Chicken Express, located at 2 Warnock Springs Rd in Magnolia, Arkansas, is offering a free meal to people who present a concealed handgun license on Independence Day. “On Saturday July 4th we will be giving a FREE #1 combo to anyone with a Conceal Handgun License.,” their Facebook page proclaims. “This will be DINE IN ONLY. You must have your License with you! We hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July!” This is not the first restaurant to reward legal gun owners . . .
There have been a number of other restaurants that welcome both the open and concealed carry of firearms and offer promotions based on the same (e.g. Shooter’s Grill in Colorado and Bergeron’s Restaurant in Louisiana). There are many advantages to such an offer.
First, they attract a prosperous, well-educated, and responsible clientèle. People who have concealed carry permits, CHLs or whatever the local idiom may be are better educated, more prosperous and are more responsible than the general population. They are precisely the type of customer that a business would want to attract and keep.
Secondly, they decrease the likelihood of an armed robbery. Only an especially stupid criminal would try to rob at a business with legally armed customers. It may still happen. Many criminals are stupid, many are functionally illiterate, and many are high on drugs or alcohol or a combination when they commit their crimes. But just as cop bars or gun stores are seldom the victims of robberies, open carry restaurants should enjoy a significant deterrent effect.
Some eateries in some states would never dream of offering concealed or open carry customers a discount. Some restaurants in some states are embracing the idea – and being rewarded with a big bump in trade. Winning?
©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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