Louisiana restaurant becomes a hit after offering gun owners a discount
The restaurateur responsible for a Cajun eatery in Louisiana hoped law enforcement would take advantage of an unusual discount offered during lunchtime, but says his eatery has since become a hot destination for gun enthusiasts.
Bergeron’s Restaurant owner Kevin Cox says the plan was meant as a way of giving thanks to the local police. Little did he know, however, that the “Thank You for carrying your gun today. 10% Discount” sign displayed next to a menu of poboys at his Port Allen, LA establishment would attract other firearm owners as well.
Business is now booming at Bergeron’s Restaurant, and Cox says his pro-Second Amendment promotion is paying off.
"It makes us all feel better when state patrol, police and sheriff's department come in and have lunch here because you know when they're here we're safe," Cox told the Huffington Post. "And I realized that we have a lot of good people that carry a firearm in Louisiana -- my cousins and relatives included -- and I'm equally as safe when they're here, and I need to encourage that."
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Louisiana is an open carry state, which means lawful gun owners can legally go out in public with their pistols in tow. Select establishments across the United States have recently been banning customers from bringing guns into businesses, though, and Cox names one such restaurant — Mexican chain Chipotle — in explaining some of his reasoning.
"So now you have a choice: You're going to go to Bergeron's and cause trouble or you're going to go to Chipotle and cause trouble," he added to HuffPost. "I don't think they're going come here if they're going to find good people carrying their guns."
Cox says he has about 500 customers a day, and the notice brings him about 12-20 discount diners a day who carry in their guns.
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"As long as everybody has a gun we're all the same size. I keep hearing so much about people banning guns, Target's banning guns, and these people are banning guns. Don't they realize that's where people with guns are going to go? I want to take the opposite approach. How can I make my place safer?" Cox told a local NBC affiliate.
“If someone walked in here, had a gun and wanted to harm somebody, we are not defenseless,” Olivia Carambat, who carries her .38 Smith and Wesson, told NBC33. “There are so many people who are trying to take our guns way and the government makes stricter gun laws. They forget that we really do, we’re given the right in the Constitution to keep and bear arms.”
Bergeron’s is just one of the latest businesses tied to a growing trend of establishments that are being advertised as gun-friendly. Bryan Crosswhite, the owner of a restaurant in open carry state Virginia, has started a listing of gun-friendly business nationally that is now 57,000-names strong, according to the Washington Times.
