What gives you the right to carry a gun with all these kids nearby ?

Thus is how the conversation started this afternoon in Quincy, Washington at a pizza parlor where there just happened to be a kids birthday party going on when I stopped to get a bite to eat.

The day started at 7:30am in Tacoma then a breakfast stop at a diner in Cle Elum (no issues) then on to Yakima to drop a friend off to pick up his new car at the dealership (no issues). I then headed up to Blewett Pass and on to Wenatchee to check out the camp ground and get some pics (no issues). I then headed to back to I-90 via Quincy and while there decided to stop for dinner.
I had driven the main strip already and found no other decent food joint available so I enter the door and groan because I see a bunch of elementary school kids running all over the place. I head up to the counter and place an order, get my soda and head off to a secluded spot away from the masses and arcade games.
I am seated no more than 2 minutes when a male parent figure comes over with another male figure in tow and asks "What gives you the right to carry a gun with all these kids nearby ?"
I reply that management does not have an issue as they served me. You also might want to read up on Article 1 Section 24 of the Washington State constitution, if you like I can pull it up on my phone.... He gets this WTF look on his face, clearly trying to form his next sentence.
I remove a Open Carry business card & FAQ sheet from my pocket and hand them to him. I said "look, I'm one of the good guys, I'm here to eat and leave.
The manager delivers my food and I ask him if there is an issue with me and my weapon eating in his place? He says "weapon?" I stand and turn and he looks me in the eye and says "no." I thank him, look at the other 2 guys and ask if we are done? The father figure says "but what about the kids?" and the manager says yeah about them... You need to tell them to stop running and screaming all over the place.. we carry hot trays of food and someone is going to get injured. Father figure gives up and walks away. Manager heads back behind the counter.

The drive back to Tacoma was uneventful.

lol, very nice. I'm not sure what these people think they are doing when they approach OC-ers and can't say crap back, except when they repeat the same thing over and over...normally you'd want to confront somebody with planned counter arguments.. Guess they expect you to bend over and GTFO.

That's BEAUTIFUL! I would have loved to have been there just to see the look on his face when he asked the manager "What about the kids?".:banana::banana::banana:

classic

That's awesome! :lol:

M1Gunr said:

<snip>

The manager delivers my food and I ask him if there is an issue with me and my weapon eating in his place? He says "weapon?" I stand and turn and he looks me in the eye and says "no." I thank him, look at the other 2 guys and ask if we are done? The father figure says "but what about the kids?" and the manager says yeah about them... You need to tell them to stop running and screaming all over the place.. we carry hot trays of food and someone is going to get injured. Father figure gives up and walks away. Manager heads back behind the counter.

The drive back to Tacoma was uneventful.

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1. if i was in the area i would shake that manager's hand.
2. looks like you need to organize a big 'Thank You' open carry event at that place and show support for his business.

Great Story!

Oh Bill you are ruining the efforts of them to program their kids that only bad guys carry guns. How dare you prove them wrong......

When I'm out I control my weapon and my kids. I would have asked the parents why they didn't have guns to protect their kids. Sounds like a great manager though.

P.S. Can you guess which is easier to control?

From the managers statement it's clear that the unruly kids are more dangerous than your gun.

Maybe we should start licensing them. Require background checks on the parents before they are allowed to bring them out in public.

amlevin said:

From the managers statement it's clear that the unruly kids are more dangerous than your gun.

Maybe we should start licensing them. Require background checks on the parents before they are allowed to bring them out in public.

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:lol: You must have read my essay :lol:

Harper1227 said:

2. looks like you need to organize a big 'Thank You' open carry event at that place and show support for his business.

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Just about any gathering of 5-6 people in Quincy is a BIG event.

People ought to have licenses and training to raise exotic wild animals... I mean children.

Thats is a good question, "What about the kids"?

What about what parents do to the kids by overprotecting them, and not getting them involved in their own country. Their kids become victims, because they are nieve, and the parents are to blame. Their kids are curious about guns, and if they see one, they will not know how to handle the situation, and that is why see news articles about a kid shooting another kid.

So definitily a good question, "What about the kids"? problem with the question is they are asking a complete stranger instead of asking theirselves...

yes!!

anybody and everybody, that has kids, should read "cornered cat".

a guy in vancouver argued with me about, gun proofing his house.
I pointed out that those efforts will not protect his kids, at their friends house!

trying to gun proof your house is an infective and incomplete action,
that wont protect your kids when they are out of your safety zone!

My argument shut him up, he looked very thoughtful,
he promised to read the web site!

I recommend it for everybody, kids or not

amzbrady said:

Thats is a good question, "What about the kids"?

What about what parents do to the kids by overprotecting them, and not getting them involved in their own country. Their kids become victims, because they are nieve, and the parents are to blame. Their kids are curious about guns, and if they see one, they will not know how to handle the situation, and that is why see news articles about a kid shooting another kid.

So definitily a good question, "What about the kids"? problem with the question is they are asking a complete stranger instead of asking theirselves...

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Here's a situation where an over protective parent was worried about a gun, worn by a stranger, than about some of the more prevalent sources of injury to children.

The CDC lists common causes of injuries to children. At the top of their list:
Dog Bites
Falls
Fires
Fireworks
Playground Injuries
Poisoning
Water Related injuries

Add to this:

Molestation by family member or friend
Physical Abuse by Family Member


Where are all the injuries by people who are legally carrying a firearm?

Seems like these people's time would be better spent supervising their children to see that they don't become victims of falls, burns, or even abduction from the restaurant. Of course being as it's a restaurant, poisoning is also a possibility.

Just think, while the self righteous parent was challenging someone over wearing a gun around the children, "Chester the Molester" could have been hauling one of the kids out the back door. A vigilant parent, just looking at the wrong risk.

1245A Defender said:

anybody and everybody, that has kids, should read "cornered cat".

a guy in vancouver argued with me about, gun proofing his house.
I pointed out that those efforts will not protect his kids, at their friends house!

trying to gun proof your house is an infective and incomplete action,
that wont protect your kids when they are out of your safety zone!

My argument shut him up, he looked very thoughtful,
he promised to read the web site!

I recommend it for everybody, kids or not

Click to expand...

Is it against the rules to post the link? http://www.corneredcat.com/TOC.aspx

Arizona copied Washington State's Constitutional RKBA word for word. (AzC Art 2 Sec 26) That's a moronic way to phrase a question; but given that so few understand what rights actually are it's not surprising.

"What gives you the right to carry a gun..." (?) Rights are not 'given'. Rights are recognized. Rights are pre-existing and can only be denied. "...with all these kids nearby?" 'Seems to me they were using the kids as an excuse for their own hoplophobic paranoia... or political agenda. The presence of an inaminate object (holstered/secured) should be no more cause for alarm than a parked car. "What gives you the right... ' is an over used strawman uttered from a point of ignorance.

M1Gunr said:

The father figure says "but what about the kids?" and the manager says yeah about them... You need to tell them to stop running and screaming all over the place.. we carry hot trays of food and someone is going to get injured. Father figure gives up and walks away. Manager heads back behind the counter.

Click to expand...

WIN!

By the way, since we were talking about muslims earlier, and I got a little shrill in their general defense, I'll share an anecdote. Y'all can get a taste of exactly how PC I can be!

I was eating in an Indian restaurant in San Francisco, and a Muslim couple came in with their kid (yes, I'm sure they were Muslim, they had on all their religious paraphernalia).

Nothing unusual there, but once they started eating their kid got bored and started running around the place.

I remarked to my friend about how in some cultures they seem to have a notion that everyone will share the responsibility of looking out for their kid, and that it is a very bad idea to make that assumption in America, especially in the city, especially in the Tenderloin in San Francisco.

I generally mind my own business, but the last straw was when the kid went up and starting laying his grubby hands all over their trays of naan dough.

The employees were all busy and didn't notice, but I just couldn't stand the fact that this kid was doing this in full view of his parents and they weren't saying a word.

So, I got up, went over to their table, and said, "I realize you're probably new, but in this country it's not a good idea to expect others to deal with your kids for you. You kid is totally out of control and it shouldn't be up to me or the employees here to restrain him".

Needless to say I probably shouldn't have worded it this way, as there are plenty of terrible parents indigenous to "this country".

MAN did that bearded Pakistani flip out on me! He started shouting, telling me what a racist, ignorant American I am, the works. I actually think the employees might have believed him if I wasn't a several-times-a-week customer on a first-name basis with many of them.

I just kind of laughed and told him to make his kid sit down. Which, I noticed, happened.

So, yeah, I really really hate kids running around in restaurants.

Seriously. If they can't be made to behave, don't take them out of their cage... er house. :lol:

I can't believe a grown man would say...What about the kids?....haha...what a limpdik :shocker:

Won't somebody PLEASE think of the children!?

Excellent encounter. I'd have shook the manager's hand.