Armed and Freekin’ Crazy UPDATED
Okay, this whole “demonstration” thing has really caught hold at the Texas Capitol.
It seems that some folks thought it was hunting season in Austin on the 4th of July.
Armed demonstrators gathered outside the Texas capitol building in Austin on Wednesday, seeking to highlight the state’s right to openly carry rifles. While some were unsettled by the display, the protesters said the event was designed to get people accustomed to the weapons and show that those carrying them were normal citizens.
“That’s why we’re here. Trying to make people feel more at ease, so they don’t feel that way,” said Scott Smith, a member of the group Open Carry Texas, which organized the event.
Look, son, I don’t mean to be tacky but I’m just now barely getting used to pierced eyebrows and Mohawks. It’s gonna take me a decade or two to feel “at ease” walking through the OK Carrol.
These suckers were carrying loaded weapons. At one point the DPS Troopers asked the gun nuts to remove the magazines from their weapons but they wouldn’t, stating they were “within their rights” to strut around toting an AK47 filled with enough lead to stock a sinker factory.
They tried to go into the Capitol itself but DPS Troopers put their boots down.
Later in the day, demonstrators attempted to enter the state capitol building with their guns out. They were turned away by a trooper, who told them that while concealed handguns were permitted inside, their semi-automatic assault rifles weren’t.
Well, ain’t that something real special? They can walk circles around me enjoying the day on the Capitol grounds with live rounds in the chamber, but they can’t go inside where the freekin’ people who made these stoopid laws are sitting around thinking up more stoopid laws.
Holy crap. These guys outgunned the DPS.
Thanks to Bubba for calling me and saying, “Wanna hear the damnest thing?”
It happened in Houston, too. They did it at the police station. Would I kid you?
“If you don’t use your rights, they can take them away,” said Ed Aldredge of Sugar Land, who brought along his 11-year-old son, Austin, who carried a .22-caliber rifle.
Yep, an 11 year old can carry around a loaded rifle.
And surprise — middle aged white men.
The crowd, composed of mostly middle aged and older white men, dubbed the protest the “Come and Take it Away Freedom Walk” and after an hour or so of marching and posing for photos with their guns, the group decamped to nearby Tony’s Barbecue, a restaurant chosen by the group because it let them bring in their weapons.
Because what’s barbeque if you can’t shoot again after you cook it?
What this country needs is far more black men walking around with heavy artillery.
I think the stoopid people who made those stoopid laws should have to sit there in their presence and sweat out whether these clowns are “normal citizens” or are about to start firing. The rest of us do.
1So I am supposed to feel comfortable around a mob of people who insist on carrying loaded weapons even though they know it makes me uncomfortable?
2I’m sure the DPS was less than thrilled. I hope every possible camera was watching this bunch. Did Dewhurst call them an
3“Unruly Mob”?
“get people accustomed to the weapons and show that those carrying them were normal citizens”
Sorry honey, but the “normal citizens” label was pulled years ago, you forget that we know you. You are my crazy cousin who keeps posting on Facebook that the Boston bombing was carried out by our own government and that the guy in the wheelchair was already an amputee. You keep sending me emails saying President Obama (of course, you always refer to him as Barack HUSSEIN Obama) is going to take away our guns. Honey, please turn off Fox News! You are my ex, with a concealed weapon permit, that I testify is bat-$### crazy. You have youtube videos showing you going from carrying to shooting an AK-47 in less than 3 seconds. Honey, I can’t run that fast!
What about my right to be able to go outside my home without being afraid of you crazies?
4“I think the stoopid people who made those stoopid laws should have to sit there in their presence and sweat out whether these clowns are “normal citizens” or are about to start firing. The rest of us do.”
AMEN TO THAT. They inflicted these loonz on the rest of us, they should sit there with a loaded AR-15 in front of them just like the rest of us do.
And sorry, Texas, but I I won’t be darkening your doorway any time soon — for the same reason as I stay out of Florida.
5I still believe that if you are crazy enough to carry an loaded assault rifle in downtown Austin, Texas, you are too darned crazy to own a loaded assault rifle.
6When I lived in FL they had the same craziness. You could bring in a gun but not a lighted cigarette! Could be arrested and fined according to the statute! So it was official — second-hand smoke was more dangerous than a yahoo with a loaded weapon! One of the MANY reasons I left.
7The Texas lege must reap what they have sown. Let the wackos carry their loaded assault rifles into their chambers and make only the congresscritters who voted for this insane law stay. All Democrats and sane people may get the hell out. Now that’s a video I’d like to see.
8I grew up on military reservations (bases) and will NEVER get accustomed to people carrying rifles or any otheer weapon openly on the streets. “Normal” it isn’t.
If they get rifles, I want a rocket launcher.
9@TexasTrailerPark – I agree, if you want to pass a law, don’t exclude yourself. Otherwise, are some animals more equal than others?
10It’s only a matter of time before the Open Carry group demands to be admitted to the Capitol bldg. while the Lege is in session. I’m surprised they backed down.
11Excuse me, but what year are we living in where people tote loaded weapons around a state capital? Beam me up Scotty!
12If the Cult of the Gun can open carry loaded weapons of any calibre wherever they please and insist that this is “normalizing”, I want a flying Batmobile!
And frankly, its not a matter of if but when, and a bunch of these toting loons really are going to shoot up a state capitol. Any one want to take odds on where?
13In the following video notice closely their guns have ” plastic zip ties” in them. These ” plastic zip ties” prevent the bolt from closing putting a round in the chamber!
In other words, they can’t fire their weapons till they cut the zip tie’s off! So much for being big and brave and protecting their 2nd amendment rights!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6lAhpUSW-4
14An 11-year-old boy can carry a loaded weapon in public but I’m not allowed to have any say about what happens to my uterus. And they say there is no war on women…
15Definitely crazy season.
16It’s my understanding that you don’t load a gun until you’re about to shoot. These jackwagons strolling around with LOADED guns are just manslaughter waiting to happen. Not to mention that a certain percentage (I won’t say 100) of men who want to stroll around with loaded weapons also have hair-trigger tempers, and maybe we don’t know which.
This is a bad idea on all kinds of levels. Makes me glad I live in Maryland where this doesn’t happen and I believe would get them arrested if it did.
Sure, let them walk up and down in the Capitol with their deadly toys. Let a few GOP congressfools wet their pants.
17It must be the heat. I don’t read about any goofballs doing something like this in cooler climates such as the State of Washington or Minnesota.
18Is this the same Capitol where a 72 year old woman got arrested for not standing up fast enough? Go Texas! Sheesh!
19And…. they had the State Troopers in riot gear when a bunch of women showed up to protest.
Anybody so insecure as to only feel “safe” carrying an assault rifle is incapable of rational thought.
20Here’s a crazy thought, can they be convinced to be on our side as far a women’s rights go? and show up armed at the next hearing?
21Who’s going to be the first to call them crazy for wanting women’s rights in the Lege?
This would be a sight to see, Fox and Friends brains (such as they are) would explode.
@Frank. I don’t know that the WA and MN cooler climates have to do with the lack of goofballs, but WA is the bluest state and here in MN, we’re still pretty darned blue, never mind Michelle Freakjob Bachmann.
22I’ve almost made it to my 61st b’day. I have lived my whole life in this state. You get into a number of scrapes … It just happens. I’ve traveled the world on business to many countries that are supposedly dangerous. I say all of this because even with all the close calls I’ve had, none of them would have ended better if a gun was present.
We have become a Nation of bed wetting wusses. Perry is the perfect poster child … A laser 9mm to go jogging with 4 to 6 bodyguards.
Good Lord! What is everyone afraid of?
23This is another example of what someone on the web called “Freedom Psychosis”.
It is not enough to ask if you have a right to do something. You should also ask yourself if what you want is a good idea.
24The same thing is happening in DC. Trouble is, it’s against the law to have a loaded gun in DC. Could be problems for the organizer…
25http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/police-investigate-activist-gun-rights-activists-video-shot-in-district/2013/07/04/88cf05d8-e4d8-11e2-aef3-339619eab080_story.html
Okay, Progressives! Lock and load…your brains! We can’t outgun this crowd of yahoos, but it should be no great strain to out smart them. That is fighting a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent!
26If you want to know how all this “you’re only safe if you carry a loaded weapon” stuff ends up, here’s a good case study from Oakland, California on what happens when frightened, poorly-trained citizens follow the NRA’s “always be armed” advice:
Authorities said Jamaine Gurley, of Oakland, admitted his involvement in the shootings of Jose Santa Maria, 26, and Kenneth Bradley, 22, both of Richmond, at the Wingstop on Lake Park Avenue near the Grand Lake Theater shortly before the restaurant closed Monday night.
…
Police said Gurley and another man they have not identified had ended their shifts as security guards at a downtown construction site and went to the restaurant to get something to eat about 11:40 p.m. Monday.
At the restaurant, the two became concerned for their safety after a brief conversation with another customer at the restaurant.
That man left but Gurley and the man with him, apparently believing the man might come back armed, took refuge in a walk-in freezer at the back of the restaurant, police said.
When the two employees came to get them to leave, Gurley, who had a pistol, shot them, killing them instantly.
Authorities said Gurley apparently shot the employees, not realizing they were not the man he had exchanged words with earlier.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_23604861/oakland-security-guard-charged-murder-wingstop-slayings
To sum it up: two innocent employees dead, the shooter’s life likely permanently destroyed – all because he listened to the NRA’s scaremongering and was carrying a firearm instead of a can of pepper spray and a cell phone with 911 on speed-dial.
27What a blathering idjit. He’s just rattling on and on, spouting cute little slogans, and the poor officers are just standing there wondering who’s going to get hurt when he roars off on his 115 mile trip back home on his motorcycle carrying a bunch of weapons. I noticed that he offered his hand to the white officer, but not to the black officer who was *holding out his hand* to shake. He’s just normal people. Yep, just a normal bigoted gun-totin’ Texan who bought into the Texan myth a leetle too much.
28Maybe the gun totin’ Yosemite Sam wannabes should take some advice from the other NRA (National Rodeo Assoc.) and carry a lasso. It worked for this homeowner in Tulsa when a burglar tried to break in:
29http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2355431/Homeowner-hogties-robber-leaves-outside-cops-goes-work.html
If any of these idiots ask the Q (and they will) “What is an assault rifle?” The answer is “Any weapon that enables it’s owner to kill a whole lot of people in a very short time. I have a gun nut brother-in -law that would ask me to explaine, “just what is an assault rifle”. He doesn’t ask anymore.
30RepubAnon — what a sad and tragic story. My husband spent his career traveling the US and abroad and never felt the need to have a weapon, and I really don’t want to spend the rest of my life feeling that I have to tote a loaded weapon with me everywhere I go in order to feel safe. (Not to mention that my family would have me committed.) Why do all these people buy off on this nonsense?
31We also have these guys in the Alabama part of Pennsylvania. Here is a video of a militia type speaker who is some sort of preacher in the sticks. Video taped by a friend of mine with my camcorder, he engages in commentary and discussion with some of those stand close to Gadsen flags.
http://youtu.be/ozCxBviuV6w
32Wish I had a link so you could listen to it yourselves, but a couple of months ago I was listening to a report on NPR (yes, I’m a commie) about gun ownership in America. It was right after one of the periodic slaughters, I’m afraid I can’t remember which, and the reporter was interviewing, among others, some Somali refugees about what they thought. They said that they were nervous because so many people here owned guns. Somalis thought WE had too many guns.
33“[S]ome were unsettled by the display…” Some? Seriously, only *some* people? And those people were just *unsettled* by a lot of people hanging around with loaded guns?
In my neighborhood, everybody would be completely freaked out and calling 911. People in Texas must be better at remaining calm than we are on my street.
34The greatest irony is that I am beginning to feel the need to purchase a handgun or assault weapon to protect myself and my family from these nuts! What a mess!
35Go watch Star Trek, the original series episode called A Piece Of The Action.
36Most cities, and I am sure Austin does, have ordinances prohibiting the discharge of wepons inside the city limits. So it is OK to walk around carring loaded wepons but if you fire then the police can arrest you. What good is the right to carry loaded wepons? Only proves you are a little crazy.
37There is a blog called The Immoral Minority that I also read. In fact, I found JJ from that site.
Anyway, he had a couple of posts just in the past few days about other guys going the same thing: Walking around with guns to “educate” people.
First off, I think this is about intimidation more than education. In all the times someone has done this, they have never gone to high-crime areas to educate people in those areas about the 2nd Amendment. Which is pretty ironic, since the gun nuts are always saying that more guns would reduce crime.
I would say if you are pro-gun, you should be against people doing this. Ever since Newtown, I have noticed a lot of stories about gun owners shooting themselves or others accidentally. And a lot of stories of kids killing someone with guns. One day, one of these guys expressing their rights in an affluent, law-abiding area will shoot someone (possibly accidentally) and someone is going to be killed. If that happens, I think that would turn a lot of people against guns.
38One of my great grandsons will be playing in a baseball tournament in Austin next week.
His grandfather (my son) and I were discussing that this morning. My comment went something like…. “that should be an interesting trip.”
I mentioned to him that there were women there, praying and crying, about the “unborn” and some protesting upcoming legislation regarding a woman’s right to choice. Not to mention the idiots wandering around the State Capitol……..with loaded guns.
His response to me was a simple one: “Mom, this is Texas”.
You know what? Unfortunately…… he’s right.
39I’m with you Susan. I’ll never get used to a bunch of wannabee cowboys swaggering around carrying loaded weapons. Why, you say? Because I haven’t a clue if they were taught the same gun handling rules I had beat in my head. Well, actually I know they weren’t because they’re breaking rule number one just by carrying loaded weapon. Rule One – do not load a gun unless you intend to shoot it at something – either target practice or killing something or someone. That tells me this bunch are toting around an agenda along with their loaded guns which makes them completely untrustworthy. Untrustworthy loaded gun carriers are not who I want anywhere near me.
That said, I would dearly love to see the protesters against the new abortion laws show up in Austin toting heat. I’d love to hear the Tea Party’s reasons why the liberals must be disarmed.
40I’ll even ship Red’s old single shot 22 down to you if you’ll carry it to the demonstrations. You can tell the opposition armed with assault rifles it only takes one bullet if you know what your doing. That tends to really tick off the assault weapon types.
41Everyday Freethought- There’s Daily Kos diarist who’s been keeping track of gun “accidents” for a long time now. Check out http://www.dailykos.com/user/Tom%20Begnal/history for some hair raising examples of what happens when stupidity meets a loaded gun.
42JJ and all, there have been more deaths from guns in this country, legally and illegally owned, than those deaths from military service in wars: 600,000. A whacking amount of this number is from suicide. Why is this subject never raised in all the arguments whether gun rights or gun control? I agree heartily that anyone adjudicated insane should never have a fire arm or any other kind of weapon. But a lot of the gun/suicides arise from types of illnesses that are often discreet in their manifestation. Does anyone remember the Edward Arlington Robinson poem about the guy who seemed to have it all together and was envied but ended up at the conclusion of one perfect day by blowing his brains out? Its this “hidden” mental dysfunction that never gets into the argument, especially with the gun rightists who swear the only way their guns would be controlled is when they are stripped from their cold dead hands. Sounds like they are saying to hell with the silently suffering.
43Maggie, I haven’t heard a reference to “Richard Corey” in years, but I can not think of a more appropriate example than that.
It’s all of a piece; the crazies will fight to the death for their right to wander around armed like Audey Murphy at the Alamo, but stand just as dead against women’s right to choose their own destiny.
44