Open Carry Texas Activist Kills Husband and Stepdaughter

Open Carry Texas gained national attention last summer for its habit of bringing large guns into crowded restaurants and stores. This tactic prompted ridicule from both the left and the right, even causing the NRA to call them “weird”.

Now the group is back in the news, and again it is for all of the wrong reasons. One of its members was charged with murder last week after shooting and killing her estranged husband and his stepdaughter.

Open Carry Texas member Veronica Dunnachie and her husband were in the middle of a divorce when the incident occurred. Immediately after committing the murders, Dunnachie drove to a local health center and confessed.

The media is now using the story of this “militia mom” to paint gun rights supporters as murderous psychopaths. Left-wing blogs and websites are having a field day posting pictures of Dunnachie posing with her firearms.

The media’s exploitation of this tragedy is nothing more than shameless opportunism. But it is also entirely predictable. By now, conservatives should know that anything we do that fits into their stereotypes will blow up into national news.

That’s why gun rights supporters and conservatives need to do a better job of quieting reckless and inflammatory groups like Open Carry Texas. The more we let these groups define us, the worse off we will be.

By welcoming someone like Dunnachie into their ranks, Open Carry Texas has proven yet again that fringe activist groups do more harm than good.