NRA Slams Group For Carrying Rifles In Public

A gun rights advocacy group in Texas is drawing the ire of an unlikely source - the National Rifle Association.

The group's members carry their long guns into shops and restaurants

Open Carry Texas, an organisation "dedicated to the safe and legal carry of firearms openly in the State of Texas", has been criticised for its members' policy of openly toting long guns in public.

Pliny Gale, the group's director of marketing, told Sky News that its goal is to "educate the public, law enforcement and state legislators on what open carry looks like", with the aim of passing state laws on the open carry of handguns.

The two gun rights groups find themselves at odds. Pic: Pliny Gale

Under Texas law, gun owners can carry long weapons in public, but the carrying of handguns is prohibited.

Pictures posted on the group's website show members with rifles slung over their shoulders as they go about their daily business, including shopping and sitting down for a meal.

Mr Gale said: "We're trying to show that there are tons of people who own guns and the vast majority are law-abiding citizens."

The NRA blasted the group's methods as 'weird' and 'scary'

But the NRA is not happy with Open Carry Texas' methods, calling them "weird", "scary" and the "actions of an attention-hungry few".

The powerful gun lobby group said: "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.

The group began advocating for open carry of handguns in 2013

"Using guns merely to draw attention to yourself in public not only defies common sense, it shows a lack of consideration and manners.

"And that's certainly not the NRA way."

Mr Gale, himself a paid member of the NRA, said the lobby group's comments threw Open Carry Texas "under the bus a little".

Texas is one of five states that does not permit the open carry of handguns

He said: "They're saying, in my opinion, that they're the big boys and they want to take the focus away from smaller, radical fringe groups."

He added that Open Carry Texas would continue to work toward achieving its goals "with or without the support of the NRA or other groups".

The group says the NRA backlash will not stop it from pursuing its mission

"We want to establish that the NRA does not have a monopoly on the gun rights conversation," he said.

"There are tons of great groups out there and the NRA is the biggest, and they tend to throw their weight around a bit. Sometimes that's good, but sometimes it can be bad."

He said Open Carry Texas was better positioned to advocate for gun rights in their home state.

The debate over gun laws in the US has been rekindled in recent years following a series of mass shootings, most prominently the the Sandy Hook killings of 20 Connecticut school children in December 2012.

Attempts to impose new restrictions, including improved background checks and limits on cartridge magazines, have failed to make their way through Congress.

The Second Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees Americans the right to "keep and bear arms", has been the legal rallying point for the powerful gun lobby, which has succeeded in resisting tighter restrictions.