No More Open Carry at Golden Corral?

[ZackL]

Well, after very careful consideration, I feel that I am going to take the same route with Golden Corral that I have chosen to take with The Corner Store (my issues there are documented on this forum as well) and simply avoid them whenever possible. Whereas I will only use Corner Store/Diamond Shamrock/Valero if I have absolutely no other options, the Golden Corral will get my business with a bit less of that sinking, sickly feeling in my gut than the former. They will never be my option for food again, but if my friends and/or family choose, as a collective, to eat there, then I will not deny the time with my loved ones.

Thank you all for your support in this matter and more options/discussion would be very helpful as I'm always open to changing my approach to be more effective.

 

[since9]

I literally just got off the phone with Darrel (sp?), the VP of operations for the owner of the Golden Corral on Woodmen. Despite saying repeatedly that he supports open carry and that he feels safer when there's someone around that is carrying. He stood by what Rick has said and that if there is a customer complaint that you will be asked to disarm, coverup or leave.

I'd complain about the individual complaining against my lawful carry is bothering me and needs to be told to shut up or leave.

He reiterated that most of the people who work for the owner of Golden Corral are 2A supporters, but he still equated it to wearing an obscene shirt or being drunk/smelling bad...

When people complain about my lawful activities, I'm not the one coloring outside the line. They are. I find that obscene, and it smells bad.

...and that if someone else complains the person will again be asked to leave. However, if there are no complaints, there is no issue.

I think we need to go there, en masse, and at the first sign of a complaint, all of us counter-complain against the complainant.

I'm still processing the outcome of the conversation myself, and trying to figure out what to do next.

Also, he said that if an officer came in, off-duty, and was OCing, that he would not ask him to leave, disarm or coverup. He then followed that by saying that he wasn't unsympathetic, but he had to do what he felt was best to maintain the majority of his customers.

We live in a Republic, not a Democracy.

He also stated that he wasn't trying to be on one side of the fence or the other and that he simply had to do what was necessary to make a profit.

His principle error is with his applying logic in a very one-sided manner.

Customer 1: "His open display of a firearm is spoiling my dinner."

Customer 2: "His complaining about my law-abiding actions is spoiling my dinner."

EITHER complaint should be given equal consideration, but with greater understanding and acceptance going to the individual who is both abiding by the law and minding his own business. That would be customer #2. Customer #1 is not minding his own business, and is the one causing the problem, not customer #2.

Let me know what you all think.

I think you should log him in with a down-check at "Friend or Foe." Afterwards, send him a quick note containing some of my thoughts and the thoughts of others here, along with a reminder that when he successfully rethinks the issue and comes up with the right answer instead of the politically correct answer, you'll give him an up-check on Friend or Foe.

 

[M-Taliesin]

Well, after very careful consideration, I feel that I am going to take the same route with Golden Corral that I have chosen to take with The Corner Store (my issues there are documented on this forum as well) and simply avoid them whenever possible. Whereas I will only use Corner Store/Diamond Shamrock/Valero if I have absolutely no other options, the Golden Corral will get my business with a bit less of that sinking, sickly feeling in my gut than the former. They will never be my option for food again, but if my friends and/or family choose, as a collective, to eat there, then I will not deny the time with my loved ones.

Thank you all for your support in this matter and more options/discussion would be very helpful as I'm always open to changing my approach to be more effective.

Howdy Zack!
May I offer a couple of alternatives to your family dining experience that might help make this work better for ya?
Fargos! Ever been to Fargos? That's a terrific place to take on feed! Try it out one day and see for yourself. Very popular place, and truly unique in much the same way Golden Corral isn't.

And then again, I'll bet there is another Golden Corral in town. Why not shift the venue to the other GC? Or perhaps Country Kitchen Buffet?

I'd be thrice reluctant to support any business who thought they had any right to exercise 'authority' or 'control' over me. But you must do what is best for you, amigo! You alone take each step in your own way. And you remember the old Ute proverb...
Until you walk a mile in another man's moccasins....
You can't possibly imagine the smell!

Blessings,
M-Taliesin

 

[mahkagari]

Or perhaps Country Kitchen Buffet?

One word. &$#*loads of beef.

Anyhow, maybe if he starts getting MORE OCing patrons being polite well-paying good citizen patrons, without that bad apple spoiling it, he'll change his view.

 

[rushcreek2]

Suppose I request that the manager of the GC ask the complaining party whether it is

(a)the mere sight of my holstered firearm......or

(b) the fact that I choose to accept responsibility for my own safety when dining out in public.....


that seems to impede the peaceful enjoyment of his/her meal ???????


If (a) applies, I will offer to change my seating arrangement so as to position the weapon out of his/her view. If (b) applies then I would offer up that he/she is free to leave the GC, or finish eating as I intend to do. If the mgr insist that I leave, then I believe a full refund of the price of my meal is in order.

 

[jhco50]

I took my wife for dinner tonight. We went to the Golden Corral on Palmer Park and Powers. Of course I open carried as I always do and I had nothing said to me by anyone. In fact we were treated very well and we had an enjoyable meal.

 

[MKEgal]

He is in a bad situation whenever a customer complains about someone OCing.
While he may be pro 2A, he still has to make a decision based on how his company will profit, not on his personal beliefs.

There's a little cafe about 20mi SW of the Milwaukee area where the owners are adamantly pro-carry.
I've seen them & their staff occasionally explaining to another customer (there's often a dozen of us there for fish fry, & we take up most of the dining room) that carry is legal & they welcome us & we're some of their best customers.

One night a patron complained. The manager immediately offered to refund the patron's cost for dinner if they would like to leave.

We need more people like that.
(As an aside, I've been trying to figure out if your name translates to heliox? If not, then what?? Feel free to PM, as it's not at all carry-related.)

When I called Rick back he said I would be more than welcome back, OC and all, as long as nobody complained.
... he said that it would be the same as if someone came in with profanity on their shirt of if someone were being belligerent.

:banghead: :cuss:
No, someone with profanity on their shirt or being loud/abusive is stretching the 1st Amendment quite far,
and an equivalent for the 2nd would be putting a hand on the grip in what could be perceived as a threatening manner.

People often mistakenly use the "shout fire in a theater" analogy when objecting to carry,
but it's legal if the theater is on fire,
and the 2A equivalent would be having a gun in hand, waving it around.

 

[rushcreek2]

Routine OC at such establishments could well prevent repetition of events like the 1991 Kileen, Texas Luby's Cafeteria attack, and the gang-banger armed robbery of patrons of an Italian food establishment in New Braunfels, Texas during the mid-1990's - just to name a couple. Such incidents are not all that uncommon.

 

[since9]

Routine OC at such establishments could well prevent repetition of events like the 1991 Kileen, Texas Luby's Cafeteria attack, and the gang-banger armed robbery of patrons of an Italian food establishment in New Braunfels, Texas during the mid-1990's - just to name a couple. Such incidents are not all that uncommon.

I OC'd at my usual IHOP two days after the Reno IHOP shooting. The staff all but cheered me! They said they wished I were there every day, as they feel safer with me around.

 

[F350]

Whereas I will only use Corner Store/Diamond Shamrock/Valero if I have absolutely no other options, the Golden Corral will get my business with a bit less of that sinking, sickly feeling in my gut than the former.

I was just in a Diamond Shamrock the other day (a regular stop, they have cherry flavoring in the fountain) and OCed for the first time there, the manager who has seen me nearly daily looked at my holstered pistol and said "Para-Ordnance hu? That'll do some damage".

On a side note, being a recent transplant here myself so hate to speak against others, but I do seem to encounter a fair number of west coast libritard transplants here, many among my new neighbors (who all seem to have Obama bumper stickers). I went from my truck to the mailbox as an older lady from up the street walked her dogs by, her eyes nearly bugged out of her head when she saw my pistol, I said a big friendly "Beautiful afternoon isn't it" and she nearly walked off the curb.

 

[ZackL]

I know that most of the Valero stores and its subsidiaries are pretty good, I am basing my choice solely on their regional manager's decision to back his employee threatening to call the police if I carried there again instead of actually providing a policy or abiding by state law and posting signs.

 

[M-Taliesin]

On a side note, being a recent transplant here myself so hate to speak against others,

Howdy Amigo!
So you hate to speak against others, but gonna do it anyhow?

but I do seem to encounter a fair number of west coast libritard transplants here, many among my new neighbors (who all seem to have Obama bumper stickers).

And how have these 'libritard' folks infringed on your right to carry? Have they called the cops on you? Started up a petition to get you disarmed? What???

Branding all liberals with the same iron is just flat wrong, as is name calling and belittling others. I happen to be of a liberal philosophy, and I am an avid shooter and open carrier. I haven't had anybody trying to take away my RKBA rights. Blaming all liberals, progressives or democrats for anti-gun bias that some actually do hold would be just as wrong as blaming all conservatives for trying to transform our nation into a theocratic state run by ayatollahs! Claiming that all liberals are interested in infringing on 2a rights is no more legitimate than asserting that conservatives want to deprive every American of contraception.

This whole "divide and conquer" mentality of pitting conservative vs. liberal gun owners is a sure-fire way to undermine our cause, for we are few and our foes are many. And some of those foes are conservatives while others are liberals. Remember, it was a Republican that got shot and led to the Brady bill. That blade cuts both ways.

One of my best friends in the OC movement lives in Colorado Springs. He is a conservative. I am a liberal. We both enjoy one another, and are good friends. We may not agree with everything in politics, but are joined at the hip in our dedication to the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and Article 2, sections 3 and 13 of the Colorado Constitution. It doesn't matter that I'm a liberal and he's conservative. What matters is that we're on the same team in regard to OC rights. Then again, my friend is a military veteran who knows very well that it doesn't matter what political leanings an individual may have, so long as he can shoot straight when the chips are down and has you covered.

We are nowhere near a majority in American society. Unless we work together, every last one of us, to uphold and defend our rights, we are at the mercy of those who would usurp those rights by the simple expedient of letting us divide ourself into warring factions that can be picked off more easily, one by one, until none remain.

The old Communist notion of "divide and conquer" works, my friend, and is twice effective when we do it to ourselves. Saves them the trouble!

Blessings,
M-Taliesin

 

[kanekutter05]

Branding all liberals with the same iron is just flat wrong, as is name calling and belittling others. I happen to be of a liberal philosophy, and I am an avid shooter and open carrier. I haven't had anybody trying to take away my RKBA rights. Blaming all liberals, progressives or democrats for anti-gun bias that some actually do hold would be just as wrong as blaming all conservatives for trying to transform our nation into a theocratic state run by ayatollahs! Claiming that all liberals are interested in infringing on 2a rights is no more legitimate than asserting that conservatives want to deprive every American of contraception

You do have to admit though...you are in the EXTREMELY small minority of liberals who feel the way you do about the 2A. I understand where you're coming from (as I'm sure you get grouped into the "liberal" camp often when speaking with people of a more conservative slant)...but I understand where F350 is coming from as well.

 

[mahkagari]

You do have to admit though...you are in the EXTREMELY small minority of liberals who feel the way you do about the 2A.

I can't agree with that. You should check out TheLiberalGunClub.com. Most liberals I know are not so much anti-gun as uneducated. As soon as you educate them that the "sane laws" they want are already on the books, they change their tune. And that's just of those who had a seemingly anti 2A stance to begin with. Most of them are in the middle just like anything else. The only "extremely small minority view" that you'd find among liberals might be constitutional carry, but that's far from a majority opinion even among conservatives. If you don't agree, just take a look at CC/OC arguments. Many (not most) liberals may be in favor of some form of gun "control", but it is an extremely small minority of any group who want gun "bans".

Actually, M-T doesn't really reveal how he feels about 2A. So we can't say how many liberals would agree with him. You never can tell. I'm more liberal than I am conservative and I know many on the right who are more pro-gun control than many other liberals I know. Many of them former military or law enforcement. As conservative as they may be, they're very often very tight about how many hoops citizens should jump through to be armed.