The NRA has apologized for its statement criticizing invasions of Texas chain restaurants by groups armed with semi-automatic rifles as displays of support for open carry of firearms.

The NRA blamed a staff member for a statement on the organization’s website that said activists had “crossed the line from enthusiasm to downright foolishness,” and called the tactics “weird” and “scary.”

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The gun nuts went nuts and threatened to burn their NRA membership cards.

So came the rollback in an interview on the NRA’s website.

“It’s a distraction,” Chris Cox, the executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, told NRA News. “There was some confusion, we apologize, again, for any confusion that that post caused.”

…”Ultimately, what this comes down to is a tactics discussion,” Cox told NRA News host Cam Edwards. “Some people believe that the best way to effectuate that sort of policy change is in protest. And what they did in Texas is, some people decided to protest the absurdity of the ban on … open carry of handguns by carrying their long guns openly, and legally. Now, the truth is, an alert went out that referred to this type of behavior as weird, or somehow not normal. And that was a mistake. It shouldn’t have happened. I’ve had a discussion with the staffer who wrote that piece, and expressed his personal opinion. Our job is not to criticize the lawful behavior of fellow gun owners.”

Cox insisted that the NRA “unequivocally” supports open carry, and that the conflict with the activists was a distraction that the media “has had a field day with it.”

Situation normal. Criticism of firearms and the people carrying them is not tolerated. No restrictions  on firearms are within the realm of possibility under the zealots’ interpretation of the 2nd Amendment (no matter what the Supreme Court and state laws might say). Order is restored.

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