# A Bunch of nervous Nellies who don't feel safe eating in a Sonic where they can't carry guns. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 28, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423 "2014-05-28T01:27:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/361 "2014-06-11T02:15:25Z")
Not wanting to derail another gun debate, here is my $.02 on Open Carry Texas with a different spin. I originally wrote this on FB the other day when Sonic and Chili’s made statements about their policies, which hit the news. But… > [@](#): > > I have to ask the San Antonio, Texas media a question: Over the past few weeks, a number of gun “activists” have been entering local Chili’s, Sonics, and other restaurants with semi-automatics and other assault weapons. > > The question: Why, then, did I have to find out this was happening on a national click-bait site like Business Insider? Why did you not bother to report this to your own viewers as it was happening? What, “two men with assault rifles enter local Chili’s” isn’t newsworthy? > > [Texas Gun Nuts Force Two More Restaurant Chains to Ban Firearms - Business Insider](http://www.businessinsider.com/r-sonic-chilis-ask-customers-to-keep-guns-out-of-restaurants-2014-01) > > “Chili’s and Sonic had also come under pressure from gun control groups to issue a no-firearm policy after video surfaced of Open Carry Texas members _descending on several San Antonio locations_ while carrying weapons.” > > Here is the link to KSAT’s article - not a SINGLE mention that these people were doing this in San Antonio! Hell, they didn’t even let us know this was happening in Texas - they just ran a story about two restaurants issuing a statement and somehow didn’t bother to let us know why this story deserved local attention. > > [http://www.ksat.com/lifestyle/money/Sonic-Chili-s-Leave-guns-at-home/26255182](http://www.ksat.com/lifestyle/money/Sonic-Chili-s-Leave-guns-at-home/26255182) > > WOAI, KENS5, and KABB didn’t even cover the story. [MySanantonio.com](http://MySanantonio.com) (local newspaper web site) mentions the fact that the incidents occurred in San Antonio - but didn’t bother to report the incidents as they occurred and, again, only mentioned them in relation to the statement. > > And people whine about a _liberal_ controlled media! The media coverup has been quite effective - there’s not a single person I have discussed this with here in SA that knew this occurred _in_ SA. All right, y’all may carry on with your previously scheduled conversation. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/362 "2014-06-11T02:42:51Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Please. If we can’t have a civil discussion then take it to the Pit. But you’ll be alone. I won’t be there in your pissing contest. Yeah, fuck the Pit. Only sissyboys and limp-dick assholes post in those threads. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/363 "2014-06-11T03:12:08Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Yeah, fuck the Pit. Only sissyboys and limp-dick assholes post in those threads. Don’t forget the other brave folks who stare you down and run their mouths from behind their computer screens. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/364 "2014-06-11T04:43:45Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > If we can’t have a civil discussion then take it to the Pit. Is this a whoosh, or did you just lose track of which forum this thread was in? (No harm either way, just curious.) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/365 "2014-06-11T04:45:37Z")
Yeah, I lost track of that. Thanks. ETA: Now I get Vinyl’s post. I’m having a slow moment. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/366 "2014-06-12T08:07:34Z")
And the truth comes out in the Las Vegas cop killings: the lone civilian killed in the Wal-Mart was armed with a legal handgun when he decided to [“confront the shooter”](http://huff.to/1knEFao%22) > [@](#): > > Joseph Robert Wilcox, 31-years old of Las Vegas, is a hero. Trouble is, he’s a dead hero. “Joseph died trying to protect others,” Sheriff Doug Gillespie said. > > Wilcox’s death is the latest evidence that gun-crazies, like the National Rifle Association’s leader Wayne La Pierre, are dead wrong in arguing that the only solution to gun crime is more guns. Or, as La Pierre once foolishly put it: “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” > > Would that were true of Wilcox, a good guy with a gun if ever there was one. He was shot down in a Las Vegas Walmart before he had a chance to use his weapon. Wilcox was shopping there last Sunday when a husband-and-wife pair of right-wing, swastika-bearing lunatics, Jerad and Amanda Miller, ran into the store after senselessly murdering two policemen eating at a pizza parlor across the street. > > Armed with a shotgun, four handguns and 200 rounds of ammunition, the married murderers busted in shouting about revolution. Jerad fired a single shot. Wilcox, who was standing behind Jerad, pulled out his legally registered pistol and told a friend he was going to confront the shooter. What he didn’t know was that Amanda had managed to get behind him. She shot him before he could fire his handgun and before police arrived and surrounded the couple, who then killed themselves. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/367 "2014-06-12T17:15:12Z")
A good guy with a gun isn’t much use against \*two \*bad guys with guns, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bruce\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/368 "2014-06-12T18:31:36Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I have to ask the San Antonio, Texas media a question: Over the past few weeks, a number of gun “activists” have been entering local Chili’s, Sonics, and other restaurants with semi-automatics and other assault weapons. Most guns are semi-automatic, I own a semi-automatic BB gun. The term “assault weapon” is a made up phrase much like “high powered rifle” or “high capacity magazine”. They are arbitrary terms that are used to invoke emotional responses among people who are generally ignorant of gun and their functions. If you would have said rifles instead of “semi-automatics an other assault weapons” you would have come off as a lot less soccer momish, just saying. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bruce\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/369 "2014-06-12T18:38:21Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > And the truth comes out in the Las Vegas cop killings: the lone civilian killed in the Wal-Mart was armed with a legal handgun when he decided to [“confront the shooter”](http://huff.to/1knEFao%22) One instance hardly proves any point. Armed police officers have been gunned down before, I still think its prudent that they are armed. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/370 "2014-06-12T19:11:05Z")
> [@Bruce\_Wayne](#): > > Most guns are semi-automatic, I own a semi-automatic BB gun. The term “assault weapon” is a made up phrase much like “high powered rifle” or “high capacity magazine”. They are arbitrary terms that are used to invoke emotional responses among people who are generally ignorant of gun and their functions. If you would have said rifles instead of “semi-automatics an other assault weapons” you would have come off as a lot less soccer momish, just saying. Bruce, I don’t care if these guns are technically “assault rifles”, “assault weapons”, “automatic weapons”, “semi-automatic weapons”, “high capacity widow makers”, or whatever. Proper nomenclature in an internet post has no bearing on the fact that people were walking into restaurants with guns of the types shown in the video _and the local media didn’t report it_. ---
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/371 "2014-06-12T19:46:15Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Bruce, I don’t care if these guns are technically “assault rifles”, “assault weapons”, “automatic weapons”, “semi-automatic weapons”, “high capacity widow makers”, or whatever. Proper nomenclature in an internet post has no bearing on the fact that people were walking into restaurants with guns of the types shown in the video _and the local media didn’t report it_. ?? _Breaking News!_ Some people did something that was **completely legal!** More at 11! Yeah, it \*was \*stupid. But that’s not newsworthy… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/372 "2014-06-12T19:49:19Z")
We’re talking _local_ news, an entity that reports high school fights and fender benders on local streets. Hard hitting stuff. If the “people bringing guns to the Chili’s down the street” isn’t news, why is “Chili’s doesn’t want you bringing guns to their restaurants” news? Isn’t it a free country? Can’t Chili’s decide what they allow in their restaurants? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/373 "2014-06-12T20:29:27Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > We’re talking _local_ news, an entity that reports high school fights and fender benders on local streets. Hard hitting stuff. Does this stuff even air in San Antonio? I don’t live there, so couldn’t tell you. I can tell you I’ve \*never \*heard any details about fender benders (that didn’t have a major impact on traffic) or high school fights (that didn’t involve a death, hospitalization or a hate crime) on local news. > [@](#): > > If the “people bringing guns to the Chili’s down the street” isn’t news, why is “Chili’s doesn’t want you bringing guns to their restaurants” news? Isn’t it a free country? Can’t Chili’s decide what they allow in their restaurants? :rolleyes: Of course they can decide what’s allowable in their restaurants. That’s why I said the gun-carrying thing was stupid. Kind of like raising a stink after getting kicked out for being barefoot. Again, stupid != newsworthy. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/374 "2014-06-12T20:38:04Z")
I live here and _can_ tell you. That was the point of my post - the local media did not bother to mention “guys are bringing serious firearms to local restaurants because they want to make a misguided point” but they **do** report “restaurant chain bans firearms” without even mentioning that the actions that lead the restaurants to take this step occurred _within their coverage area_. ---
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/375 "2014-06-12T20:45:16Z")
_shrug_ Can’t tell you their reasoning, then. If I had to guess, it would be that since open carrying is legal, the restaurant’s reaction is the first actual bit of “news.” I can sort-of understand it that way - a corporation’s policy change is “news,” however, people doing foolish, but non-illegal actions, is not. Or, possibly, they knew of the political motivations of those idiots, and didn’t want to encourage them. edit: I’m rather surprised that the #7 population city in the US wastes news-time on high-school fights and fender-benders. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/376 "2014-06-12T21:15:01Z")
It’s a small #7. Here are the local news highlights on [KSAT.com](http://KSAT.com): … Hazmat crew investigates suspicious package in downtown SA … Classic Harley stolen from grandmother … Missing man, 83, found safe … Alleged drunken driver crashes into nursing home … 2 injured in hit-and-run crash … Small fire forces evacuation at River Walk hotel … SAPD works to keep revelers safe after Spurs wins … ‘San Antonio: The Saga’ to debut at San Fernando … Info sought in woman’s hit-and-run death … Solar advocates, business leaders sound off on proposed fees I see two, maybe three items of note (Hazmat, hotel fire, and solar fees), and a bunch of reporting on auto accidents of various severity. Oh, and the story about the grandmother who lost her Harley. That’s more important than “misguided asshats taking assault rifles into local eateries”, apparently. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/377 "2014-06-12T21:54:21Z")
But there actually was, you know, a crime involved… (note: there’s no way in hell these guys actually had _assault rifles_. The semi-auto civilian models of them (which are just rifles,) sure.) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/378 "2014-06-13T03:39:03Z")
Yeah. And don’t call a call Corvette a “sports car;” it’s just an automobile. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bruce\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/379 "2014-06-13T06:36:11Z")
“Sports car” isn’t a phrase used to appeal to emotion. “Assault weapons” is. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423/380 "2014-06-13T11:32:56Z")
> [@Bruce\_Wayne](#): > > “Sports car” isn’t a phrase used to appeal to emotion. Huh? It most cetainly is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bunch-of-nervous-nellies-who-dont-feel-safe-eating-in-a-sonic-where-they-cant-carry-guns/689423.md?page=20)