Sunday, December 14, 2014

This Is Not A Shotgun Wedding On Austin's Capitol Steps

The Texas open carry gun madness really is getting to be a bit much.

A shotgun type wedding on the steps of the state capitol?

That is just embarrassing.

What?

That's not the State Capitol Building in Austin?

That is the State Capitol Building in Olympia, in my old home state of Washington?

Now that really is embarrassing.

What is going on here?

Well, apparently in last November's election Washington votes passed something called Initiative 594. This new law allows expanded background checks on those wanting to purchase a firearm.

I wonder if Texas might get a voter turnout, higher than less than a third of those eligible to vote, if the state ever had anything consequential on the ballot? Like voting to legalize  marijuana, same sex marriage, legalizing casinos, ending the state's bizarrely Byzantine Prohibition-era liquor laws, prohibiting industry control of state agencies such as the TCEQ and the Texas Railroad Commission, that type thing?

So, what's the deal with this guy with the machine gun and the couple getting married?

Apparently, on Saturday, around 1,000 open carry gun rights type advocates had a protest rally outside  the Capitol building to voice their objection to the new background check law.

The couple in wedding attire were not protest participants. They were there to have pre-wedding pictures taken. The Best Man guy holding the gun also is not a protester. One of the protesters handed the Best Man the gun, who I guess then willingly posed like a Mafia hit man, allowing the photo to be taken.

This open carry thing is just not right. A couple days ago I was driving through my neighborhood Albertsons parking lot when I stopped to let an extremely fat man pass in front of me. I was appalled to see that the extremely fat man was sporting a holster around his expansive waist, with a gun stuck in that holster.

I really would not want to be bagging bananas in Albertsons and look up to see an extremely fat man coming towards me packing heat.

Same applies to an extremely skinny man.

Or woman.....

2 comments:

Steve A said...

Some would refer to it as "open carry for pedestrians and cyclists" since motorists already have big vehicles to carry their guns that the rest of us do not have, Perhaps the man in Albertsons was afraid someone would drive through the front window and mow him down.

sagacious snooper said...

The shoulder turn by the young bride does not bode well for the future of this marriage.,,, IMHO