2 arrested at Texas Capitol gun-rights rally

Source: Associated Press

2 arrested at Texas Capitol gun-rights rally
By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press | October 26, 2013 | Updated: October 26, 2013 5:45pm




AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — State troopers arrested two men said to be carrying antique pistols outside the Texas Capitol on Saturday during a demonstration by a gun-rights group that also helped spearhead a rally of openly armed supporters last week at the Alamo.

The two men were arrested for criminal trespass and have refused to identify themselves to authorities, Department of Public Safety spokesman Tom Vinger said.

"The men were openly carrying suspected deadly weapons and were given the opportunity to leave the area, but refused," Vinger wrote in an email. He said no other information about the arrest was available.

Leaders of the gun-rights group Open Carry Texas said their members did not provoke troopers and were within their legal rights to carry the pistols. Victoria Montgomery, a spokeswoman for the group, described the weapons as black-powder revolvers made before 1899.

Montgomery said the group doesn't go looking for trouble but instead wants to educate the public that the kind of antique weapons carried by the men arrested Saturday can legally be open carried. Long guns can also be openly carried, though Texas law prohibits open carrying of handguns.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/2-arrested-at-Texas-Capitol-gun-rights-rally-4928872.php?cmpid=hpts