Open Carry Texas is coming to Fifth Ward, Houston

Quannel X is an attention wh*re. ANY excuse he can find to get in front of a camera, he will use. He is basically the Al Sharpton of Houston.

In the interest of avoiding the same mistakes of every other OC event we seem to hear about, how about getting your side of the story posted here, first, before word gets around through the 'unbiased' grapevine... Random onlookers won't be checking your Facebook page for the story, they'll be checking news aggregators, which themselves feed off the more popular blogs, potentially like TTAG or TFB or even social forums like THR, TFL, bARFCOM, Fal Files, the works. Spend a couple hours during the march and after post-bombing everywhere they'll let you about your side's experiences with updates.

Good luck on the march, fellas, hopefully no fools or fuzz give you too much of a hard time. I'd come and all, but it's a four hour drive to H-Town, and I'd never join any protest that'd have me as a member . I say this only half-jokingly, since I'm probably not the greatest representative for something so sensitive and prone to misinterpretation as open rifle carry (not handsome or witty enough ). Hopefully your members will keep this in mind as well when choosing attire, hairstyle, weapon choice, attitude, signage, and whether to attend at all. I know the goal is to get back to where firearms are ho-hum utilitarian objects in the public eye, but the fact is this is a protest, and you are doing this be seen, and therefore you should endeavor to be seen as flatteringly as possible. Big, scary, ugly, intimidating guys with the same as armament are never good PR; let the other side do that, if they so desire.

Try to get some pictures of the angry husbands of the MDA'er counterprotests; I know they're out there, but 'somehow' they never seem to show up in the published photos on the news...

TCB

PS: That Quannel X (is it 'The Tenth' or 'X as in I'm ripping off Malcom X?') sounds like a piece of work and/or slippery snake. I'd suggest getting all future discussions with him on the record to keep him honest. Sounds like the guy's probably a prohibited person, too, so be wary with the photo ops, if there are any. If he has a rep with the locals, he can be potentially a very useful friend, but he seems to have already shown a willingness to backstab you guys when the cameras are rolling, at least this early in the game. Get him in your corner, but only if there's no one better (from the sounds of it, there's gotta be; try to find out if there's any bright folks lower down in his NBP organization that aren't shady characters, and deal only with them). We can complain about what the New Black Panthers represent, or we can use them so long as we are both useful for our mutual interests; quite a lot of the 'gun culture' overlaps with the goals of community responsibility and black/disenfranchised empowerment, so there is no logical reason gunnies and disarmed urban blacks can't work for a common cause (gutting gun laws in the city). Guys like X are probably jaded and looking out only for themselves at this point, but idealistic younger folks in the lower ranks really do believe the lines about self-sufficiency, personal responsibility, and empowerment. Tap into that, tell the idealistic Panthers and folks in these neighborhoods how the gun laws are primary tools of the police state they resent, how the laws were and are there for racial persecution, and how legal force dispersed among a responsible community will be the death knell for the drug/gang culture infesting the disarmed boroughs that keeps these areas from improving.

I've been on camera at events like this way in the past. You could give the most eloquent speech on gun rights ever, and they will edit what you say to make you fit whatever mold they want to put you in.

You guys need to make sure you give the correct soundbites, because that's all the media runs with.

Don't get me started on "X".

He basically stated that if they show up to walk, the locals will be prepared for a altercation. And I'm sure he's knocking on doors spewing hate and getting everyone all riled up for violence.

I'm still trying to figure out why this protest is being held in the predominantly black fifth ward by predominantly white open carry supporters?

I've heard news snippets from representatives from both sides, but the reasoning didn't convince me that the protest shouldn't be held in a more racially mixed part of town.

I mean, unless the citizens of the fifth ward had something to do with inviting OCT there, it could feel like a small invasion of armed people that obviously are not from your neighborhood.

So these white guys, they are going to walk through the black neighborhood, with guns, while the Brown/Ferguson story is still a top headline?

Worst timing ever. Total fail that will make Chipotle's look like a huge PR success by comparison.

I hope they bring some helmets and big signs that read, "WE'RE FROM SAINT LOUIS AND WE'RE HERE TO HELP."

HSO hit it. This looks racially motivated and being chewed on by what appears to me to be a race baiter.

Easiest thing to do here is extend a VERY public invitation to the residents of that area to demonstrate with the open carriers. This isn't rocket science folks. My nose is extremely insensitive to racial issues, but this one doesn't pass the smell test from either angle.

Constitutional issues cross all lines and barriers perceived or actual.

Good luck. Wear a suit, shave and smile.

Of course its designed to provoke, as were gay pride parades. Will it be effective? I doubt it, the liberal medial was on the side of the gays, they are against gun rights.

At first I didn't really get the point Mr. X was trying to make, but after thinking about it for a minute I totally agree with him.

Look up "BAD IDEA" on the internet and this is probably going to pop up.

This. If you don't live there, go home. I support OC but if you're just looking for trouble you will find it in the 5th ward. Don't come crying to me when they take your gun and beat your ass.

Oh, yeah. Those people can't be trusted around anything of value, barely human, they are. It's a good thing we have a system of gun licensing laws and punitive enforcement practices to make sure as few of those scum can carry weapons legally as possible. And then when one of them carries a gun illegally...

Of course, I'm speaking sarcastically. While a greatly disproportionate number of the urban poor, and the black urban poor specifically, have been debarred the right to bear arms through the legal system, a far greater number have been conditioned or pressured to believe they cannot carry weapons legally, open, at home, or concealed. To say nothing of the cost associated with doing so. To say that OCT has nothing to offer the 5th Ward or any other poor and/or minority neighborhood is simply untrue. I do think it would require some changes on the part of OCT for them to have a positive impact, though. Simply invading others' space with guns, at this time is not productive or helpful. Throw poor race-relations, class beefs, and recent civil unrest in the mix and its a poorer (I wouldn't say bad, since I still doubt anything untoward would have happened, and that aside from some angry words, the area around the protest would have likely experienced a decided lack of flagrant criminal activity) opportunity.

What I would suggest:
-Since Quannel has supposedly stymied you here (I'm sure he actually hasn't, but he will most certainly take credit for driving you guys off this time), you will have to seek his approval if you wish to reattempt this event. As I said before, if he can't be seen to discuss with you directly, find someone lower in his organization you can talk to, and set some ground rules for each others' collaboration on this project*
-Figure out how to present absolutely, positively, absolutely (again) the best face of your cause for something this controversial and public. The nation will be watching as gunnies stride through that ghetto and...nothing bad happens. Find out what you can do to make sure that that is the only conceivable outcome of your adventure; no out of context quotes, no out of context photos, no straying off message, no mean faces/clothing, no intimidating swagger, no shouting, no brandishing, just shiny happy people holding hands --with guns.
-Work with everything and everybody resembling a leadership/authority in the community for a good, solid month at least before trying this again. They don't know you, they don't trust you, a good many of these folks fear you for very logical (not emotional) reasons. Respect and accept that, then do what you have to do in order for them to let you in.
-As I said before, a stunt like this (and it is a stunt; a 'perilous' one at that) will have the whole nation's attention for days before (probably only one, after ). This is the big-times. Hire/recruit a real PR consultant, or enlist the help of a group that knows what they are doing (I'd look elsewhere than Quannel, though he most certainly does know how to work the media).
-Just this once, at least for the first group outing in such a foreign and hostile place, it (ironically) might be a good time to forgo carry of actual rifles and just use banners to get the message out. The message is what's important; not the show of force/solidarity. Unlike most of your protests, no one's expecting the police to bust you guys; they're (sadly) expecting the community to eat you alive like a pack of zombies. You aren't there to protest the community's distaste of firearms, but to educate them on their rights, aren't you? Police response is a secondary topic, here, and you should adjust your tactics to reflect this; non-LEOs badly disturbed by firearms displays will not show the same restraint as even over-zealous LEOs, and unlike most OC displays where you almost want to be accosted by police to illustrate their overreaction, you cannot afford a violent response with average citizens. Ditch the open-carry guns, for just this first march. Call it a trial run.

TCB
*Ground Rules for dealing with the Panthers or whomever might be representing a neighborhood you want to visit and march through;
-Let them determine the route/logistics of the march; it's their home after all, you let them show you around instead of randomly poking around
-Clearly and firmly establish what you wish to promote and educate people about (gun-law injustice, how widespread gun-deterrent can reduce crime and even police injustice, how to apply for CC, how to buy a gun for home defense, and that open carry of long arms is legal, but not pistols). Be willing to tailor (as in trim, but not add) the scope of your message to something they are willing to promote in the community
-Likewise, be firm about their group limiting its message to something your membership is comfortable with (promoting violent resistance to police, religious proselytizing, off-topic items like drug, tax, or welfare policy would obviously be things to draw the line on)
-Determine what each side is to provide for the event; refreshments, transport, security (self-policing for agent provocateurs), media coverage (dedicated folks taking flattering pictures/reporting & dispersing them before the opposition can do the opposite), etc.
-Get the local police involved, or at the very least, an on-the-record blessing of the event. Their assistance may or may not be advisable depending on the locals' relationship at the time
-Get all this stuff in writing, and preferably stage a pretty photo-op with both sides' leadership signing shortly before the march

Sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but getting gunnies in with the ghettoes is the perfect way to subvert decades, no centuries of urban disarmament effort. We've always been afraid of what happens to our gun rights if the metro area gets too large --this is how we combat that inevitability. Our message seems so in tune with what is sought by urbanites that I don't see why we can't compliment one another, but one side needs to engage the other first. If activist gun owners have more resources on the whole by virtue of their social station, the onus is on us to make the first move. I think once a few neighborhoods are opened up to our ideas diplomatically, the job will get easier and easier.