OCing at Bill Batemans Bad Experience
Hello All,
I have been reading the open carry posts everyday at work for awhile but just signed up as a member. I got my ltcf months ago but found out a day before I got it about this wonderful thing called open carry. I had never heard about it or knew what it was. I read everything I could about it to understand it. The more I read the more I wanted to do it. So I find myself finding more and more finding excuses to open carry. I now open carry almost everyday when I get home from work. Going to the store, going out for food, ect. Last night I went out for a drink with my brother. We went to Bill Batemans in Shrewsbury. I was open carrying my Beretta px4storm. Nothing was said except a few weird looks which in the past few months I have gotten used to. Toward the end of our evening one of the guys who was working approached me from behind the bar which I was sitting at and this is the conversation that ensued.
Him: If your going to keep drinking here I need you to take that out to your car.
Me: I didnt see any signs on the door saying no guns
Him: Its the owners policy
Me: I would like a corporate number
Him: This is a franchise and the owner doesnt allow guns here.
Me. I can conceal it if that will help.
Him: Your going to have to take it outside.
Now I had a decision to make. 1. Run the gun out to my brothers car and just finish my beer or 2. Make a scene and get the cops called. I went with option one. I took the gun outside and put it in the car and went back in to finish my beer. While I was finishing my beer the guy beside me started talking to me and said that I should cover up inside a bar. i asked why? its my right to open carry. He responded with they are liberal here and dont like guns. I talked to this guy for awhile. He was very nice and is a gunowner too. After all this my brother and I left. I wasnt very happy with batemans. Sorry for the long thread but its my first one and I had two encounters in one night in the same place. Is there anything I could have done differently with the guy behind the bar? Thanks for reading. This was written to the best of my recollection.
Re: OCing at Bill Batemans Bad Experience
Quote:
Originally Posted by
RainingLead
Hello All,
I have been reading the open carry posts everyday at work for awhile but just signed up as a member. I got my ltcf months ago but found out a day before I got it about this wonderful thing called open carry. I had never heard about it or knew what it was. I read everything I could about it to understand it. The more I read the more I wanted to do it. So I find myself finding more and more finding excuses to open carry. I now open carry almost everyday when I get home from work. Going to the store, going out for food, ect. Last night I went out for a drink with my brother. We went to Bill Batemans in Shrewsbury. I was open carrying my Beretta px4storm. Nothing was said except a few weird looks which in the past few months I have gotten used to. Toward the end of our evening one of the guys who was working approached me from behind the bar which I was sitting at and this is the conversation that ensued.
Him: If your going to keep drinking here I need you to take that out to your car.
Me: I didnt see any signs on the door saying no guns
Him: Its the owners policy
Me: I would like a corporate number
Him: This is a franchise and the owner doesnt allow guns here.
Me. I can conceal it if that will help.
Him: Your going to have to take it outside.
Now I had a decision to make. 1. Run the gun out to my brothers car and just finish my beer or 2. Make a scene and get the cops called. I went with option one. I took the gun outside and put it in the car and went back in to finish my beer. While I was finishing my beer the guy beside me started talking to me and said that I should cover up inside a bar. i asked why? its my right to open carry. He responded with they are liberal here and dont like guns. I talked to this guy for awhile. He was very nice and is a gunowner too. After all this my brother and I left. I wasnt very happy with batemans. Sorry for the long thread but its my first one and I had two encounters in one night in the same place. Is there anything I could have done differently with the guy behind the bar? Thanks for reading. This was written to the best of my recollection.
Step 1. Confirm with the owner that they have a no gun policy. It could very well have been a lone jerk behind the bar.
Step 2. If you confirm a no gun policy with the owner make sure you let them know that you will no longer spend your money there and will share their policy with every gun owner you can find.
Re: OCing at Bill Batemans Bad Experience
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rblakely
Step 1. Confirm with the owner that they have a no gun policy. It could very well have been a lone jerk behind the bar.
Step 2. If you confirm a no gun policy with the owner make sure you let them know that you will no longer spend your money there and will share their policy with every gun owner you can find.
I did say to the second guy that I talked to who was sitting beside me that I would be posting this here.
Re: OCing at Bill Batemans Bad Experience
Although I haven't been to a bar in over a year, I won't OC while drinking in a bar. Or "drinking" in a restaurant. If I am having a beer with a meal, I have no problem with that.
It's not about the drinking. I'll carry and drink quite a bit, although that is extremely rare and I will CC. It's about other people. If I have alcohol on my breath or seem the slightest bit impaired then any person can tell any lie they want about me and the cops will haul my ass off to jail and charge me. Nobody believes a drunk, and nobody trusts a drunk with a gun.
Also, bars have drunks. I'm not hanging around a bunch of drunks with beer muscles that consider my firearm a challenge to their masculinity.
Re: OCing at Bill Batemans Bad Experience
Bill Bateman's is Baltimore-based. Good luck working your way up the chain of command, I expect your experience will only get worse as you go.
Re: OCing at Bill Batemans Bad Experience
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ungawa
Although I haven't been to a bar in over a year, I won't OC while drinking in a bar. Or "drinking" in a restaurant. If I am having a beer with a meal, I have no problem with that.
It's not about the drinking. I'll carry and drink quite a bit, although that is extremely rare and I will CC. It's about other people. If I have alcohol on my breath or seem the slightest bit impaired then any person can tell any lie they want about me and the cops will haul my ass off to jail and charge me. Nobody believes a drunk, and nobody trusts a drunk with a gun.
Also, bars have drunks. I'm not hanging around a bunch of drunks with beer muscles that consider my firearm a challenge to their masculinity.
This, in spades. I never open carry in bars. Too many drunk assholes that want to show the guy with the gun just who is boss.
Re: OCing at Bill Batemans Bad Experience
I also would have just paid and left. No way am I taking a gun out to my car and leaving it unattended. Screw the beer. Get another somewhere else.
Re: OCing at Bill Batemans Bad Experience
Franchise or not, there IS a boss above the location's owner. That can revoke franchise license for violating franchise agreement.
Re: OCing at Bill Batemans Bad Experience
Quote:
Originally Posted by
RainingLead
Is there anything I could have done differently with the guy behind the bar?
Unless the manager/owner of the establishment is on the premises, or you have that person's ph. # in your cell phone, there is nothing else to do but to comply or leave.
Re: OCing at Bill Batemans Bad Experience
A couple of things and you may flame me if you wish. I think open carrying while drinking in a bar is irresponsible. As others have said, people develop beer muscles in bars. You're much more likely to find yourself in a confrontation there then you are in a Walmart or a park.
Secondly, private property rights still trump your rights on where you can carry. Making a scene is wholly inappropriate. It's your right to tell them you will no longer patronize their establishment and you will advise fellow firearms enthusiasts of their policy. It's your right to contact the owner and corporate headquarters.
If you make a sufficient scene and the police are called, you likely will find yourself charged with disorderly conduct at a minimum. Not for the carrying but for the disturbance. If the owner/manager asked you to leave and you refuse you will likely be arrested for defiant trespass which is a misdemeanor. You will make nothing but a negative impression for those on the fence by creating a ruckus.