It was a long week at work, so I decided after coming home and changing out of my work clothes that I was going to take my family to dinner. My daughter had been especially good today, I was informed, so we chose to let her pick where we would eat. As usual, she chose Red Robin. I figured I could go for a burger, so off we went. I was, per usual when not at work, Open Carrying 
We arrived after minimal traffic and were seated at a high traffic table away from the walls. I placed myself with my back to the main line of traffic, which coincidentally placed my firearm in direct view of everybody in the kitchen. Anyway, our server came up and was friendly as ever, got some drinks and I started playing some games on the kids menu with my daughter. The store manager came up and asked how we were doing, and told me how cute my 7 month old was. Awww, thanks!
After our drinks came and the waitress took our food order back to the kitchen, another "suit" (really just collared shirt but you get it) came out and introduced himself as Andy, the Regional Manager for Red Robin. I'm thinking, "Wow, they must be doing some training, everybody is SO nice!" Boy, was I wrong. I was asked by the gentlemen if I was Law Enforcement. I smiled and looked at him and said simply, "Well, no, why would you think that?" He smiled and told me, "Well, I just wanted to let you know that Red Robin has a No Guns Policy. I know you are just here trying to enjoy the night with your family, but I wanted you to know. "
I was shocked. I have been to this exact Red Robin over 10 times Open carry, during busy and not busy times of the day. People including employees have noticed and it was never an issue. I was immediately extremely uncomfortable being confronted in this manner in the middle of the restaurant. I politely said, "Oh really? I've been here many times without issue. Is this a new policy? If I had known I would have never planned on coming here in the past or tonight." He responded, "Yes, it is company policy. It isn't posted right now but signs were being printed and notices posted for employees informing them of the policy change already."
Me (extremely perked up at hearing this is official company policy for a national chain): "Oh really, this is official company policy? Wow, that is news to me. Well, we can leave if you're saying I can't be on your property..."
Andy: "No, I just want you to know for future visits"
"Oh, there won't be future visits if this is the case..."
Andy: "I can understand that, I'm all for your right to bear arms and all that, but it's a new policy."
"Ok...." At this point I actually kinda froze. My initial first reaction was to get on immediately, tell them they can dump the beer that I had literally taken a single sip of, and cancel my order and walk out. But.. I was there with my family and my daughter was so extremely excited to have ordered her favorite Mac and cheese. So against my better judgment I decided to stay, since we weren't being asked to leave. Our waitress came over immediately and was concerned that she had done something wrong. I assured her everything was fine with her service and it was regarding another matter.
As the minutes went on, I really started to get upset. It felt like I had just been violated in front my family in the middle of a restaurant. My wife could tell I was extremely upset and reiterated multiple times we could leave. She even suggested we ask him to box up my daughter's mac and cheese and take it home so she could still get that and we could still make our statement. I brought it up to my daughter, and she looked so crestfallen. I couldn't punish her for this guy's confrontation with me if I could help it. So I pushed onward.
Our food was obviously expedited, (or I lost track of time in my many thoughts of what I should go back and say to this guy before I left). Our food came quite quickly and that made the decision to stay a bit easier. I found myself not hungry at all, though. I decided to politely motion for the regional manager again on his next pass by the table (many such "casual walks" were done by people in non-standard red robin attire, leading me to believe some sort of training or introduction of new management was occurring tonight.). I let him know that to be honest I wasn't really comfortable in the restaurant anymore after being informed they do not support the second amendment, and that if my daughter hadn't been so good today and being brought here as a fun reward for the family and her, I would have absolutely gotten up and left as I did not feel comfortable doing business there.
To his credit, the guy was really gracious. He said he appreciates my point and even apologized for his timing on talking to me about it if he wasn't planning on asking me to leave. He also comped the entire meal. I asked him if he could leave me a business card and a copy of the official company policy that was going to be posted. He told me no problem and disappeared to the back.
After finishing the meal, the waitress let me know there wasn't actually even a bill at all and we were all set to leave. After tipping her generously and letting her know again that we were completely happy with her service (she really was great.), I told her we were just waiting on a business card and some company memos from the Regional manager. He came back a few minutes later with his business card stapled to... 2 printed out images of "No Firearms signs" that I can only assume were printed out from Google images moments earlier.
Can you believe it? No company memo or letter explaining a policy change as he had stated... Just two pictures of some no firearms signs printed from the internet! He explained to me that these were just a photo of the signs that he was going to have posted at all the restaurants in the region following an incident at one of his other locations.
I handed him back an open carry card/pamphlet link I had actually turned back around when we left the house to get.. just in case. Can you believe the serendipity there? He took it and looked genuinely interested. I seized the moment and things got interesting at this point.
"I appreciate you giving me these copies. Just so you know, signs carry no weight of law in Nevada so unless you are going to trespass people they can legally still carry past a sign. Furthermore, Nevada State Preemption actually specifically states nobody except the state legislature and federal level laws can restrict where and when I can carry my firearm in Nevada. Did you know that Nevada is one of the most gun friendly states in the country?"
"NO, I actually did not know that.."
"Yup! Also, this second sign looks like something that was printed from the internet regarding Arizona state laws. That sign doesn't really do anything in Nevada nor California. It looks like probably an Arizona revised statute. Just so you know. There are Nevada Revised statutes, but they only restrict Concealed weapons in public buildings. Nevada state preemption IS a revised statute that applies to you and everybody else in the state, and that is NRS 244.364... (I did not mention the other two as I didn't remember them.) On this business card there's a URL that gives a lot of really good info about Open carrying in Nevada. There's a large community of activists I'm a part of here, so if you have any questions please email me." I handed him my business card with my contact info on it as well, and he said he would be in contact. He seemed to MAYBE have a little bit of doubt as to his decision, so I pushed it a little more. "Thanks again for the dinner, please know I'd rather come back many more times and pay for dinner with my family while armed, then get a free meal this one time. I really hope you'll reconsider the policy on a locale-specific level, as many things that are taboo in places like California, where you're from, are completely normal and OK here."
Him: "I really appreciate it and am still learning some of the state specific things, so I'm always willing to learn anything new on subjects I'm not familiar with."
Wow. I was really amazed at the end. I truly, truly hope he does reconsider, but did want to make sure that per my direct conversation with him, this is still a policy in effect as of tonight. I missed some of the bits of conversation about criminals not really paying attention to signs and I'm sure I didn't quote exactly perfectly, but most of it is extremely close to what transpired. If you want to be active, please do! I'm emailing him and a whole slew of C-level executives tonight hoping to let him know I'm serious. While he didn't reverse his decision, he did seem amicable to discussion and receptive to talking about the laws and specific markets differing in policies. Anyway, I wanted to share while it was still fresh in my mind. This is my first negative experience while OCing, and I hope I was able to represent the community decently while hopefully educating somebody that seems to be flexing some newly acquired power as a regional manager.
Sent from my Surface with Windows 8 Pro using Tapatalk
We arrived after minimal traffic and were seated at a high traffic table away from the walls. I placed myself with my back to the main line of traffic, which coincidentally placed my firearm in direct view of everybody in the kitchen. Anyway, our server came up and was friendly as ever, got some drinks and I started playing some games on the kids menu with my daughter. The store manager came up and asked how we were doing, and told me how cute my 7 month old was. Awww, thanks!
After our drinks came and the waitress took our food order back to the kitchen, another "suit" (really just collared shirt but you get it) came out and introduced himself as Andy, the Regional Manager for Red Robin. I'm thinking, "Wow, they must be doing some training, everybody is SO nice!" Boy, was I wrong. I was asked by the gentlemen if I was Law Enforcement. I smiled and looked at him and said simply, "Well, no, why would you think that?" He smiled and told me, "Well, I just wanted to let you know that Red Robin has a No Guns Policy. I know you are just here trying to enjoy the night with your family, but I wanted you to know. "
I was shocked. I have been to this exact Red Robin over 10 times Open carry, during busy and not busy times of the day. People including employees have noticed and it was never an issue. I was immediately extremely uncomfortable being confronted in this manner in the middle of the restaurant. I politely said, "Oh really? I've been here many times without issue. Is this a new policy? If I had known I would have never planned on coming here in the past or tonight." He responded, "Yes, it is company policy. It isn't posted right now but signs were being printed and notices posted for employees informing them of the policy change already."
Me (extremely perked up at hearing this is official company policy for a national chain): "Oh really, this is official company policy? Wow, that is news to me. Well, we can leave if you're saying I can't be on your property..."
Andy: "No, I just want you to know for future visits"
"Oh, there won't be future visits if this is the case..."
Andy: "I can understand that, I'm all for your right to bear arms and all that, but it's a new policy."
"Ok...." At this point I actually kinda froze. My initial first reaction was to get on immediately, tell them they can dump the beer that I had literally taken a single sip of, and cancel my order and walk out. But.. I was there with my family and my daughter was so extremely excited to have ordered her favorite Mac and cheese. So against my better judgment I decided to stay, since we weren't being asked to leave. Our waitress came over immediately and was concerned that she had done something wrong. I assured her everything was fine with her service and it was regarding another matter.
As the minutes went on, I really started to get upset. It felt like I had just been violated in front my family in the middle of a restaurant. My wife could tell I was extremely upset and reiterated multiple times we could leave. She even suggested we ask him to box up my daughter's mac and cheese and take it home so she could still get that and we could still make our statement. I brought it up to my daughter, and she looked so crestfallen. I couldn't punish her for this guy's confrontation with me if I could help it. So I pushed onward.
Our food was obviously expedited, (or I lost track of time in my many thoughts of what I should go back and say to this guy before I left). Our food came quite quickly and that made the decision to stay a bit easier. I found myself not hungry at all, though. I decided to politely motion for the regional manager again on his next pass by the table (many such "casual walks" were done by people in non-standard red robin attire, leading me to believe some sort of training or introduction of new management was occurring tonight.). I let him know that to be honest I wasn't really comfortable in the restaurant anymore after being informed they do not support the second amendment, and that if my daughter hadn't been so good today and being brought here as a fun reward for the family and her, I would have absolutely gotten up and left as I did not feel comfortable doing business there.
To his credit, the guy was really gracious. He said he appreciates my point and even apologized for his timing on talking to me about it if he wasn't planning on asking me to leave. He also comped the entire meal. I asked him if he could leave me a business card and a copy of the official company policy that was going to be posted. He told me no problem and disappeared to the back.
After finishing the meal, the waitress let me know there wasn't actually even a bill at all and we were all set to leave. After tipping her generously and letting her know again that we were completely happy with her service (she really was great.), I told her we were just waiting on a business card and some company memos from the Regional manager. He came back a few minutes later with his business card stapled to... 2 printed out images of "No Firearms signs" that I can only assume were printed out from Google images moments earlier.
Can you believe it? No company memo or letter explaining a policy change as he had stated... Just two pictures of some no firearms signs printed from the internet! He explained to me that these were just a photo of the signs that he was going to have posted at all the restaurants in the region following an incident at one of his other locations.
I handed him back an open carry card/pamphlet link I had actually turned back around when we left the house to get.. just in case. Can you believe the serendipity there? He took it and looked genuinely interested. I seized the moment and things got interesting at this point.
"I appreciate you giving me these copies. Just so you know, signs carry no weight of law in Nevada so unless you are going to trespass people they can legally still carry past a sign. Furthermore, Nevada State Preemption actually specifically states nobody except the state legislature and federal level laws can restrict where and when I can carry my firearm in Nevada. Did you know that Nevada is one of the most gun friendly states in the country?"
"NO, I actually did not know that.."
"Yup! Also, this second sign looks like something that was printed from the internet regarding Arizona state laws. That sign doesn't really do anything in Nevada nor California. It looks like probably an Arizona revised statute. Just so you know. There are Nevada Revised statutes, but they only restrict Concealed weapons in public buildings. Nevada state preemption IS a revised statute that applies to you and everybody else in the state, and that is NRS 244.364... (I did not mention the other two as I didn't remember them.) On this business card there's a URL that gives a lot of really good info about Open carrying in Nevada. There's a large community of activists I'm a part of here, so if you have any questions please email me." I handed him my business card with my contact info on it as well, and he said he would be in contact. He seemed to MAYBE have a little bit of doubt as to his decision, so I pushed it a little more. "Thanks again for the dinner, please know I'd rather come back many more times and pay for dinner with my family while armed, then get a free meal this one time. I really hope you'll reconsider the policy on a locale-specific level, as many things that are taboo in places like California, where you're from, are completely normal and OK here."
Him: "I really appreciate it and am still learning some of the state specific things, so I'm always willing to learn anything new on subjects I'm not familiar with."
Wow. I was really amazed at the end. I truly, truly hope he does reconsider, but did want to make sure that per my direct conversation with him, this is still a policy in effect as of tonight. I missed some of the bits of conversation about criminals not really paying attention to signs and I'm sure I didn't quote exactly perfectly, but most of it is extremely close to what transpired. If you want to be active, please do! I'm emailing him and a whole slew of C-level executives tonight hoping to let him know I'm serious. While he didn't reverse his decision, he did seem amicable to discussion and receptive to talking about the laws and specific markets differing in policies. Anyway, I wanted to share while it was still fresh in my mind. This is my first negative experience while OCing, and I hope I was able to represent the community decently while hopefully educating somebody that seems to be flexing some newly acquired power as a regional manager.
Sent from my Surface with Windows 8 Pro using Tapatalk
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