In the \u201cGood News\u201d department, the Washington Times reported in September \u201cMore than 57,000 gun-friendly bars, eateries crop up across America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back in April, the owners of TBonz Steakhouse in Augusta, Georgia, \u201cdecided to be proactive when Republican Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law one of the most comprehensive pro-gun bills in the country,\u201d the newspaper reports. The new law allows firearms into the state\u2019s bars and restaurants unless otherwise posted.<\/p>\n
The steakhouse hung up a \u201cNo Guns\u201d sign on its front door.<\/p>\n
Customers stayed away in droves.<\/p>\n
The \u201ccustomer backlash was so harsh and quick that the steakhouse immediately took down the sign and then posted a mea culpa<\/em> on its Facebook page,\u201d the Times reports. \u201cThe sign that was put up regarding firearms has been removed,\u201d TBonz said in its Facebook posting in May, falling all over itself to repair the self-inflicted injury. \u201cIt was our intention to get the attention of IRRESPONSIBLE gun owners. But then we realized that irresponsible gun owners do not pay attention to signs.\u201d<\/p>\n Carrying rights have now been restored in every state, the Times reports, with only three — Maine, North Dakota and Illinois — still banning guns in restaurants or bars that derive more than half their profits from alcohol. While each state\u2019s law is written differently, most give restaurant and bar owners the right to \u201cpost\u201d their establishment — to tack a sign on the door either prohibiting or allowing firearms. (Almost like they had private property rights -\u2013 imagine that.)<\/p>\n After the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, many national chains, including Starbucks, Sonic and Chipotle, claim to have banned weapons on their premises. (The ban is only for some of us, of course — watch to see if police officers disarm before entering, or if any employee asks them to.)<\/p>\n But \u201cMany smaller restaurants and bars are embracing guns,\u201d the Times reports, telling patrons to come in and eat armed for a variety of reasons, \u201cincluding not angering their own customer base, to attract Second Amendment rights activists and to not leave themselves vulnerable to crimes by blatantly stating everyone in the joint is unarmed.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cajun Experience in Leesburg, Virginia, has introduced Second Amendment Wednesdays, when patrons are encouraged to carry, whether open or concealed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s our constitutional right to bear arms,\u201d said Bryan Crosswhite, owner of the Cajun Experience. \u201cWe definitely see more traffic since we started this. It\u2019s been an overwhelming response.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to owning the gun-friendly eatery, Mr. Crosswhite has started a Web site that lists other pro-Second Amendment companies nationally, called www.2amendment.org. He started the venture last winter and already has 57,000 businesses signed on.<\/p>\n Gunburger.com is another registry where gun rights activists keep a log of both gun-friendly shops and anti-Second Amendment store in Arizona and Kansas. They meet monthly to update their list, converse, and eat and drink while bearing arms in a firearm-friendly establishment.<\/p>\n Sharma Floyd, owner of Shiloh Brew & Chew in Maryville, Tennessee, says business has boomed since she put a sign in the window welcoming firearm owners with permits. All Around Pizzas & Deli in Virginia Beach gives discounts to patrons who show up armed.<\/p>\n And at Chicken Express in Bossier City, Louisiana, patrons received a free combo meal if they showed up with a concealed carry license, one Saturday in April. Owner Randal Neel reports it was the busiest Saturday the store ever had.<\/p>\n Stephanie Evans, owner of Wings on the Run in Greenville, South Carolina, told the Times she was grateful she keeps a firearm at her place of business. Last January, about 10 minutes before closing, an armed masked man barged in the restaurant\u2019s door, demanding she open the cash register. A co-worker ran to the back, got out the store\u2019s firearm, shot twice, and had the bad guy on the run.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing was stolen. I\u2019m so glad we had that firearm,\u201d Mrs. Evans said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure what would\u2019ve transpired had we not.\u201d<\/p>\n On the other hand, The Pit Authentic Barbecue in Durham, N.C., decided to take a different approach when North Carolina made it legal to carry concealed guns in bars last year. Managers swiftly hung a \u201cNo Weapons, No Concealed Firearms\u201d sign in the window, the Times reports.<\/p>\n The barbecue restaurant was robbed at gunpoint in May. Two employees were injured. One ended up in the hospital.<\/p>\n The restaurant still doesn\u2019t permit concealed carry. Presumably they\u2019re waiting till someone is killed.<\/p>\n WE\u2019RE NOT DEFENSELESS ENOUGH<\/strong><\/p>\n You could not make some of this stuff up.<\/p>\n U.S. News and World Report, among others, reports Silicon Valley Congressman Mike Honda, the former schoolteacher and global warming zealot who thinks the minimum wage should be -\u2013 well, no one can actually figure out how much higher he thinks the minimum wage should be — wants to bar everyday Americans from owning body armor \u201cthe ballistic resistance of which meets or exceeds the ballistic performance of Type III armor,\u201d as determined by the National Institute of Justice.<\/p>\n Cops need an edge over criminals and rampaging madmen, who can \u201cwreck havoc with impunity\u201d while wearing military grade stuff, Honda told the magazine. <\/p>\n (Needless to say, agents of any federal or state or local government agency -\u2013 read \u201ccops,\u201d as well as USDA chicken inspectors -\u2013 would be exempt under Honda\u2019s proposal.)<\/p>\n \u201cWe don’t need to have individuals owning these things and going around with a higher degree of protection against law enforcement,\u201d Honda says.<\/p>\n Violators of the proposed new law \u2013- which includes \u201cillegal transfers,\u201d of course — would face up to 10 years in the federal pen. And the bill includes \u201cshields.\u201d Like a metal plate on your door?<\/p>\n Even current bullet-resistant backpacks for schoolchildren are rated Type III and would be banned.<\/p>\n Technically, the ban would not apply to body armor already in private hands, though Honda says law enforcement might want to encourage people to turn those in, anyhow. \u201cIf there are records of sales, (law enforcement) could track those down,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n You know what else gives criminals an unfair advantage, congressman? Locks. If we don\u2019t ban locks entirely, then at least every time a locksmith installs a new lock on a door or gate, he should make a duplicate key, label it, and hand it over to the police, don\u2019t you think? And what about more metal detectors? I think we should have portable metal detectors that police can set up at randomly selected street-corners, don\u2019t you? If people turn and walk the other way, shoot \u2019em. If you\u2019re not a criminal, what have you got to hide? <\/p>\n On the bright side, this piece of idiocy is going nowhere in the Republican-led House of Representatives. In fact, it appears Honda, who\u2019s losing ground to a less doctrinaire Democratic challenger, may just be casting around for some symbolic measure to shore up his support among old-line, far-Left statists.<\/p>\n In late August, the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce’s political action committee endorsed challenger Ro Khanna in his bid to unseat Honda, now 73. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE<\/strong><\/p>\n With the National Guard stationed in Ferguson, Missouri as the riots and protests there continued over the shooting death by police of yet another unarmed black teen-ager, Barack Obama held an August press conference in which he warned that citizens carrying guns undermine justice.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I understand the passions and the anger that arise over the death of Michael Brown, giving in to that anger by looting or carrying guns, and even attacking the police, only serves to raise tensions and stir chaos,\u201d Obama told a news conference. \u201cIt undermines, rather than advancing, justice.\u201d<\/p>\n As others have pointed out, that\u2019s a strange list. Imagine if Mr. Obama had said we shouldn\u2019t \u201crape, steal, or attend weekly worship services.\u201d Wouldn\u2019t the combination of those three activities in one list have people scratching their heads? <\/p>\n Looting and attacking police are crimes, as are rape and theft. But \u201ccarrying guns\u201d is not only NOT a crime -\u2013 any more than \u201cattending weekly religious services\u201d -\u2013 it\u2019s a right guaranteed by the Constitution, a document Obama voluntary swore to protect and uphold.<\/p>\n There are no Missouri state permit requirements for the purchase of a rifle, shotgun or handgun, points out Melissa Melston of The Daily Sheeple. Live feeds from Ferguson showed shop owners protecting their stores by standing guard with legal guns. How does that \u201cundermine justice\u201d?<\/p>\n Have you ever heard your local sheriff or police chief announce \u201cIn order to advance justice, I\u2019m going to take away the guns of most of the police officers currently patrolling our streets\u201d? No?<\/p>\n It\u2019s almost as though our local chiefs of law enforcement think it actually enhances <\/em> justice and law and order to have more<\/em> people out on the streets \u201ccarrying guns,\u201d doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n I never thought I\u2019d find myself saying I was disappointed in Barack Obama, given my low expectations for the zero-achievement senator.<\/p>\n But given a chance to congratulate black folk who find their unarmed children being shot by our overly militarized police in devastating numbers, for the simple and legal act of going armed to send a message that they\u2019re going to draw the line somewhere,<\/em> Obama predictably goes against the common folk, and sides with the overly militarized police state.<\/p>\n What a surprise.<\/p>\n Vin Suprynowicz is the author of<\/strong> Send in the Waco Killers, The Ballad of Carl Drega,<\/em> and the novel<\/strong> The Black Arrow.<\/em> His next novel,<\/strong> The Testament of James,<\/em> is due later this fall. In the \u201cGood News\u201d department, the Washington Times reported in September \u201cMore than 57,000 gun-friendly bars, eateries crop up across America.\u201d Back in April, the owners of TBonz Steakhouse in Augusta, Georgia, \u201cdecided to be proactive when Republican Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law one of the most comprehensive pro-gun bills in the country,\u201d the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,52,46,4,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2nd-amendment","category-crime","category-law-enforcement","category-private-property","category-self-defense"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pWqFl-wY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2044"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2047,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044\/revisions\/2047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nKhanna is “left-of-center on social issues, right-of-center on tech and business issues,” explains Jim Reed, the chamber’s vice president of public policy.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"