Even the NRA is calling the campaign of a Texas open-carry group "weird" and counterproductive as some of the members recently took rifles and shotguns into coffee shops and other eateries in the Lone Star State.
According to a statement released late last week by the National Rifle Association’s lobbying arm, Institute for Legislative Action, the actions of some members of Open Carry Texas aren’t advancing the principles of the Second Amendment.
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“Let's not mince words, not only is it rare, it's downright weird and certainly not a practical way to go normally about your business while being prepared to defend yourself,” according to the statement. “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. It makes folks who might normally be perfectly open-minded about firearms feel uncomfortable and question the motives of pro-gun advocates.”
Some members of Open Carry Texas were recently asked to leave a Sonic drive-in, Chili’s Bar and Grill, Chipotle, and Jack in the Box restaurants after taking their firearms to those establishments.
In a YouTube video, a female customer at Chili’s confronts several members of the group and takes video of them with her phone. A manager is also heard telling the group that they will be served as long as they take their firearms out of the restaurant.
“The freedom and goodwill these businesses had previously extended to gun owners has been curtailed because of the actions of an attention-hungry few who thought only of themselves and not of those who might be affected by their behavior,” the NRA statement continues, referring to Sonic and Chili’s. “To state the obvious, that's counterproductive for the gun owning community.”
Open Carry Texas members have now threatened to cut up their NRA cards unless the organization retracts their criticisms of the open carry group.
“I personally am an endowment lifetime member of the NRA and an inductee into the Golden Eagles program, and I will rip up my cards and burn my certificates on camera if they don’t change their stance,”
C.J. Grisham, president of Open Carry Texas, told CBS Dallas-Fort Worth.
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