'Open Carry' Idiots So Dumb Even The NRA Is Yelling At Them Now

So here's how goofy the National Dialogue has gotten: The NRA is asking groups like Open Carry Texas if they could please tone it down a little bit. Apparently all that gun-packing in public is just not having the desired effect of making the public fall in love with people walking into restaurants with assault weapons. In fact, for some dumb reason, large groups of people waving guns around seems to make people nervous, probably because they are all just indoctrinated by the liberal media to fear Freedom. And so, on Friday, the NRA issued a long statement explaining, in essence, that scaring the shit out of people is not good Public Relations. 

The statement notes that maybe, just maybe, walking around with assault rifles, while legal, was not making any friends:

As gun owners, whether or not our decisions are dictated by the law, we are still accountable for them ... If we exercise poor judgment, our decisions will have consequences ... such as turning an undecided voter into an antigun voter because of causing that person fear or offense. In ways small and large, we are all in this together, and we all have a role to play in preserving our cherished freedoms for ourselves and future generations.

This is a diplomatic way of moving toward the "please stop being dicks, you dicks" part of the message, which is careful to praise Texas's "robust gun culture" but then says some downright traitorous stuff, saying that recent actions have "crossed the line from enthusiasm to downright foolishness."

Now we love AR-15s and AKs as much as anybody, and we know that these sorts of semiautomatic carbines are among the most popular, fastest selling firearms in America today. Texas, independent-minded and liberty-loving place that it is, doesn't ban the carrying of loaded long guns in public, nor does it require a permit for this activity. Yet some so-called firearm advocates seem determined to change this.

Recently, demonstrators have been showing up in various public places, including coffee shops and fast food restaurants, openly toting a variety of tactical long guns. Unlicensed open carry of handguns is legal in about half the U.S. states, and it is relatively common and uncontroversial in some places.

Yet while unlicensed open carry of long guns is also typically legal in most places, it is a rare sight to see someone sidle up next to you in line for lunch with a 7.62 rifle slung across his chest, much less a whole gaggle of folks descending on the same public venue with similar arms.

Let's not mince words, not only is it rare, it's downright weird and certainly not a practical way to go normally about your business while being prepared to defend yourself. To those who are not acquainted with the dubious practice of using public displays of firearms as a means to draw attention to oneself or one's cause, it can be downright scary. It makes folks who might normally be perfectly open-minded about firearms feel uncomfortable and question the motives of pro-gun advocates.

In other words, it's pretty clear that the NRA is a bunch of wusses who fear the manly display of guns. Oh, sure, maybe the NRA thinks that it's not working, and that it's "counterproductive for the gun owning community," but isn't asking groups like Open Carry Texas not to parade around with their boomsticks just the first step toward the NRA advocating gun registration and confiscation? It's exactly the same thing. Oh, sure, they phrase it in "positive" language:

More to the point, it's just not neighborly, which is out of character for the big-hearted residents of Texas. 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.

But what is this nonsense about "manners"? Has the NRA forgotten the most basic tenet of responsible gun fondling? An armed society is a polite society. Ergo, you cannot truly be rude if you are carrying a Street Sweeper.

We're looking forward to the Open Carry Texas loons' next action, which should be, if there's any justice, to show up at NRA headquarters in Virginia and demand to be allowed to walk around the building while packing heat.

[ MotherJones / Photo Credit: Andy Jacobsen, Dallas Morning News ]

 Follow Doktor Zoom on Twitter. He's not usually loaded until later in the afternoon.