Sharp as a Marble - First time for everything

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First time for everything

So Virginia laws require that if you enter an establishment that serves alcohol you must openly carry. So, for the first time I openly carried my firearm in public.

Nobody ran screaming that there was a man with a gun. I didn't shoot the waitress because she didn't fill up my water on time. I didn't have the urge to murder a throng of school children.

And God bless America, for dinner I had deep fried nuggets of steak drenched in BBQ sauce. I have pictures, but I don't have a USB cable to get them off the #%^* cable.

posted @ 8/22/2008 8:31:51 AM

Comments

Turk Turon says:

on 8/22/2008 8:51:41 AM

Welcome to the Old Dominion! Home of the biggest, most active open-carry community in the nation. And next year we're getting VCDL license plates!

Lysander says:

on 8/22/2008 9:14:50 AM

I mentioned the Restaurant-carry condition over at Uncle's in his thread about the VA/Tenn reciprocity problem; it's one of the stranger parts of our gun law. There was a bill that would have allowed CC, but the what's-his-as vetoed it, claiming he ws doing so for "safety" reasons. Meanwhile he signs into law the provision that all Commonwealth Attorneys (read: prosecutors) should be treated like police officers WRT the same law (meaning they have no requirement to get a CHP, Restaurant carry, and so forth.)

Jake says:

on 8/22/2008 11:44:54 AM

I've commented on this elsewhere. This law is exactly backward (if it's going to be regulated at all). With open carry in a bar, I'd be worried about some drunk deciding he wants to see my gun and trying to grab for it. If it's concealed, he won't even know it's there, and if he does there's a layer of protection to make it more difficult for someone else to grab.

Even more annoying is the fact that, technically, there are no "bars" in Virginia. There are only restaurants that have a license to serve alcohol. That means this law applies in almost every restaurant there is. Classy Italian restaurant? If they have a wine list, you can't carry concealed. The local Chinese buffet has an ABC license so they can offer beer and wine with the buffet. I live in Blacksburg, which is a classic college town. The only places here that don't have an ABC license are the fast food restaurants (a la McD's, Subway, Quizno's, and the like) and the coffee shops (Mill Mountain, Starbuck's, etc.). You have to choose between open carry or no carry almost any time you eat out.

DirtCrashr says:

on 8/22/2008 1:26:21 PM

You always forget something, dinner sounds sublime - borrow a cable from Sebastien!

GreatBlueWhale says:

on 8/22/2008 5:59:37 PM

Stupid defective gun. You really ought to see about getting it replaced.

chris says:

on 8/22/2008 7:07:35 PM

sounds like exactly what happens every time i open carry, nothing.

Gregory Morris says:

on 8/22/2008 10:11:10 PM

Who cares about the boring gun stuff, I wanna hear more about the deep fried steak nuggets...