By Kory Watkins

Why would law enforcement want to attack legally open carrying individuals? Freedom and control.

Texas was one of five states to not have legal open carry of a modern-day handgun — this was until people grew frustrated and did something about it.

Not too long ago, there were dozens of marches each month all across Texas to further gun freedoms. They would call them “open carry rallies.” People from all over would march with long guns, signs, flags, and some even passing out Constitutions.

Clearly, by now, everyone in the world has heard what happened in Dallas. Dallas Police, the Mayor, and media are now pushing the narrative — open carry people caused confusion in the Dallas shooting.

They are using this horrific event as a tool to push a political agenda against open carry. It’s despicable!

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said, “It’s logical to say that in a shooting situation, open carry can be detrimental to the safety of individuals.”

The facts show that where there are more law-abiding citizens with guns, there is less crime. Statistically speaking, the Mayor wants people to be unarmed targets, also known as victims.

What’s sad, is the first suspect who was blasted all over the news, was incorrect. He could have been the robot victim for all we know. Thankfully, that did not happen, because Mark Hughes turned his gun over to police right when the shooting was going on. Sadly, it was in fear that he would be a suspect and be blamed. How sad is that? He was in fear of his life, so he had to turn his gun in so he would not be blamed. Is that how far we have come?

Major Max Geron of the Dallas police department said, “There was also the challenge of sorting out witnesses from potential suspects. Texas is an open carry state, and there were a number of armed demonstrators taking part. There was confusion on the radio about the description of the suspects and whether or not one or more was in custody.”

Do the police need more common sense? The people that have their guns, slung over their backs, in a non-aggressive manner, are probably not the targets.

Senior Sgt. Chris Dyer, president of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Association, said large cities like Dallas should pass ordinances that would ban open carry of firearms during large events like protest marches.

He said, “Even open carry proponents will see the common sense in restricting open carry in environments like a protest.”

He’s wrong. I myself am appalled to hear anything remotely restricting a private citizen from protecting themselves. Did they randomly forget about all these mass shootings are happening in GUN FREE ZONES?

In addition, Dyer is saying something that goes against his oath he swore to uphold. You can’t pass a city ordinance that goes against the right to keep and bear arms. That is unconstitutional and he should lay his badge down.

Another open carry supporter, CJ Grisham, President and founder of Open Carry Texas said in a statement to the Free Thought Project, “If you can’t identify a threat you shouldn’t be wearing a badge.”

Chairman for the Libertarian Party of Texas, John Wilford tells the Free Thought Project, “There is nothing common or sensible about that argument, and every armed cop realizes that, or else they would not have brought their service arms. Let’s stand against violent individuals in unity, not thin our own ranks in such a way that makes the good guys easier targets.”

Chairwomen for the Libertarian Party in Tarrant County, Texas, Liz Scripter also said, “As it happened, the activist incorrectly labeled a suspect gave up his ability to defend himself in order to prevent the police from shooting him out of their own fear and prejudice. He correctly perceived his life was endangered more by the police than the sniper(s). It appears the Dallas PD’s concerns leading to suggested restrictions on rights to self-defense is an acknowledgment that their people are likely to shoot first and ask questions later.”

Virgil Vaduva founder of Ohio Open Carry said, “Open carry is not a threat to citizens but rather a deterrent for criminals to force them to reconsider their actions.”

Brett Sanders from BrettSanders.me tells the Free Thought Project, “I am an open carry proponent, and I would invite the Dallas Sheriffs Association to lead the way. They should lead by example and conceal their weapons during said protests. Their eyes are clearly off the ball.”

Joel Gardner, an open carry supporter, who runs the Voluntary East Texas Show aptly explains that “Taking away our rights will not make us safer. People with bad intentions do not open carry.”

Andre Gabriel Esparza, a writer and open carry supporter from DontComply.com said, “Wrong, because if everybody had a gun on their hip it would be a deterrent for those who would abuse the right by committing senseless violence.”

Do you get the drift? I could go on for days with open carry proponents who strongly go against what Dyer said. He speaks on behalf of corruption, not the people.

This is just another bald-faced lie to smear a group of people and create a scapegoat.

The Dallas police department knows that there were 1,000s of open carry rallies across America the last two years and none of them had a problem with safety concerns, or who was a bad or good guy.

The Dallas police, the sheriffs association, the Mayor, and the media should all be ashamed of themselves using this horrific event as a means to smear a group or move on an evil political agenda.

Kory Watkins writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared.