A Maryville, Tennessee restaurant, Shiloh Brew and Chew, has made the decision to openly welcome armed citizens. Owner Sharma Floyd made the decision after she read about a convenience store manager who was shot shortly after posting a “No Weapons Allowed” sign…and after Floyd lost business herself because some customers thought that she didn’t allow armed citizens inside . . .
“They had put up a sign that said ‘No Weapons Allowed’ and they were robbed at gunpoint two days later. The convenience store manager was shot,” said Floyd. “And that got me thinking. I lost a whole group of motorcyclists because they thought I didn’t allow weapons. But I believe it’s ok to carry as long as you have a permit.”
The restaurant’s name, Shiloh Brew and Chew, has confused some customers. Some think it’s a liquor store. But the owner says that the support she has received after putting up the “Guns Welcome” sign is overwhelming.
“Brew is for coffee, chew is for food. So in my mind, my concept all went together. But after I made a $3,000 sign and paid for it, I realized that was not a good marketing idea,” laughed Floyd. “But the ‘Guns are Welcome’ signs have helped boost business.”
She said while one man said he would not come back to her establishment, more than 20 new customers have come through her doors since she posted the signs on three doors.
This is why the Bloomberg media campaign to force national chains to ban guns is destined to fail. There are too many alternatives. Gun owners make up at least a third of the population. Competitive pressures and common sense will push business owners in the same direction as the Brew and Chew, or at least to neutrality. Even the national chains have been unwilling to actually ban guns. They just issue non-binding “requests” to placate Bloomberg’s “Moms'” media campaign.
The numbers mentioned by the restaurant owner, 20-1, reflect what we see in online polls. In the population of people who care about the issue, Second Amendment supporters outnumber those opposed to an armed population by ratios of anywhere from 3-10 to one. No doubt that varies considerably by location, with “intense” civilian disarmament supporters highly concentrated in a few urban areas. But as has been documented in Rise of the Anti-Media, groups, such as the Brady Campaign, and Moms Demand Action, have actual membership levels that are a tiny fraction of those of Second Amendment supporters. Which means refusing to ban guns is good business.
©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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