The Brief: Open Carry Activists Don’t Bring Their Guns to Capitol the texastribune.org headline announces. “A group that advocates for allowing the open carry of handguns without a permit, also known as constitutional carry, rallied outside the Capitol . . . They were joined by state Reps. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, and Molly White, R-Belton, as well as a survivor of the 2009 Fort Hood shootings. The protesters made their position known by brandishing empty gun holsters, with some of them filled by bananas, copies of the Constitution or cans of hairspray, per a report from The Associated Press’ Jim Vertuno.” So why did the Trib show a pic of . . .
“Chris Way and his son Ryan, 2, participate in an open carry march on March 12, 2014 during the South by Southwest festival. The event was led by the Austin chapter of Come and Take It,” as the caption informs. Because guns. Because the Trib wants to inflame the antis with pics of babies and openly carried guns.
Personally, I have no problem with legal open carry firearms – unless not doing so helps the cause of gun rights (e.g., Texas’ AR-toting Chipotle Ninjas). Even then, a right is a right no matter what I think about its expediency. Keep calm and carry on? Like that.
That said, I do have a problem with newspapers who manipulate their editorial or photographic coverage to piss on Americans’ natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. What do they think protects the First Amendment? The courts?