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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Restaurants React To Open Carry

The weekend of May 16-18, members of a group called Open Carry Texas strolled into multiple Chipotle Mexican Grill locations in the Lone Star state, carrying loaded weapons, including AR-15s, AK-47s and shotguns. By the following Monday morning, May 19, Chipotle officials felt the need to issue a formal statement, requesting its customers to please leave their guns at home. "Because the display of firearms in our restaurants has now created an environment that is potentially intimidating or uncomfortable for many of our customers, we think it is time to make this request," the statement read. Chipotle isn't the first national fast-food chain to make such a request of its customers--in the past several months Starbucks, Jack in the Box, Chili's and Sonic Drive-In also put in place gun-free policies. In Boise, some independent restaurants and pubs are, to varying degrees, feeling similarly thrust into taking a stand--or at least responding to--hot-button social and political issues/Harrison Bailey, Boise Weekly. More here.

Question: What would you do if someone with an AK-47 entered a restaurant where you were dining with a gun strapped to his or her back?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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