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.
I’ve come to grips with the reality that guns are an accepted and normalized part of American life. Even in light of that, I can’t grasp why, in a nation which has suffered so many senseless tragedies at the hands of wackjobs wielding guns, we can’t reduce the risk of senseless death. I understand I’m a pronounced minority, but no matter how hard I try, I fail to understand why being a dick is an effective means of “educating” Americans about gun “rights.” Try as you might, you’re not going to convince me that Open Carry Texas is some sort of altruistic public service-oriented organization. How does a heavily armed and predominantly White organization staging a group walk through Houston’s historically African-American Fifth Ward serve to educate anyone? About anything? The symbolism certainly hasn’t been lost on African-American leaders in Houston, who are not at all happy and promise to meet the marchers with weapons of their own. Despite the difficult to miss racist implications, it seems the troglodytes of Open Carry Texas place their precious, self-perceived gun “rights” above any and all considerations.
Quelle surprise, non??
The gun nuts’ interpretation of the 2nd Amendment as sacrosanct, immutable, inviolabe is completely unjustifiable…except by their twisted, self-interested “logic.” Yet they believe that placing innocent men, women, and children in peril is somehow “protecting” and “educating” Americans.
The 2nd Amendment was never about the unfettered rights of gun nuts to carry any amount and/or type of firepower anywhere they may desire, regardless of the impact on the surrounding community. Never mind the safety issues inherent in carrying weapons in public areas. If guns are about safety, since when do the “rights” of gun nuts supersede the rights of families to feel safe in their surroundings?
Open Carry Texas is little more than a forum for angry White Conservatives to engage in activities that validate their anger and self-perceived alienation. If you need to carry an AR-15 into a Walmart of a Chipotle in order to feel you matter, I’d submit you have issues no amount of firepower will solve. Openly carrying firearms doesn’t make you a better person…and it certainly doesn’t make you a better American. It DOES make you a self-centered dick who cares for nothing about your self-defined ability to do whatever you damned well please wherever you choose to do it, regardless of the consequences.
The 2nd Amendment encompasses the most deliberately misinterpreted 26 words in the English language. Despite what gun nuts insist, it doesn’t provide carte blanche to carry a firearm whenever and wherever one sees fit. It doesn’t allow for carrying high-powered weapons into public areas. It’s not a means for camouflaging one’s “shortcomings.” There’s no conceivable argument to be made for open carry zealots being allowed to do what they see fit wherever they may see fit to do it. That’s not America; that’s a free-fire zone looking for a place to happen. It’s the tyranny of ignorant self-righteous zealotry.
I grew up being taught that if you’re going to carry a firearm, you’d best be prepared to use it. If you adhere to that reasonable standard, what does it say about someone who sees it as his (or her) absolute right to carry an AR-15 through the automotive aisle at a Walmart?
From where I sit, it says you’re a dick and a sociopath who cares not a whit for those who might feel threatened by your irresponsible zealotry. Carrying a firearm should not be a statement; it’s a weapon, not a means of political/ideological expression. If you can’t grasp that, you have no busy carrying a weapon- openly or otherwise.
FREEDUMB!!!
