nd Amendment rallies in Detroit these days.

[cripplecreek]

Or better yet, if those black pro 2nd marchers did a group march thru an all white neighborhood.

I wouldn't have a problem with it. I would hope that they would call for the locals to join them. Of course if they try it in a liberal neighborhood there will be a confrontation with police because liberals are both racist and Hoplophobic.

[InABunkerUnderSF]

When are these guys going to realize that they are becoming an embarrassment?

Backfired in CA. Won't work in TX.

Flame away.

[BBell]

I was going to post this but I decided not to. I did not want to start a war. There is foul language in the article.

5 Things to Know About the Armed Men in Your Local Chipotle>

I think these guys are a bunch of idiots who do more harm then good to the 2nd amendment.

[BBell]

Check the link at 12

[rabidralph]

Really? You have to ask that and you see the number of boneheads on this site?

[GeronL]

They showed up in Dallas and fed the homeless, right next door to the Sheriff’s office - a very black community - and nobody batted an eye.

[GeronL]

Black Panthers carry long guns all the time in public, with no problem. This pic was in Jasper TX, a very white community.

[GeronL]

Jasper TX, march to the courthouse for the dragging trial.

[Jane Long]

One would hope that local Fifth Ward residents would join in on the march.

---

LOL....many likely open carry!

[Envisioning]

From Tom Gresham's Truth Squad Newsletter...

"Open carry demonstrations are performances. Nothing less. They are done to elicit a response. They are, in effect, public relations "stunts." I don't use the word stunts in a negative way. The idea is to move public opinion. Therefore, as with any public relations effort, or any performance, attention to details can make or break the performance.

If you want the public to come away with the impression that good people carry guns openly (a good goal, by the way), it's worthwhile, I think, to make sure that the performers appear (in behavior, in build, in dress, etc.) in such a way that they are viewed favorably.

In the context of a performance, I submit that wearing ragged military-looking clothes, wearing nasty T-shirts, and (unfortunately) selecting (or not selecting, actually) performers who are 150 pounds overweight, wearing boonie caps, does not work toward the desired result. If you were the casting director for this performance, is this who you would choose? Is this how you would dress them?

It actually has nothing to do with whether a person is good or not. It is all about playing to the prejudices, perceptions, and biases of the public. In sales, and in politics, perception really is reality. If the public perceives open carry activists to be slobs, or goofballs, or homeless, or nut jobs -- based on how they look -- then we have failed at the public relations effort. If, however, they see well-dressed (slacks or jeans and tucked-in polo shirts??) men, the reaction, and the perception, is different."