Guns & Gumbo: Leesburg Restaurant Encourages Customers To Open Carry
Posted: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 10:37 am
by Ethan Rothstein
Walk
into the Cajun Experience on Loudoun Street in downtown Leesburg on a
Wednesday night, you are sure to be greeted with a smile and the smell
of authentic food from the Mississippi Delta.
Glance down around the customers’ waists, and you will likely see a firearm.
This
is Open Carry Wednesday, the day at the New Orleans-style eatery when
patrons are encouraged to bring their licensed firearms, and they’ll get
a 10 percent discount on their meals.
This
was the brainchild of owner Bryan Crosswhite, who started the special
four weeks ago. Crosswhite is a native of Lafayette, LA, and said he has
worked internationally as an economist, including in the Middle East.
“I’ve
seen what the restricting of freedom is all about,” Crosswhite said.
“It’s our legal right to carry. I want it to be [my customers’] right to
carry in our restaurant.”
Crosswhite
encourages his customers to carry licensed firearms every day, but the
discount is only offered on Wednesdays. Many of those who come in are
law enforcement and former military, he said, but others come in to
enjoy the atmosphere among like-minded individuals.
One
of those is Stan Gontarek, a defense consultant, here on a recent
Wednesday carrying a SIG Sauer on his right hip. He was happily dining
on a fried dish, and when he was asked what he thought about the Cajun
Experience’s new policy, he gave a simple answer.
“Great,” he said. “It’s building a community of people with a common interest in firearms.”
Gun
control politics have been nearing an all-time high since December’s
Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Newtown, CT, with President Barack
Obama making a push for increased regulations and gun-rights advocates
pushing back.
Even
locally, the gun control debate has some on opposite ends. Purcellville
Mayor Bob Lazaro joined Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bipartisan
advocacy group, on New Year’s Eve, while the Board of Supervisors has
threatened to sever its ties with the Metropolitan Washington Council of
Governments after COG voted to advocate stricter gun control laws.
Crosswhite
already has seen some backlash from his customers. One couple told him,
after seeing a sign posted in the restaurant about Open Carry
Wednesdays, they would not be eating at his establishment again.
Crosswhite paid for their meal.
“This
couple got on my case,” he said. “Are they going to criticize me for my
rights?” After being asked why he decided to give the couple their meal
for free, he said, “I don’t need their money.”
He
said his business has picked up since he took over managing the
restaurant in December, before which, under control of his ex-wife, he
said patronage had flagged. Wednesdays have gotten significantly more
crowded since the advent of the special, and Crosswhite said customers
sometimes thank him.
“They
said it’s good that a business owner would take a stand,” Crosswhite
said. “Why not do something special for those who want to support the
second amendment?”
In
the state of Virginia, gun owners are allowed to openly carry a weapon
without a permit, and consume alcohol. Servers are usually careful with
those carrying firearms when serving alcohol, Leesburg Police Chief
Joseph Price said.
“The individual with a firearm can consume alcohol,” Price said, “but when you get intoxicated, that becomes a problem.”
Crosswhite
and Gontarek, in separate interviews, said the Cajun Experience “is the
safest place in Leesburg on a Wednesday night.” Price said he doesn’t
believe that to be true.
“Based
upon the statistics and the crime we see, that’s no safer place than
any other part of our community,” he said, noting violent crime is a
rare occurrence in Leesburg. “A lot depends upon who the people are with
guns. There’s nothing wrong with responsible people carrying a gun
within the limits of the law. When you have people in violation of the
law, that might be a problem.”
Crosswhite
has no trouble taking a stand on an issue, and he has no problem with a
little publicity. Last Friday, Crosswhite tweeted from the Cajun
Experience’s Twitter account at news outlets like The New York Times,
Wall Street Journal, CNN, Time Magazine and the Huffington Post about
Open Carry Wednesdays.
Crosswhite
believes his position is likely to win his restaurant more customers
than it will lose. Other restaurants have similar attitudes as the Cajun
Experience’s—the Virginia Citizen’s Defense League, a powerful
gun-rights lobby, holds meetings to advise its members of which
businesses are gun-friendly, Gontarek said—but few make stands quite
like Crosswhite’s.
For
now, the Cajun food-eating public seems to have largely embraced it.
Crosswhite has a sign hanging near the bar where patrons often have
their pictures taken. It reads “Guns are welcome on the premises. Please
keep all firearms holstered unless the need arises. In such case,
judicious marksmanship is greatly appreciated by all!”
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