jmelvin
Founder's Club Member
The wife and I were out and about doing some shoe shopping this afternoon and I open carried (OC) my holstered handgun with no problems at all in the local Super Shoes where I've OCed on occasion before with no problems of any sort. Once the wife decided on a pair of shoes and she paid for them and we discussed what to do next.
Bowling is what we both agreed on so we headed over to the AMF Bowling Lanes off of Candler's Mountain Rd nearby. I double checked my voice recorder and we headed inside. After a thorough checking of the signs on and around the doors we saw nothing to indicate that good folks shouldn't dare to protect themselves upon entering so we headed on in and made our way to the check-in counter. When the girl at the counter looked up from the task she was working she greeted us nicely and rang us up for 3 games a piece and a pair of bowling shoes a piece. While we waited in line I saw some of the staff walk through behind me but no one said a word. After signing the credit card slip as we prepared to walk away one of the guys on staff came up to me and asked if I was a cop. Of course I told him no and asked why? I was told that they serve alcohol and I couldn't have my gun in there. I said something to the effect of "so, that's perfectly legal", but he replied that I couldn't have it with me so I told him that we'd just leave once we got our refund.
The staff member walked away and said something to what appeared to be a manager and the wife and I turned to get our refund and leave. About that time I asked the wife to go get the staff member to tell him to come give us our refund since he didn't want our business, because I didn't want to wait for the long line that had built up by then. The staff member came back, relieved the girl who had just rang us up and instructed her to refund our money. She looked puzzled and I told her that we had been told that we weren't welcome. I further said that the wife and I both keep sidearms for our personal protection and we had been told they were not allowed so we would just take our business elsewhere. The young lady was very apologetic and seemed to be surprised that such a request would even be made of us. She refunded our money quickly and we thanked her and left.
Upon returning to the car I made sure I saved the recording of the conversation we'd just had inside and we headed over to the other bowling alley in town (Bowling Center) on Fort Avenue. The wife and I looked the place over before going in, saw no signs telling us to disarm and then went in and spent the next hour or so enjoying each others company while spending only 75% of the money that was expected at the AMF Lanes that were dark, crowded and very interested in hocking their beer. The wife even decided to OC her little raspberry Ruger LCP during the outing. When we wrapped up, as I was in the restroom one of the guys on a bowling team a couple lanes down asked the wife about her gun as he seemed quite surprised to see her carrying a real gun and she shared some info with him about the state's carry laws. Afterward we both left with no problem at all and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
From the bowling alley we both proceeded to OC at Kohl's, Dick's Sporting Goods and then at Olive Garden where we had no issues at all with our holstered handguns as is the norm.
Next week I plan to follow up with the AMF Lanes general manager or contact the corporate office in Richmond to find out if AMF Lanes really is an enemy to those moms, dads, and other Regular Joes that carry sidearms for the safety of themselves and their families. I'm hoping to find out that this incident is outside of the acceptable norms for AMF Lanes and that they welcome law abiding citizens who like to have fun and value their safety.
Bowling is what we both agreed on so we headed over to the AMF Bowling Lanes off of Candler's Mountain Rd nearby. I double checked my voice recorder and we headed inside. After a thorough checking of the signs on and around the doors we saw nothing to indicate that good folks shouldn't dare to protect themselves upon entering so we headed on in and made our way to the check-in counter. When the girl at the counter looked up from the task she was working she greeted us nicely and rang us up for 3 games a piece and a pair of bowling shoes a piece. While we waited in line I saw some of the staff walk through behind me but no one said a word. After signing the credit card slip as we prepared to walk away one of the guys on staff came up to me and asked if I was a cop. Of course I told him no and asked why? I was told that they serve alcohol and I couldn't have my gun in there. I said something to the effect of "so, that's perfectly legal", but he replied that I couldn't have it with me so I told him that we'd just leave once we got our refund.
The staff member walked away and said something to what appeared to be a manager and the wife and I turned to get our refund and leave. About that time I asked the wife to go get the staff member to tell him to come give us our refund since he didn't want our business, because I didn't want to wait for the long line that had built up by then. The staff member came back, relieved the girl who had just rang us up and instructed her to refund our money. She looked puzzled and I told her that we had been told that we weren't welcome. I further said that the wife and I both keep sidearms for our personal protection and we had been told they were not allowed so we would just take our business elsewhere. The young lady was very apologetic and seemed to be surprised that such a request would even be made of us. She refunded our money quickly and we thanked her and left.
Upon returning to the car I made sure I saved the recording of the conversation we'd just had inside and we headed over to the other bowling alley in town (Bowling Center) on Fort Avenue. The wife and I looked the place over before going in, saw no signs telling us to disarm and then went in and spent the next hour or so enjoying each others company while spending only 75% of the money that was expected at the AMF Lanes that were dark, crowded and very interested in hocking their beer. The wife even decided to OC her little raspberry Ruger LCP during the outing. When we wrapped up, as I was in the restroom one of the guys on a bowling team a couple lanes down asked the wife about her gun as he seemed quite surprised to see her carrying a real gun and she shared some info with him about the state's carry laws. Afterward we both left with no problem at all and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
From the bowling alley we both proceeded to OC at Kohl's, Dick's Sporting Goods and then at Olive Garden where we had no issues at all with our holstered handguns as is the norm.
Next week I plan to follow up with the AMF Lanes general manager or contact the corporate office in Richmond to find out if AMF Lanes really is an enemy to those moms, dads, and other Regular Joes that carry sidearms for the safety of themselves and their families. I'm hoping to find out that this incident is outside of the acceptable norms for AMF Lanes and that they welcome law abiding citizens who like to have fun and value their safety.
