The NRA’s Chris Cox, walking it back.
The NRA got in trouble with its fans for suggesting that perhaps some of its adherents were engaging in behavior that was a bit… off:
[A] small number have recently crossed the line from enthusiasm to downright foolishness… 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… 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 weirdand 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.
After that drew a great deal of heat from the membership, the NRA’s Chris Cox walked it back, saying:
There was some confusion, we apologize, again, for any confusion that that post caused… Now, 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. I’ve had a discussion with the staffer who wrote that piece, and expressed his personal opinion. Our job is not to criticize the lawful behavior of fellow gun owners.”
Lindsey Graham could have warned these guys: Saying stuff that makes sense can get you into a heap of trouble with your base.
Cox further reinforced his position by blaming the whole contretemps on “the media.” Nothing like the old standby tactics…
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Just looked up Chris Cox on Wikipedia, and was startled to find that he went to Rhodes College in Memphis.
Wow. I’m trying to imagine what would happen if people started carrying assault weapons around that campus. When I was a student at Memphis State, Southwestern (as Rhodes was known then) was the place where I went to hear lectures by the likes of Allen Ginsburg and Daniel Ellsberg. That kind of place.
The Southwestern campus is where I met my wife, at a party she and a friend who was a Southwestern student were throwing for some mutual friends who were getting married…
Yeah, but that was back in hippie days. Things is got all straightened out there now. Back to basics:readin’ , ritin’ and rifle-brandishin’
Ginsberg didn’t so much lecture as he sat on the ground in lotus position and played some kind of odd little musical instrument that you hold in your lap and play with your thumbs, and chanted…
You really ought to read the whole column that started this. The writer went out of his way to assure everyone that he was a right-thinking individual, with such assertions as, “Now we love AR-15s and AKs as much as anybody…”
I also like the exquisitely chosen words in this passage: “The second example comes to us from the Lone Star State, which is second to none for its robust gun culture.” You can almost hear the writer going, “the Lone Star State, which is second to none for its, ahem, how shall we put it?… robust gun culture.”
I also like this attempt to sweeten the message: “More to the point, it’s just not neighborly, which is out of character for the big-hearted residents of Texas….”
I see that since yesterday, the NRA has added the video of Cox setting things straight to the page with the original article. To their credit, though, they’ve kept the original piece up on the page.
I followed this story a little earlier, and thought about posting on it myself. Shame on me for getting blog-scooped by Brad on a gun-related topic. However, it’s been a busy week for me, workwise.
Basically, some Texas Open-Carry advocates were carrying rifles into coffee-shops and Chipotle type places. I’m not sure what they were trying to accomplish because all they did was look like idiots.
So the NRA kind of distanced themselves from this small group. Which isn’t surprising. The NRA has always promoted responsible gun ownership and use. There’s nothing responsible about being obnoxious.
Putting aside the overall idiocy of the stunt, it’s counter-productive. You don’t win over middle of the road people by having 15 guys show up in Starbucks with AR-15s slung on their back. That’s just kind of weird.
You ease people into responsible gun ownership. Someone’s first experience should not be seeing a group of guys roll in to Starbucks looking like a SWAT team. It should be in a safe gun range, and it should start with a smaller caliber. After you work through some basics, you can do more. I’ve done it with dozens of people who have never held a gun before, and they all leave the saying “This was so much fun!” with a big smile on their face.
Just being provocative isn’t productive. It’s actually counter-productive Think about it. Does all the provocative stuff that PETA does influence you in a positive way? Not for me. It makes me think that they’re lunatics.
Gun rights are important, but you have to be smart and responsible. When even the NRA is saying “Hey, I’m not so sure about this…” maybe you need to re-evaluate what you’re doing.
All good points, Bryan, but in this case it appears it was the NRA which did the re-evaluating.
Cox did walk it back a little, but I think he still made the point that groups openly carrying long rifles isn’t a good “tactic” to convince people that gun rights should be expanded.
I kind of look at this like the argument between the sun and the north wind about who could make the guy take off his jacket.
Got here from Permanent Press, and I have to say that I agree with Bryan 99 and 44/100 %. (If you don’t get that reference, you’re a young whippersnapper.)
I grew up in the mountains of Colorado and northern New Mexico and have lived the rest of my life in or very very near to Texas. Whenever I’ve seen men (or women) carrying rifles, it meant there was trouble. Most often it meant a bear or other large non-human predator had been sighted nearby. If I went into a business and encountered a group of men carrying rifles, I’d be very concerned. I’d want to know what predator presented a threat.
And if I found out that there was no bear, mountain lion, rabid wolf, or gang of outlaws threatening the neighborhood, but that these idiots were toting rifles merely because it’s legal to do so, I’d be angry and questioning both their sanity and intelligence. Obnoxious, indeed.
It’s legal to own and carry a chainsaw too. Do I expect to encounter a group of men with chainsaws at the mall? No, and I think I would be justified in executing a swift exit if I did.
However, I don’t completely condemn those promoting open carry. I remember seeing a man in a WalMart several years ago sporting a handgun in a holster on his belt and being surprised. It had been years since I’d seen anyone other than a policeman openly carry a gun. Then my surprise surprised me and I felt a bit ashamed. The government and it’s agents should never be the only ones armed, openly or otherwise.
On the plus side, if you walk into a Chipotle with an AR-15 on your back and order a burrito, I bet you that they won’t skimp on the portions.
Maybe… if the servers don’t all skip out the back, quiet-like…
Ivory soap. It floats!
Can’t wait ’till someone stands his ground with an AK-47 in a McDonalds.
Well if they don’t mix the McFlurry enough, it’s justified…