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The Texarkana open carry walk on the state line was carried out went off without a hitch on Saturday.  Conley Hennigan reports that 38 people showed up to express their First and Second amendment rights by marching with openly carried arms in two states across the border. Note the prominent use of the American flag, and the III percent symbol in the video . . .

Conley Hennigan, who organized the march, said this about Texarkana prior to the march:

Check it out! Arkansas has been a constitutional carry state since August of 2013 under Act 746, Texarkana is the only major city in Arkansas that claims they do not recognize ACT 746. Even the new AG of Arkansas opines that it is constitutional carry. OCT will be crossing into Arkansas after we conclude our event in Texas to open carry modern handguns and educate Arkansans about their rights under 746. CJ Grisham, the president and founder of OCT will also be in attendance. Come take a stand and flex your rights!

No one was reported molested or arrested during the march. In the video, numerous drivers are heard honking support for the marchers.

While this is the first cross-border march that I have heard of, it’s just one of the thousands that have been organized and completed with complete safety across Texas and other states in the last two years. Marchers uniformly report that they are met with overwhelming support, and a small minority of detractors.

Arkansas became a constitutional carry state in 2013, and Texas has a licensed open carry bill making its way through the legislature. The Texas Speaker of the House, Joe Straus, is said to be the only serious impediment to the bill’s passage. The big question is whether it will be allowed a vote on the floor.

From opencarry.org:

No bill gets passed without Joe Straus letting it through the House. I still haven’t seen any evidence that that hurdle is surmountable. I certainly want Texas to get Open Carry, but let’s make sure our optimism is grounded in reality.

Straus has been blamed for the failure to pass open carry legislation two years ago. Things look different this year, with thousands of open carry marches throughout the state and activists causing a fair number of representatives to be primaried. A correspondent activist in Texas told me that Speaker Strauss lost a significant number of allies in the last primaries.

The Texas legislature only meets once every two years. In the last two years the desire for open carry in Texas has ignited a social movement beyond any seen since the 1960’s. It remains to be seen whether the Texas Speaker is listening or if Texas will remain one of the six states that prohibit the open carry of modern handguns in most public settings.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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18 COMMENTS

  1. If texas can save themselves, then together we can save california, ect. Got to get motivated and create movement.

    • It’s a big stretch to imagine TX saving itself. Might happen, but it’s the land of self-delusion – they’ll still wander around telling everybody how much ‘better it is in TX’ even when it’s far worse than other places. CA? You might want to buy a lottery ticket for that one. Money is power, and regardless of the wider populace the people pulling the levers are religiously anti-gun.

  2. 38 people? Don’t we make fun of MDA for managing to gather the same amount of people?

    Doesn’t seem like much interest from the pro-2A crowd in that area.

    Just calling a spade a spade and being honest.

  3. I wish I could be there. I do recall hundreds or even thousands in Springfield,Illinois very recently marching for gun rights…

  4. Now that’s funny. Can’t help but laugh when you see a rag tag bunch that desperate to be the center of attention who were all but ignored, no one gave a $#it. Apparently the huge crowd of 38 was too large to depict in a single photo, I counted 15 adults and two babies in the group pose at the Federal Courthouse on State Line Avenue. Anyone who grew up in Northeast Texas or Southwestern Arkansas near Texarkana knows that the participants in the “open carry walk” might’ve been surprised if the knew how many folks driving were armed and had a safe full of guns at the house that they know how to use. No doubt the most likely reaction that day in Texarkana at the sight of some fool toting an AK on State Line Avenue was, “huh, would you look at that, wonder why that dumbass is toting his AK on State Line?”. Absolutely hilarious!

    • Why do you bother to troll EVERY SINGLE OC related post? Does it give you some sort of warm and fuzzy Progressive feeling to act so superior?

      • Probably has something to do with my aversion to a bunch of losers obsessed with drawing attention to themselves that in the long run can do nothing but harm to the preservation of our 2nd amendment rights.

    • I’m glad for the times that my OCing doesn’t gain attention. I hate attention. I’d prefer to be invisible and completely unknown. But, my Constitution needs me, so I put up with it.

      If you aren’t willing to put up with a little unwanted attention from losers in support of the 2A, exactly what good can you ever be for it when it needs so much more than that?

      The reason for the smaller turnout is that most 2A supporters have these things called jobs, and it’s rare they can all get together at once on a given day… They have things to do. These are the few who managed to fit it into their schedules.

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