In your face open carry activism... be careful about reading this....

[Bikenut]

The following is intended to hopefully get other open carriers to consider doing the same.

My wife and I started a bold new method of right there "in your face" open carry activism a couple of years ago.

You see... when we go out to lunch at fast food places we make it a point to leave 5$ with the cashier to help pay for the next person's lunch.

And the reason is simple.... it is very difficult to think badly of the smiling guy openly carrying a gun on his hip when he just paid for most, if not all, of your lunch.

Actually.... there have been some folks who ordered their lunch and had the remainder of the 5$ handed to them as "change".... so not only did they get a free lunch but they got paid to eat it.

We can't think of a more personal way of winning the hearts and minds of people for the right to bear arms..... one free lunch at a time.

So.... what say you? Got an extra 5$ to put to good use once in a while?

 

[croute]

I don't think buying people's opinion works. They may think you're a nice guy, but I doubt it will change their stance on guns.

 

[Jay]

If that guy is dumb enough to go around paying for other people's meals so they'll like him, is he smart enough to safely carry a gun?

How much will votes cost ? No disrespect, but if you have to pay for a favorable opinion, I wouldn't trust it very far.

 

[Bikenut]

Let's see.... the news shows people with guns as bad scary people.. then folks meet someone carrying a gun who is friendly and nice enough to pay for their lunch. Which one made a favorable impression about guns?

 

[Jay]

That's the way politicians work... give you a favorable impression, then do what they started out to do in the first place.

There's no right or wrong to it. If it works for you, then have at it. I'll pass. Respects, sir....

 

[wolf_fire]

Hey Bikenut, can I borrow $500 in fives please? :wink:

I like your idea, but I can't see it catching on.

I think another idea that has the same essence as what you are saying, is to (A) open carry all the time, and (B) make sure that you are a pleasant person all the time when you are out, and (C) put yourself in situations in which your actions show you to be a nice guy. Examples could be volunteering at a soup kitchen, helping out with Meals on Wheels, or other charity type work.

 

[Bikenut]

Hey Bikenut, can I borrow $500 in fives please? :wink:

I like your idea, but I can't see it catching on.

I think another idea that has the same essence as what you are saying, is to (A) open carry all the time, and (B) make sure that you are a pleasant person all the time when you are out, and (C) put yourself in situations in which your actions show you to be a nice guy. Examples could be volunteering at a soup kitchen, helping out with Meals on Wheels, or other charity type work.

My wife and I are on modest fixed incomes so maybe it is I who should ask for a loan?:biggrin:

I agree... open carrying all the time while being polite and personable are good ways to quietly put guns, and the carrying thereof, in a good light. But then... paying for a stranger's lunch IS charity work.. one on one personal charity actually.... and is a bold way of putting guns, and those who carry them in plain sight, in a good light.

The responses we receive from those who get the free lunches are always positive.... no one shies away just because I have a pistol in plain sight. And the staff/managers of the businesses where we do this on a regular basis are very happy to see us come in.

We know a $5 lunch isn't going to cause an anti gunner to suddenly be "converted" and we also aren't trying to get people to like us personally nor do we look at it as "buying people's opinions" but more like giving folks something totally different to think about concerning the people who carry guns and it is much more memorable because it happened to them personally.

And I really do wish it would catch on with more open carriers considering doing the "free lunch" thing simply because for some people that free lunch is their first personal interaction with an open carrier and is the basis for a "first impression" of people who actually do carry guns right out there "in your face".

 

[Firefighterchen]

I will join you. Kindness is always worth while, no matter how "dumb" some people think it is.

 

[TWright]

Don't try to teach a pig to dance. It's a waste of time and it annoys the pig.

 

[wolf_fire]

Don't try to teach a pig to dance. It's a waste of time and it annoys the pig.

Just so we are all clear, are you the pig in this situation?

 

[dcselby1]

I don't think buying people's opinion works. They may think you're a nice guy, but I doubt it will change their stance on guns.

You don't think that "buying people's opinion works?" Then I wonder why are are there more people in this country drawing a government check than there are employed?

 

[sctrini]

In Charlotte some of the radio stations, especially one Christian radio station, push the "drive thru difference" in which the person in front of you pays for your food or coffee or what ever you are getting. That kind of gesture just let other people know you care or that the world is not only made up of people who only care about themselves....it is a kind gesture. Nothing more.

If the OP gets one thing across, it is that people who carry guns are not the monsters or jerks that the left media makes us out to be. I don't think he was trying to buy opinions at all. He was simply trying to show the rest that those of us who carry and believe in the 2nd Amm. are human too and such a gesture is very welcome!

 

[Bikenut]

My wife and I stopped in at the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Clio for lunch today. We left $5 for the next person to come in and that happened to be an older gentleman... and later added another $5 for a young guy that came in. So we spent $10 today and two people got part of their lunch for free from a guy wearing a gun. Neither of them was put off by the gun they saw on my hip.. but they did like getting $5 off their lunches.

Grass roots activism one lunch at a time.................

 

[Bikenut]

Well... today is Sunday.. and my loving wife and I stopped at Taco Bell in Clio for lunch before going to Menards to look at what they had out for Christmas (yeah, Christmas comes early for those who are in business to make money from it). And, like usual, we left $5 at the cashier for the next person in line.

Well.. the next person in line was a family of 4 with 2 young sons.. one of which was so full of energy he couldn't sit still at all. At 65 years of age I wish I had half the energy that little boy had.... who was it that said "youth is wasted on the young"?

Anyway... when it came time for them to pay for their meal the cashier told them about the $5.. and they immediately refused it and wanted it to be passed on to whoever came in after them. They passed it on for the next person.

There are good people in this world... but they don't work in Washington DC... they live in the real world called... America. Land of the free and land of the honorable. In my not so humble opinion... it is past time we fired those who work in Washington DC and returned control of the land called America to everyday honest, honorable, compassionate, and freedom loving... Americans.

 

[carracer]

I have been doing this occasionally at the coffee stops altho not carrying. Will start doing so at other places OC now!

 

[tattedupboy]

Kinda makes me wonder if the same would work for concealed carry. Walk into an establishment that is posted, make a huge purchase and leave a huge tip, and let the waiter know on your way out that you're carrying concealed, and if they want you to ever spend that much money again in the future, they'll take down the sign.

Sent from my A200 using Tapatalk 4

 

[telpinaro]

What about something like this? (Old, so I'm sure some have probably seen it already, but I hadn't...)

And so you don't have to watch it, he recommends starting a group to do community service (clean up a park, adopt a highway, etc) while open carrying.

 

[Nightmare45]

I don't think buying people's opinion works. They may think you're a nice guy, but I doubt it will change their stance on guns.

I don't know worked for Obama.

If open carry is legal I carry, never had a problem in AZ or NM, except a group of Asian visitors wanted to pose with me in Sedona.

 

[Rocketgeezer]

The following is intended to hopefully get other open carriers to consider doing the same.

My wife and I started a bold new method of right there "in your face" open carry activism a couple of years ago.

You see... when we go out to lunch at fast food places we make it a point to leave 5$ with the cashier to help pay for the next person's lunch.

And the reason is simple.... it is very difficult to think badly of the smiling guy openly carrying a gun on his hip when he just paid for most, if not all, of your lunch.

Actually.... there have been some folks who ordered their lunch and had the remainder of the 5$ handed to them as "change".... so not only did they get a free lunch but they got paid to eat it.

We can't think of a more personal way of winning the hearts and minds of people for the right to bear arms..... one free lunch at a time.

So.... what say you? Got an extra 5$ to put to good use once in a while?

My wife and I did something like this once we were eating and the booth across the way had a older couple seated there, the old gent did not seem to bothered by my full size 1911 on my hip, but his wife looked scared the dude was trying to eat and she wanted to leave, we finish and went to pay as they were getting up, before leaving I gave the casher girl 20 bucks and said this is for that older couple breakfast, and then we beat it out of there...........dont know if it did any good but we felt better

 

[wingnut380]

I don't know if buying someones lunch is the right way to go either, but i do agree that we need all the favorable opinions about carrying that we can get. So if it works for you, Fantastic. Every little bit helps. But in our area a lot of the eateries, and even the big box stores don't want you in their store if you carry, especially open carrying. But i think you're on the right track by letting others see that not all gun toters are serial killers.