A spokeswoman for a gun control group told TPM late Monday that police in Texas had refused to let its members file a report after one of its meetings was disrupted by a large group of armed pro-gun protestors.
Four members of the group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense were meeting Saturday at a Blue Mesa Grill in Arlington, Texas when a large contingent of individuals affiliated with Open Carry Texas arrived in the restaurant parking lot carrying weapons.
According to another spokesperson for Moms Demand Action, the manager of the restaurant called the police, and officers arrived just as the armed demonstrators were leaving the parking lot.
Tiara Richard, a spokeswoman for the Arlington, Texas police, told TPM in an email that the police who responded to the scene made no arrests “due to there being no criminal violations.”
“As long as the weapon is not carried in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm, it is legal,” Richard said.
According to Richard, it was also unclear whether members of Open Carry Texas were protesting the Moms Demand Action meeting.
“The Open Carry group had been in the area protesting a large-scale training exercise involving First Responders from all over North Texas,” Richard said. “So it is not clear if they were in that shopping/restaurant area due to the training exercise or the MDA meeting. Only that group could convey their purpose and intent.”
Open Carry has not responded to TPM’s requests for comment on this story.
