writing a letter does make a difference

One of the goals of this blog is to take on this website Gun Free Dining Tennessee. By "take on" I mean searching through each restaurant listed on the site (starting with those closest to me) seeing which ones have banned law abiding citizens from exercising their right to self defense (by posting signs banning guns) and contacting those restaurants expressing my concerns. I already see errors on the site. They list Ruby Tuesday here in Smyrna as being a "No guns allowed" restaurant yet this Ruby Tuesday has no signs posted at their entrance (something that is required by Tennessee law to legally ban guns from a place of business). My family and I have eaten at this Ruby Tuesdays many times and I have never seen a posted no guns sign. I wonder how many of the other restaurants they list as "No guns allowed" are really not posted?

Anywho....I recently noticed one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in Smyrna, Mi Tierra, had the "gunbuster" sign posted on the window right next to the entrance. I'm not sure if this was recently posted or I've just missed it all this time but I decided to write the owner a letter. It went something like this:

Dear Mr. Paramo,

My family and I have been big fans of your restaurant and eat there on almost a weekly basis. We enjoy "Taco Tuesday" night and love the fajitas, burrito loco, the freshly made guacamole, just about everything we've tried! We are members of the Mi Tierra Club and always tell everyone about your restaurant.

However last night on "Taco Tuesday" we discovered something I have not seen before.
As we were leaving I noticed on the outside of the window right next to the entrance door and above a no smoking sign there is a "gunbusters" sign. This sign is a picture of a gun inside a circle with a slash through it. This sign basically means "no guns allowed on the premises". Because of this sign it is illegal for me, a law abiding handgun permit holder, to have my legal concealed weapon on me while entering your restaurant.

Unfortunately until that sign is removed neither I nor my family will be eating at your restaurant again. By posting this sign you are advertising that your patrons do not have any type of protection. You are telling criminals that your customers cannot protect themselves and you are denying legal, law abiding customers the right of protection.
I understand that you are trying to create a safe place for your patrons to eat but by posting this sign you are doing just the opposite: you are only keeping the "good guys" with guns out of your restaurant. The criminals will still carry guns and do bad things because they are criminals.

I would encourage you to reconsider the posting that denies the honest law abiding people the right of self-defense. These citizens take classes that teach them the laws on carrying and handling a gun. They have been fingerprinted, had TBI/FBI background checks and statistically are the most law abiding citizens. These are the people you want in your restaurant. The criminal will ignore your posted sign and carry a gun anyway because that's what they do: break the law.

I do respect your right to post your property denying those of us legally carrying a firearm to come into your restaurant to eat and I will fight for the right for you to be able to make that decision. I do however believe in the right to be able to protect myself and my family in public, at home or anywhere else that crime may be that would endanger our safety and I am one of those who will not patronize a place that bans legal firearms carriers. There are many other restaurants in Smyrna that do not post these signs and welcome my business as a law abiding gun carrier.

Also as long as the "no guns" sign is posted at your restaurant forbidding law abiding gun owners to protect themselves, your restaurant will be listed on several internet websites, blogs and gun owner's forums as a place that does not welcome handgun permit holders.

Thank you for this consideration and I look forward to hearing back from you.

I had included my cell phone number with the letter.
Within a week I received this text from the owner:

Hi Mr. xxxx,
My name is Arturo Zavala one of the owners, I appreciate the time tell us your concern and I decide to remove the no gun sign from the window, you and your family are more than welcome to come back to Mi Tierra at any time.
If you have any question please call at the store (615) 547-2396 or my cell at (615) 967-xxxx
Thanks again.

This has encouraged me to write more letters to places I see that are posted. As I write those letters I will continue to blog the results, whether good or bad.