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OC lunch date and place

pro2A

Regular Member
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
76
Location
Greencastle, Pennsylvania, United States
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So, the details for the regional gathering have been decided.

WHEN: Saturday, September 13th, 11am.
WHERE Red, Hot & Blue (Blues and BBQ)
ADDRESS: 541 E Market St, Leesburg, VA 20176, (703) 669-4242
MAP: Google Map

More information on how to RSVP will be posted soon.
 

RedKnightt

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2007
Messages
336
Location
Herndon, Virginia, USA
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Just out of curiosity, is Red, Hot & Blue going to be okay with (hopefully) several dozen people open carrying weapons descending on them and devouring mass quantities of tasty treats? It would not be fun to arrive and have the management telling everyone they need to put their firearms in their cars.

Also, has anyone thought about contacting the Leesburg Police Department prior to the event? That way, when (not if) they get a call or twenty about a large group of armed people at the BBQ joint, our dessert is not served by the Loudoun County SWAT unit. I think a friendly communication might be a courteous gesture. Maybe they could tell their 911 dispatch to respond to the "herd with a gun" call: "Yes, sir/ma'am, we're already aware of the situation. Enjoy the brisket. "

Also, is this an event to which the media has been invited? I'm personally a camera tramp:celebrate, but there may be some people who are interested in attending a gathering of like-minded folks without appearing on the evening news.

--RedKnightt--

Zombie Squad has it right: “We hold fast to the belief that if you are prepared for a scenario where the walking corpses of your family and neighbors are trying to eat you alive, you will be prepared for almost anything.”
 

pro2A

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May 3, 2008
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76
Location
Greencastle, Pennsylvania, United States
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My thoughts are this… Would we call the police to tell them a bunch of us are going to be peacefully assembling, or speaking freely? What’s any different about guns? Red, Hot and Blue is a lot more likely to allow us to stay once we're there then to say we can’t OC in their restaurant on the phone prior. I’ll mention a large group of gun owner groups from across the region are meeting for lunch, but won’t say anything about OC unless they ask, which I doubt they will. We’ve had many events like this before, and besides the Dickson City thing we’ve never had an issue with either the establishment or the police.


Edit: I guess the point I'm trying to make is we don't need to ask permission to engage in our civil rights. That’s kind of the point of this event, a group of like mindedcitizens who are engaging in the peoples free and unalienable rights. We don't need to get permission from the government or to give notice to the government that we are exercising our constitutional rights.
 

TexasNative

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Joined
Apr 11, 2007
Messages
856
Location
Austin, TX
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I don't know about the Leesburg PD, but at the most recent Loudoun County OCDO dinner at Famous Dave's in Sterling, a couple of Deputies were aware we were going to meet there and showed up shortly after we sat down. We all exchanged pleasantries, smiles everywhere, they wished us a fine evening and they departed.

I wouldn't get too worried about any problems 'round these parts.
 

RedKnightt

Regular Member
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Nov 11, 2007
Messages
336
Location
Herndon, Virginia, USA
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pro2A wrote:
My thoughts are this… Would we call the police to tell them a bunch of us are going to be peacefully assembling, or speaking freely? What’s any different about guns? Red, Hot and Blue is a lot more likely to allow us to stay once we're there then to say we can’t OC in their restaurant on the phone prior. I’ll mention a large group of gun owner groups from across the region are meeting for lunch, but won’t say anything about OC unless they ask, which I doubt they will. We’ve had many events like this before, and besides the Dickson City thing we’ve never had an issue with either the establishment or the police.


Edit: I guess the point I'm trying to make is we don't need to ask permission to engage in our civil rights. That’s kind of the point of this event, a group of like mindedcitizens who are engaging in the peoples free and unalienable rights. We don't need to get permission from the government or to give notice to the government that we are exercising our constitutional rights.

<sigh> Could you please show me in my post where I said you had to ask the government for permission to exercise your rights? :banghead:

I merely suggested that giving the PD a friendly "heads up" might be a courteous gesture, so they aren't wasting time and resources responding to "man with a gun" calls, just like I might inform the fire department if I was to do a legal controlled burn of some kind. I don't think the LPD or LCSO is going to have a freakout; I've met several Loudoun Sheriffs and thought they were good guys, just like TexasNative points out. As for telling the police if you were going to peacefully assemble or practice free speech, theoretically, yes, it's the same issue. But I'll bet a box of donuts to my local precinct that LEOs respond different to a "man with a gun" call than they do a "man with a flyer" call. :D

As for the restaurant, I don't think there would be any problem, but I don't think it would hurt to check ahead of time. The owner could be okay with it, but what happens if you get some newly hired asst manager with a chip on his shoulder? Again, I simply see letting the business owner know in advance as a simple courtesy. We're not going to be the normal crowd of patrons, let's face it. We are going to be an Event.

We as the OC community are trying to put forth the image that we are not a group of gun-toting hooligans (I love that word :)), cause frankly, we're one of the most law-abiding groups in the country. I'm just suggesting we might want to put forward that we are also one of the most courteous and professional in our dealing with the public, LEOs, and business owners.

I'm not trying to be antagonistic, and I'm not trying to rain on this parade. I just think the attitude of "We'll just show up and see what happens" for a gathering of this size is too casual. A little preparation could go a long way to making this a great event, with many happy returns.

edited to add: Also, I asked about media coverage. Any info on that?

--RedKnightt--

Zombie Squad has it right: “We hold fast to the belief that if you are prepared for a scenario where the walking corpses of your family and neighbors are trying to eat you alive, you will be prepared for almost anything.”
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
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I am going to add my 2 cents to the firestorm that is going to be raging over this issue of "checking" with the restaurant to see if it is OK with them if a bunch of us come there for lunch if we "happen to be OC-ing" and "checking" with the local law enforcement to see if they are going to be OK with a bunch of folks getting together for lunch if we "happen to be OC-ing."

The question should be if a reservation has been made so that the anticipated number of attendees can be seated together, and that RH&B lays on enough staff and has enough food on hand at the required time so that we can get served without extreme delay or lack of desired meal entree.

RH&B, at least at my local level (Richmond VA) has had experience with patrons who are legally armed, and from conversations with local management it is my impression that all the Virginia locations are aware of the state law regarding no concealed carry in restaurants or clubs that serve alcohol for on-premise consumption. (For you folks not from Virginia, that means since CC is prohibited the only option we have is to OC.There is no law that says we cannot carry in those places - just one that says we cannot CC.

My guess is that the local law enforcement agency is aware of the law - if for no other reason than it has been the subject of much publicity. I do not see anything to be gained by contacting them ahead of time and essentiaslly asking them if they plan to violate the law and our civil rights. That will do nothing but antagonize them.

IF the local cops do violate the law and our civil rights, we stand to end the episode richer than when we set out for lunch. Yes, it might take some time for all things to be resolved, but whether it is accepting a settlement offer or going through a full civil rigfhts violation trial, the matter will be settled in our favor unless someone screws up and goes postal. I think we can count on that not happening, even if some of us need to sit on a more excitable one.

Seriously, I am getting very tired of hearing folks take a paranoid stance and insist that we "clear" everything through multiple channels and secure "permission" before we have one of these events.

And if RH&B does decline to let us eat there, we can go down the street to any of the various fast food places and sit there to eat, or take our food to a local park and eat there.

It aint the invasion of Fortress Europe, and it don't need no advance permission from anybody - especially the local law. Get the head count, get a reservation, and lets meet & eat.

I have my kevlar/nomex undies on if anybody wants to pour gas on the fire! :celebrate

stay safe, and see you at Red Hot & Blue.

skidmark
 

Harper1227

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2008
Messages
387
Location
Lorton, VA
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pro2A wrote:
So, the details for the regional gathering have been decided.

WHEN: Saturday, September 13th, 11am.
WHERE Red, Hot & Blue (Blues and BBQ)
ADDRESS: 541 E Market St, Leesburg, VA 20176, (703) 669-4242
MAP: Google Map

More information on how to RSVP will be posted soon.
DANG IT! Family day at work that day. Gonna be 8.5 mo pregnant so i don't know if i'll be up for doing both. :cry: we'll try.
 

TweeksTurbos

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Joined
Jul 3, 2008
Messages
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Cool, As it draws closer I'll see how my schedule works out. I posted this up on my Saab forum too, we have a few gunners that love an excuse to assemble too.
 

Grapeshot

Legendary Warrior
Joined
May 21, 2006
Messages
35,317
Location
Valhalla
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curtiswr wrote:
I RSVP'd but I never got any notification confirming that I did. Should I have?
You should have gotten a screen that said your RSVP was recorded - I did.

Yata hey
 
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