First Jumping off of bridges has historically killed people, but sometimes they do survive. Just because it is the common historical result does not mean it is always the case.
Second I agree that the educational phase is not complete, but to educate you must progress. Repeatedly working on teaching the alphabet doesn't teach someone how to spell, or to read, or to write. Remember that perfection is the enemy of good enough.
Third,The question is answered. The politicians are recieving pressure from callers that they understand to be voters that they are uncomfortable or bothered by long gun OC. Essentially they are saying "Please stop the long gun OC it is helping my opponents with the media, scared soccer moms, and 911 calls." MDA and their allies are making headway here. The city of Arlington's wants and wishes are not the concern of a candidate from House District 82, 50, or 7. I somehow doubt a city council has that kind of pull.
Fourth, Don't blindly follow anybody.
Fifth, OCing a rifle does not truly communicate that OCing a handgun is a good thing. It's kind of like giving someone an Orange and saying those apples taste really good. You probably have been on more Marches than I have, but we are looking at two different pictures. You are looking at individual people who receive the message randomly. I am looking at the entire state where people are getting a less personalized message, most politicians we want to win over are somewhere between us.
Sixth, I am on OCDO discussing it because the people here can do it VERY well if they put their mind to it. The problem is you will not educate people in mass about handgun OC by OCing rifles. The admin here at OCDO only allows the discussion of rifles in this forum because handgun OC is not legal in Texas, this would cause me to assume that they don't like rifle OC unless it's the only option if I were to use the logic presented to me.
Seventh, If you think that the media is untrusted so what they do doesn't matter then why does anyone in the OC movement give interviews? It's because someone one thinks that getting the message out does work.
Eighth, I am not saying that it has been entirely detrimental, but it is not helping us as much as other methods can. Public support is relevent just as lobbying is relevent because they both influence votes by politicians. In order to pass legislation you have to have both. Right now the politicians are being given the idea that public support is against us because they are being spoon fed anti-OC sentiments, man on the street interviews, ect by the media and callers they pervceive as voters.
Nineth, If your goal is being able to OC freely, and you have accomplished that in the majority of Texas then I assume you are not concerned about Legal handgun OC. In regards to the slogan let me counter it with "The hand shoved into the mouth of a bear is a hand that is easily lost." I have open carried a long gun long before it was a trend to do so. I didn't carry it to make a statement, or in a group (unless hunting), I carried it because it was practical for my use/transport of it. I did take extra measures to seem non-threatening for when I walked past the business that still has a decades old bullet hole in its sign with a long story behind it. The only time I had a LE encounter while OCing a long gun was when an officer was interested in buying a similar rifle and asked me what I though about it. California lost long gun OC due to bad tactics, just like they lost unloaded handgun OC due to bad tactics, just like they lost loaded handgun OC due to bad tactics by the Black Panther Party. We lost some long gun OC rights due to bad tactics due to the new black panther party. Do you see a pattern here? I do. I am not saying we need to completely stop long gun OC, we need to do it in a manner that doesn't hurt our future plans.
Tenth, When did they take credit for killing an OC bill? Show me an article, give me a time in my audio, or present me some proof. They talked about a bill being killed, but it was not their actions that did it. They talked about not pushing a bill because it wasn't theirs, but that was not killing it. They did mention testifying in support of a bill, maybe that killed it...
Eleventh, who said anything about OCT not existing? Even Charles said that OCTs efforts made OC an issue for the next session. They see an interest in OC, the TSRA membership is showing an interest in OC, I say lets run with it.
Finally, We should be able to pass OC this session, if we adjust tactics then it may become easier. Once we legalize Handgun OC no matter what form we get it becomes easier to go back and improve on it. You have to have a home in order to do home improvement, you can buy all the tools, supplies, and fixtures you want but you can't do much with them until you have a home. I am afraid if we don't pass it in 2015 it may not be possible to pass it in 2017 or 2019. I say this because Texas is growing the population by absorbing people from states that do not like guns and they will bring their voting habbits with them.