(courtesy Twin Cities Gun Owners & Carry Forum via facebook.com)

Press release [via AmmoLand.com]:

This past Saturday over 50 Second Amendment supporters from the group Twin Cities Gun Owners & Carry Forum met for lunch at an independent and locally owned Plymouth eatery to show support and appreciation for Twin Cities area businesses that recognize the state’s right-to-carry law and allow “lawful carry” at their establishments. The group called ahead and scheduled their lunch meet up during off-peak hours at the eatery, and it’s estimated that the group spent at least $700 or more during their visit . . .

The group meets monthly and purposefully seeks to support businesses that allow “lawful carry.” If your business allows lawful carry, appreciates loyal, law abiding customers and would like to be the recipient of a “Lawful Carry Cash Bomb,” contact the group via email at info [at] Minnesota2A [dot] com.

As of January 1, the state of Minnesota had 161,535 carry permit holders and joined several other states across the country in breaking records for the number of permit holders added in 2013. MN Dept. of Public Safety records indicate that over half of the state’s carry permit holders are located in the Twin Cities metro counties.

Minnesota’s carry permit holders have received required training and have passed one or more background checks before being issued a carry permit by their local sheriff. The MN Dept. of Public Safety statistics show carry permit holders to be orders of magnitude more law abiding than the general population.

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68 COMMENTS

      • Probably. So what does that have to do with supporting 2A-friendly businesses? The guys in the article managed to find a friendly establishment in the Twin Cities, a place that’s no doubt more lefty than Austin.

      • I saw someone use the term “teatard” around here not too long ago. I liked it as a nice convenient way to label the assholes on both sides of the aisle who so dearly love painting others with brushes whose only purpose is to patently insult and offend. You can find teatards everywhere: Austin, Houston, Dallas…and even perhaps one or two on TTAG, I expect.

        • Hey! I resemble that remark.

          I think it would be a huge mistake to underestimate your enemy (I’ve heard that somewhere before) and to presume them to be retarded. If you are a Liberal/Progressive, I am your (political) enemy, and I am most definitely NOT a retard. Regardless of the number of useful idiots the Progressives manage to recruit, do not expect that an idiot is necessarily retarded. President Obama, case in point. Joe Biden, the exception that proves the rule.

      • I spent a few weeks in Austin a few years ago. I heard the same rumor. Compared to the city I live near, Portland Oregon, Austin is a Conservative oasis.

      • Probably, but in the 2.5 years I’ve been here I have really only encountered old-school “live and let live” liberalism. But then, I don’t live within ACL (or Travis Co. for that matter) and I don’t have a control-freak HOA.

    • Just spend your money at any company that supports gun owners. BW3 is one place I will not go. They do not support the 2A.

    • Join pafoa.org and propose the idea. Possibly under the community/events or state political sections…..if it hasn’t already been brought up.

  3. Minnesota’s carry permit holders have received required training and have passed one or more background checks before being issued a carry permit by their local sheriff. The MN Dept. of Public Safety statistics show carry permit holders to be orders of magnitude more law abiding than the general population.

    Ugh. The first sentence in this paragraph has no statistical correlation with the second sentence in this paragraph.

    Also, TTAG, why no block quote treatment for something which was obviously copy-pasta’d from a press release?

    • Because the whole thing is a press release, as cited at the top.

      “Press Release [Via AmmoLand.com]:”

    • I don’t think it was intending to imply correlation… merely a statement of two verifiable facts.

    • Yup. This is the first time I’ve heard “cash bomb.” In fact, Google turns up bopkess on that term.

        • I’ve heard ‘money bomb’ when somebody was referring to a large political campaign donation by many supporters on the same day.

    • The one in Flint, MI has a no-guns-allowed sticker on the window by the entrance, but since those signs have no force of law I ignore them. I’ve carried there twice now without incident. Especially since they had a parking lot family vs. family brawl there a few years back.

      You stay classy, Flint!

    • Perhaps. But the fat-rich food they sell certainly isn’t health-friendly. Unless we want to continue the image of OFWG carry.

    • I’m in North Texas, and the one closest to me has a sign posted that includes the required 30.06 verbiage, albeit in a too-small font that renders the thing legally ineffectual. Still, definitely not gun friendly.

    • Since Chuck E. Cheese’s customer demographic is very explicitly children it would seem unlikely that they would be open-minded on carrying guns in their restaurants. Just sayin’.

      • And, of course, they provide armed security in depth to keep all those precious children safe in the event some whackadoo decided to shoot up the place, right?

  6. in Detroit area, some restaurants give bigger discounts when a pro 2A crowd shows up since they are not worried about being robbed

  7. Well yeah, but how many reckless fights broke out and were settled by gun violence in the restaurant that day?!? Huh?! Tell me!

    Oh, what’s that? None you say? Zero incidents? I’ll be quiet now.

  8. I remember once reading about Harvey Milk doing this in San Francisco. He would get a large group of gay activists together and spend a bunch of money at local retail establishments. Afterwards, the retailer would get a sticker that shows their business was “gay friendly”. The retailer would affix the sticker to their storefront and their sales would increase. Eventually, businesses all over town were asking how they could get one of those stickers. This “sticker in the window” is still in practice today.

    Perhaps, a 2A sticker of some sort could be given to these retailers. Something subtle, but identifiable to those who know.

  9. I would like to see something like this in the Milwaukee/Waukesha area. I would definitely attend with the family.

  11. Even doing this in liberal areas could be good if the people are professional. Doing demonstrations only gives ammo to the gun control people to portray gun owners as “extremists” and so forth. But a group of people just sitting and eating is pretty hard to create a picture for negative publicity.

  12. Is the difference between this and what happened with Starbucks and pretty much the entire state of California just the “calling ahead” part?

    • “Lawful carry” does not necessarily imply “open carry.” The idea is great… to reward gun friendly businesses without spooking their regular customers. It quietly influences the local business and political landscape. Building the network of people in your debt, so to speak.

    • Whenever you want to have a protest, even a quiet one like this was, it helps to have the business owner on your side before hand. Part of the problem with the Starbucks mess is that corporate wasn’t necessarily part of the discussion.

    • 1. Not everyone was open carrying. It’s just an agreement for gun owners to support a pro-gun-rights establishment.

      2. Unlike undesired publicity from Starbucks, this group took the time to call ahead, to choose to not be disruptive to normal function, and to come during a non-peak hour to minimize disturbance to other patrons while still giving a significant chunk of cash to the establishment.

      • In Minnesota, it is a carry permit. Both open and concealed carry are allowed. We are not required to conceal as is the case in other states.

        • So in Minnesota, you are not allowed to carry *at all* without a permit?

          Or does Minnesota allow open carry by default (like lots of other states), but allow concealed with a permit?

          If the latter, I don’t know of ANY state that allows Open carry with no permit but *forbids* it with a permit. So I am not sure what you’d be saying in that case.

    • In Delaware, the open carry group gets together at a restaurant once a month. They get both our cash and the deterrence factor.

      Open carry does not need to be confrontational or obnoxious (as some folks have unfairly made it out to be). Those open carriers who actually are obnoxious do all of us a disservice. Those who open carry and are polite, respectful folks help the gun rights movement by reminding people that gun owners are normal folks.

      As I see it, Starbucks didn’t want to be the site of political demonstrations (either for or against open carry). I can’t blame ’em for that. I wish they’d simply said that political demonstrations were prohibited, and didn’t prohibit (or pseudo-prohibit) guns on their premises.

  13. This is a monthly get together held at a different locations. I’ve attended 4 or five over the last year. Usually a couple of hoplophobes see guns and panic. I don’t believe anyone called the police this time.
    The owner was very nice, and very pleased to have us.

  14. With Illinois businesses now confronted with whether or not to put up no-carry signs, this would seem an ideal time to do this.

  15. Well played PLEASE more like this. ***WARNING PLEASE PUT DOWN YOUR DRINKS BEFORE READING THE NEXT STATEMENT*** Maybe we can get some thing like this to go on in Joisy?!

    • Businesses in NJ don’t have to be pro/anti-gun, as the state has already made that decision for them.

    • Unless the cafe / restaurant is located AT THE RANGE, it’s a major legal no-no in Jersey. Gun stays at home or goes from home directly to the range.

  16. An interesting concept.

    How about a real ‘cash bomb’? We all know that if police thugs had intercepted anyone planning to donate a reasonable amount of money (in cash) they would have turned it over to their pig overlords, How about these things are kept on the downlow?

  18. I can’t help but wonder if they carried holstered handguns, or if they pulled a stunt like the ‘Starbucks Appreciation Days’ and walked in the place holding rifles and shotguns. Because that worked out so well for us.

    • Several of us were open carrying holstered handguns. When we plan our meet ups we make a point to tell those who wish to participate to carry as they normally would – concealed or open, whatever they usually do. Our meet ups are not “demonstrations,” they are purely an opportunity to socialize and connect, and some or all of us just happen to be legal permit holders who carry. We purposefully support only those businesses that are either “neutral” on carry or those that are openly “pro 2A.” We, as 2nd Amendment supporters and gun owners, have a responsibility to exercise the power of our wallets and let businesses know that their policies have rewards…. or consequences.

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