I used to think that I was politically incorrect. No, really, I ain’t even gonna lie to you. I’ve made a career of skirting on the edge in order to sell what I write. Almost always I write in seclusion. I sit alone and come up with articles because I don’t invite advice or interaction from others. I have reasons for this. Reason number one is that I’ve been writing and putting stuff out since I was fifteen years old. I’m sixth-three now, and I tend to think I have this gig figured out. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I have an ego, deal with it. Moreover I have developed a method. I’ve learned from watching others, and from my own failures about what flies, and what sinks. What it really boils down to is interaction with people. I’ve seen what people will accept, and what they will reject, and frankly there’s a lot of psychology involved. Not FOOLING people, interacting with them. If you are a chef you learn quickly what people like to taste, and what they do not like. Writing is like that.
This brings us to the incident at the Capitol in Austin yesterday between advocates of the Open Carry movement and State Rep Nevarez. There is a video up, probably all over the place where some supporters of the movement confronted the Rep in his office about the Second Amendment issue. I believe Mr. Nevarez said something about Santa Clause, and that set off one of the Open Carry members who then went into attack mode on the member ranting about the Second Amendment with all the frills. Finally Mr Nevarez had to request they leave his office, even to the point of asking one of his staff to summon the DPS!
Ok, I’m going out on a limb here, but in my unsolicited opinion this action by the Open Carry member was, in a word, stupid! I have the deepest respect for C J Grisham. Matter of fact, I met him in the Rotunda yesterday and was proud to introduce him to a friend who was with me at the time because I view him as a Texas superstar for Constitutional Rights. What happened to C J in Temple, Texas long ago wasn’t just about guns, it was about the First, Second, Fourth, and possibly Fifth amendments. It was about the degrading of all of our rights over a long period of time until the actions of the Temple officers were deemed to be normal. I don’t believe C J intended to ever get into politics, but the events that day lit the fuse which resulted in a movement statewide, indeed nationwide, to reinstate the Bill of Rights. C J is the epitome of professionalism and tact. He was even tactful during his arrests, letting the officers speak for themselves and seal their own fates.
You cannot confront a State Representative in his own office! State Reps are a peculiar lot. They tend to think they have things on the ball. Their minds are generally made up. When they are following what their constituants wish then they are a good public servant. When they vote according to their own wishes they become members of the plutocracy. They view themselves as a prince, or princess, and it’s hard to argue down royalty. To try to barge into their office and argue legal issues that have been before the Supreme Court many times is not a very wise approach. First off, you don’t know the background of the Rep. His dad may have shot his dog when he was twelve, and he simply will never like guns! His supporters may have told him he’d better NOT vote in favor of Open Carry, or he just may wish to ignore the Constitution no matter what it says. At any rate arguing with him, and threatening him with physical violence, yeah they did that, is not a worthy approach. And while I’m on that subject let’s expand a bit. Here’s a guy trying to sway a State Rep toward Open Carry, and he can’t even safely carry his MOUTH! Now, I’m just a Simple Ol’ Boy From Austin, but did I miss something here? “If you don’t vote for my right to bear arms I’m a gonna whip your butt!” Exit, stage right!
It ended with the Open Carry supporters being shown the door, with all the obligatory, “Don’t touch me,” warnings flying around the room. I thought it was filmed in a biker bar. I would have handled that a tab bit differently. First, I would have distanced myself from the Open Carry guys. They were bordering on intervention from the DPS, and I can’t even IMAGINE the charges for the attempted assault of a State Representative in his own office, but it would have made CNN, I can assure you! As soon as the air cleared I would have sat beside Mr. Navarez, shook his hand and introduced myself. I would have explained to him that I am a writer, and quoted a few lines here and there to lighten the mood. Gently, I would move to the subject at hand, and after assuring him that I am a novice, and deeply respect his rank and background, would have asked, asked, mind you, his reasons for his stance on the gun issue. Then, I would shut up and listen. Then man might even have something to say. After he stated his position I would tell him that I support the right of self defense, and waited for his response. Civilized exchange of ideas between to civilized men. And I would do this, not just for him, but for everyone in the room! I would be fully aware that I would never change this guy’s ideas, but maybe I could influence someone within ear shot. Then, I would request a picture of us for my grandkids, praise his tenure in the Capitol, shake hands, mention my BOOK of course, and leave! Now, I know my actions would not put a bandaid on what the Open Carry guy did, but perhaps, just perhaps, someone in the room would talk to other members of the Congress, or their staff, and think I was pretty cool. Heck, might even sell a book or two and then they’d surely know where I stand on the Constitution.
Standing there screaming about the word “Infringe” and threatening people will never bear fruit. Do I believe in the Second Amendment, absolutely! Do I think typing it up in Braille and sticking it up someone’s you know where will get laws passed? Get a LIFE! We will pay dearly for the ripple effects of the event yesterday. Mothers against everything but vanilla ice cream couldn’t have gotten better press if they’d hired a promotion team from Madison Avenue. We took a hit, fellas. We went from the edge of Open Carry to quite possible seeing the current CHL law being tightened down a bit to curtail such outbursts by fringe elements of our society. I know this article is going to ruffle some feathers, but C J got up from the dust of Airport Road, and crawled all the way to Austin over two years to change history. One meeting, ONE, like this, took the chance of undoing all of his good work, and yes, that ticks me off a bit. For the record I will try to one day meet the State Rep and sit down with him. Again, I don’t think I will sway him, but I’d like to get inside his head, and hopefully the heads of a lot of representatives in Austin. Like I said at the beginning of this article, I’ve been doing this for a while, and I can HOLD a conversation. I also can, on occasion, change a mind by making the other guy think HE thought the idea up, and this stumbling, bumbling guitar player from Austin is blown away by his celebrity.
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