Monday, May 3, 2010

Guns in restaurants? Right.

Gun enthusiasts won’t be happy until swimsuits and strollers come with built-in holsters. Described below is a situation that should prompt them to stop and reconsider their drive to allow loaded pistols anywhere, including the interiors of restaurants and bars.

But first, having learned firsthand how personal a discussion like this can become, let me provide some pre-emptive qualifiers to tamp down the name-calling.

No, I’m not a communist.

No, I don’t have an issue with guns per se. I owned them as a youngster, and will soon inherit a .22 that my father-in-law purchased in the early 1960s to defend himself in the even of a Russian invasion (remember, pro-carry forces, he’s one of yours.)

No, I’m not homosexual, though that should have no bearing on this discussion.

Yes, I eat meat.

Yes, I support our troops.

Yes, I have witnessed violent crimes (two murders—one committed by a civilian with a gun who fired amidst a crowd). No, I didn’t wish I was armed in either instance.

No, I have no agenda other than protecting the restaurant industry from a bad name.

And now the clip, run in exactly the same form this morning by the Calhoun (Ga.) Times and the Rome (Ga.) News-Tribune:

An altercation over steak led to the arrest of an Adairsville man on Sunday afternoon at Ryan’s Steakhouse in Calhoun.

According to the Calhoun Police Department:

David Anthony Bogue, 47, of 1141 Hall Station Road in Adairsville, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct around 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

The officer was dispatched to the restaurant where the manager said two men were arguing over waiting for a steak and that one had a gun. The officer stated that he removed the gun from a holster on Bogue’s side. The officer took Bogue and the other man, Richard Norris, 35, of 314 Liberty Road, outside to speak with them.

According to the report, Norris was behind Bogue at the steak grill. Bogue ordered his steak medium well and Norris ordered his rare. When Norris received his steak first, Bogue began to complain and curse at Norris and the cook.

Norris allegedly told Bogue there was “no reason to be cussing and stuff around these people and kids.” When the suggestion to go outside came up, Norris allegedly asked Bogue if he really wanted to go outside over a piece of steak. That’s when Bogue produced his concealed weapon permit and pulled his shirt back to show the weapon.

Bogue allegedly then said, “Do you want to go outside? Real smart.” Norris told police he then became intimidated.

Another manager saw the weapon and told him if he would sit down, she would bring him his steak. He showed her his permit and his weapon.

Bogue told the officer that Norris cut in line and that he never showed his weapon. The officer made the decision to arrest Bogue, but because of the offender’s health issues, he was taken to the Calhoun Police Department, where he was released to his father on bond.

5 comments:

Jesse said...

The man threatened another man with a firearm, even though he did not remove the weapon from his holster. This is already illegal and legal action is being taken against him. As soon as he threatened someone, he became a criminal. Restricting law abiding citizens from carrying weapons takes away their fundamental right to self defense.

What's the difference between a law abiding citizen protecting themselves in a parking garage or dark alley with a firearm and protecting themselves when they're at the park or in a restaurant with their children? Where I am has nothing to do with how I act, and criminals will carry anywhere they please. To me, this means that having areas that are off limits to firearms only disarms the law abiding citizens, making the criminals safer.

I don't really see a problem with carrying in a restaurant. I do see a problem with consumption of alcohol while carrying a weapon. As long as you're ordering a coke instead of a beer, what makes being in a restaurant grounds for being an unarmed victim? Bad things can happen anywhere, and I do not take chances with my life or the lives of my loved ones.

There are people out there who would do harm to us law abiding citizens. They're called criminals, and they have no regard for the laws of our land. It's an unfortunate fact of life, but the risk of that harm ever coming to me is greatly reduced by carrying a firearm. It's like wearing a seat belt: If you're driving a truck, you're not legally obligated to wear one, but I always do because it makes me safer.

Best Regards,
Bob

Carrie said...

Your perception that you are safer if the place you are at does not "allow" guns is incorrect. It just means that the only people who are armed are the people who do not care about rules or laws. Six thousand, eight hundred and fify times a day victims are saved by gun owners. Infact, guns are used more than 80 times more often to protect life than take it. The reality is, you are safer and so am I, because of the courage of some gun owners.

Tony said...

I will never understand how people can be allowed to carry guns around in public like that. Here in Tasmania if you walked down the street with a gun you'd have cops pulling their weapons on you from every direction.

Jesse said...

Mr. McGurk,

Because we love our freedom.

-Bob

Tactical Joke said...

Thank goodness I don't live in Tasmania, then. I carry every day, and I've walked away from every altercation I've been involved in without pulling a pistol.

I find it interesting then when minorities are painted with a broad brush, we can all agree that it's wrong, but when gun carriers are painted with that same brush, it's somehow OK.

Many of us carry in public every day without issue, but newscasts and bloggers seem to want to focus on the idiots. Let's put it this way, I feel I'm in far more imminent danger from my fellow car-driving citizens than I am from my fellow gun-toting citizens.

YMMV.