There will no doubt always be people who are just anti-gun, and they will never change their minds. But I think there are a percentage of businesses that are just unsure of the exact facts of the situation, or have done it as a knee jerk reaction so as not to alienate customers.
What we, as responsible armed citizens, need to do is try to help these owners understand the real story. After that, they are adults and can choose to do whatever they want. And we can choose to spend our money were we like as well.
On one of my first days carrying a weapon, I came upon a business that had their 30.06 sign hung right out by the front door. I was sort of caught, but once I had a chance I wrote a letter to the business explaining what I thought was a mistake they were making. Here is the text of that letter:
I had a business lunch today at your Austin location just off I35. While the meal was good, I am sorry to say that I will not be returning to your restaurant. On my way in to the facility I saw your posted sign, what we call in Texas a "30-06" sign, prohibiting me from legally carrying my handgun in your establishment.
While you are certainly within your rights to post this sign, as I am within my rights to use the permit that the State of Texas has seen fit to issue me, I feel that you have possibly made an error in judgment by doing so. I certainly can not change your mind if you are dead set against this, but that being said, I would respectfully request you consider the following facts;
• The only people who will obey this policy are law abiding citizens such as myself. A person meaning to do you or your customers harm will ignore it, and will be comforted by knowing for sure that no person inside is armed. Knowing this in advance makes the criminal very happy. Criminals are typically not willing to attack a victim that they are not positive they can defeat, and will avoid places where resistance may be strong.
• Everyone who has a legal Texas Concealed Carry Permit has been through a state-mandated training of about 8-10 hours length. Only a very small part of this training has anything to do with using a firearm. It is in fact a discussion of the responsibilities one takes on by carrying, multiple methods of de-escalating a situation rather than use armed force, and the very steep penalties we open our selves up for if we do in fact have to protect someone's life. All these things are in the very strict curriculum that every licensed instructor must adhere to. Most of the 47 states that have some type of concealed carry permit have similar standards.
• There are nearly 403,000 carry permit holders in the state of Texas alone. These people are law-abiding, average citizens. The actual incidence of a civilian CCW holder making a “mistake” with their handgun is about 1%; sworn police officers have an incidence of over 7%. So, civilian CCW holders are actually less dangerous than police officers in terms of safety. But yet you would never think to deny a police officer the right to carry his weapon. (It should be pointed out that sworn officers use their weapons in very different circumstances than armed civilians, so I am not making a negative statement about law enforcement)
• Some individuals will try to point out that a large number of concealed weapon permit holders are arrested, but the actual incidence of violent crime convictions shows a very different picture. Arrests can include anything from traffic violations to capital murder. In 2007, the latest year for which records are available, there were 61,260 violent crime convictions in Texas. In a total population of about 24 million, that is 1 per 390 people. Convictions for violent crimes by concealed weapon permit holder, as recorded by the State of Texas Department of Public Safety, was 160. With a total 2007 population of about 289,000 permit holders, that is 1 per 1800. Concealed weapon permit holders are over 10 times less likely to commit violent crimes.
• Public sentiment is changing towards concealed carry. In an ongoing MSNBC poll titled “How safe do you feel knowing there are people around legally carrying concealed guns?”, as of today 82.2% say it makes them feel “very safe”, and only 14.8% say it makes them feel “in danger”.
Case law has been established that, when a company or organization removes the means for a person to protect themselves, they have taken on an obligation to provide that security themselves. By disarming your customers who may legally bring firearms in to your business if not for your policy, if something happens where these people could have protected themselves you may be held responsible
I welcome any comments or discussion that might arise from this message.
Best Regards,
I think this is the type of message each person who believes in their right to protect themselves and their loved ones needs to have ready. I never did get any reply back from this business, and since I have not been back by the restaurant I imagine there has been no change. But if each of us does this when we come across a business that denies access to armed civilians, perhaps they would begin to see the economic impact of their decisions.
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