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This is an interesting announcement at Action10 news in Corpus Christi, Texas.  What makes it interesting is that there is no castigation of the open carriers, no attacks on them as “frightening”, no characterization of their event as a danger to society.   In addition, the short item accurately describes the motives of the event organizers, as they have stated them.   Here is the article, from kztv10.com . . .

CORPUS CHRISTI – A group of gun owners across the state will continue peaceful demonstrations asking for change in restrictive open carry laws.

The goal is to get the public and Texas legislature to amend laws that do not allow handgun gun owners to openly carry their weapons.

As it stands, gun owners are only able to carry rifles or shotguns out in the open. Yet the state forces handguns to be concealed at all times.

This weekend the local Open Carry group will be at Target to educate shoppers about their cause.

It is particularly noteworthy that this notice was published just when the old media was publishing a plethora of emotional rants calling for exactly the kind of gun control laws that failed so spectacularly in the recent knife, car and gun attacks in Santa Barbara.

Normalization seems to be working in Texas.

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

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33 COMMENTS

  1. What we have here is a news organization that’s so lazy they print the news release from Open Carry Texas word-for-word, rather than actually doing some work that could be referred to as journalism (you know – make a phone call, interview some people, get a quote from an opposing view, etc.).

    The lack of hoplophobic sensationalism, by itself, does not necessarily make for good journalism.

    • You may be on to something there. But of course, usually it’s the Everytown “Moms” whose press release is printed verbatim as “news”. Presumably the station is catering to it’s audience; Corpus actually has some pretty conservative local media I think.

      • Well, sorry, Curtis, but this is not a matter of “printing a news release” after all–it is a TV news report. Kind of incredible.

    • What? Are you new on this planet? If so, don’t talk to Mormons. EVER.

      “The press is lazy” isn’t exactly headline material either.

    • Maybe not good journalism, but certainly factually better than “normal” journalism we have seen in the last year and a half.

      It occurs to me that what we have been seeing in the media has not been biased, it has been outright propagandist. That the unusual event is that a media outlet didn’t print the anti-gun, sensationalized, emotional, anti-fact, press release.

      It is becoming increasingly clear that journalism “(you know – make a phone call, interview some people, get a quote from an opposing view, etc.).” is a mythical beast. The the norm is perception management, not unbiased reporting.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perception_management

    • By definition it is journalism which is just reporting an event or events. It is an accurate report of the events. It is not an editorial that expresses an opinion of the publisher or editor. The publication may choose to report additional events as they become available or write an editorial.

      Classic journalism teaches to report events as they happen. Modern journalism teaches that very event is an opportunity to influence how people think. Modern journalism is nothing more than a form of propaganda.

  2. Whichever intern got assigned to whip up this blurb is pro-gun.

    Every now and again, a conservative sneaks through a journalism program at a university and gets hired on to a media outlet. When they’re still FNG status, this is the type of stuff you see.

    Hey, compared to typical media coverage of firearms, I’ll take it.

  3. Why don’t these open carry demonstrators understand that the surest way to loose a civil right is to openly exercise it? How can anyone believe that law abiding citizens, carrying firearms in demonstration after demonstration, will ever normalize the sight of firearms in public? They must understand, the occasional idiots who are singled out for some media hysteria, are the only ones who will influence the “fence sitters”. Or Not!

    • There was a time that open carry was normal. It is sad that it ever stopped being normal.
      As far as losing rights, I firmly believe that a right not exercised is a right surrendered.

  4. Actually watched the vid, it appears to be a kosher news report from a local Corpus TV station. Kind of amazing, especially the jocular tone the two newscasters start out with. But, no, it’s not a felony, Mr Gonzalez; unlawfully carrying a weapon (aka UCW) is a Class A misdemeanor (which is bad enough, up to a year in county jail and/or a $5000 fine, IIRC, but we don’t need to overstate the case).

  5. Well, this is interesting: Seems next door in Oklahoma, a bunch of open-carriers crashed a Moms Demand Action protest at a Chipotle’s in Tulsa, and the MILFs Against Guns reportedly threw such a fit that management ejected them and kept the OCers.

    http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/06/tulsa-chipotle-kicks-anti-gunners-moms-demand-action-rude-behavior/

    Oh, I hope this is true. After all, what’s good for the open-carry goose is good for the antigun gander. Assuming I’m not mixing my genders… 😛

  6. All of the sites that picked up that Oklahoma Chipolte story are either pro-gun or hard right. No mention of the episode that I can find anywhere else although the Oklahoma Mom’s Against Guns Facebook page does mention that Chipolte requested that open carry enthusiasts not get the restaurant involved.

    I’d chalk this story up to wishful thinking.

  7. Oganized Open Carry demonstrations with factual info flyers to hand out to the public, could be producutive. A couple of yahoos, showing up in a family eatery is just a way to show off, hurts the cause for passing legal Open Carryin Texas. Starbucks in the ones my sister-in-law have stopped in have not put a sign up forbiting concealed carry. We both have CHLs so we sip our coffee on the patio, tooled up.

  8. Say…, you don’t think some news outlets have been reading their comment pages and taking the abundance of pro-2A into account. You know, while watching their audience abandon them for internet media.

  9. “What makes it interesting is that there is no castigation of the open carriers, no attacks on them as “frightening”, no characterization of their event as a danger to society.”

    they don’t need to do that anymore. The “pro-gunners” have taken up that cause….

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