Walked into the Midwest City Arbys across from Heritage Park Mall yesterday with my wife and son. We ordered, sat down and began eating. Here comes the manager,
Manager-"excuse me are you a cop or police officer of some kind?"
-"no sir im not"
Manager-"umm, ok, im not sure im real comfortable with you being in here with a gun, could huh,, would you mind leaving it in the car?"
-"No sir I will not disarm myself. I will be happy to leave the property after you refund me my money, I am legally licensed to carry a firearm in the state of Oklahoma."
Manager-"Oh ok, can i see your license?"
-"absolutly"-- I show him.
Manager-"ok this says concealed handgun permit, do you have a permit to open carry?"
-"Sir in oklahoma a concealed handgun permit allows you to legally open carry"
Manager-"Ok, well just try to keep it away from the other patrons" and he walked away.
We finished eating, and despite me telling myself to just leave, i walked up to the counter and asked to speak to the manager. He comes out carrying a 3 ring binder that I could immediately tell was was store/management policies.
-"Sir I eat here regularly and have done so before while carrying with no problems, its important that you understand as a manager you can ask me to leave, but unless the store owner or Arbys deem the store a gun free zone that Im within my legal rights to be here, and if you choose to not allow me to be here while legally carrying, me and my family will eat elsewhere"
-Manager-"Yea thats what im doin now is actually looking over the stores policy on guns,, you know, its just one of them things,, that just becuz you can, doesnt mean you should"
My wifes jaw dropped to the floor.
"Sir unfortunately for you, your opinion doesnt override my right to carry a firearm and protect my family if evil should present itself."
He immediately started arguing that it wasnt his opinion, and its just not professional, and hes not allowed to carry a gun as a manager, and said some other things that didnt make much sense about the matter. I quickly saw this turning into an argument and I wanted no part of it. Thats when I said "ok sir have a good day" and just walked away. I was disappointed. I felt like I left a bad taste in someones mouth about firearms. I want to educate people on the matter, I want people to understand the importance of us taking advantage of our rights. Cant win them all I guess.
Manager-"excuse me are you a cop or police officer of some kind?"
-"no sir im not"
Manager-"umm, ok, im not sure im real comfortable with you being in here with a gun, could huh,, would you mind leaving it in the car?"
-"No sir I will not disarm myself. I will be happy to leave the property after you refund me my money, I am legally licensed to carry a firearm in the state of Oklahoma."
Manager-"Oh ok, can i see your license?"
-"absolutly"-- I show him.
Manager-"ok this says concealed handgun permit, do you have a permit to open carry?"
-"Sir in oklahoma a concealed handgun permit allows you to legally open carry"
Manager-"Ok, well just try to keep it away from the other patrons" and he walked away.
We finished eating, and despite me telling myself to just leave, i walked up to the counter and asked to speak to the manager. He comes out carrying a 3 ring binder that I could immediately tell was was store/management policies.
-"Sir I eat here regularly and have done so before while carrying with no problems, its important that you understand as a manager you can ask me to leave, but unless the store owner or Arbys deem the store a gun free zone that Im within my legal rights to be here, and if you choose to not allow me to be here while legally carrying, me and my family will eat elsewhere"
-Manager-"Yea thats what im doin now is actually looking over the stores policy on guns,, you know, its just one of them things,, that just becuz you can, doesnt mean you should"
My wifes jaw dropped to the floor.
"Sir unfortunately for you, your opinion doesnt override my right to carry a firearm and protect my family if evil should present itself."
He immediately started arguing that it wasnt his opinion, and its just not professional, and hes not allowed to carry a gun as a manager, and said some other things that didnt make much sense about the matter. I quickly saw this turning into an argument and I wanted no part of it. Thats when I said "ok sir have a good day" and just walked away. I was disappointed. I felt like I left a bad taste in someones mouth about firearms. I want to educate people on the matter, I want people to understand the importance of us taking advantage of our rights. Cant win them all I guess.