Open Carry Group Reports Positive Feedback in San Angelo

Roughly 25 men and women armed with shotguns and rifles could be seen taking a stroll down Sherwood Way Saturday morning, bearing banners emblazoned with OCT, or Open Carry Texas.

The group is new to Tom Green County and is comprised of about 60 members total, a third of which attended the organization's first awareness walk between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Standing on the corner of Sherwood Way and Buick, the 2nd Ammendment activist waved to cars as they passed by, responding to people honking their horns, roling down their windows and seeking information. 

"The response has been great," said Tyler Benbow, the spokesperson of the group. "We get a lot of people driving by, honking at us, waving at us and stuff like that really excited to see us. We've had a couple of police officers drive by, one gave us the thumbs up and everything. It's been nothing but positive, which is good; we want positive reactions."

Benbow said for the most part people honked and waved, but a few did pull into the parking lot on the corner to ask questions about the cause, pick up brochures or just ask to join.

Benbow said the purpose of the walk was not to scare people, but to raise awareness. "The main point is that good guys with guns is not something to be worried about," he said. "We want to teach people about their rights and what the laws are in Texas. We want people to get comfortable seeing good guys with guns. We want to cooperate and have a good realtionship with all law enforcement and we want Texas to adopt less restrictive gun laws." 

For more information on the the Tom Green County Open Carry Texas group, find them on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, or send a message to [email protected].