Buffalo Wild Wings Gun Ban: What Do You Think?
Commenters express outrage on the restaurant’s Facebook page after some of the company-owned restaurants post signs prohibiting guns on the premises.
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Updated at 5 a.m.
Buffalo Wild Wings has recently attracted controversy regarding its policy that bans guns on its property.
The move has sparked outrage on the company’s official Facebook page.
"It's your right to disarm your customers as is our right to go eat elsewhere from now on to prevent becoming a victim,” said one poster. “I changed banks for the same reason.”
Another poster wrote, "I no longer feel safe in your establishment as law-abiding citizens are not allowed to defend themselves there. Perhaps you should rename your restaurants 'Defenseless Sheep Shooting Gallery' so all the criminals with guns know where to go next."
Buffalo Wild Wing has issued a statement regarding the issue, according to KDKA -- a CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh:
Buffalo Wild Wings respects the right of individuals to carry firearms. However, because we are focused on the comfort, safety and enjoyment of all of our guests, we have elected to exercise our right to restrict the carrying of firearms within our restaurants. We regret any inconvenience this may cause but believe that this policy is in the best interest of all of our guests and our Team Members.
Additionally, Buffalo Wild Wings says this is not a new policy for the business but it just recently garnered attention.
Beginning in 2009, our company-owned restaurants, along with some franchised locations, began asking guests not to bring guns into Buffalo Wild Wings. That business practice has never been a comment on social or political issues. Our position isn’t new, and it hasn’t changed in years. We’re wings, beer and sports. Our focus is always to provide a great experience for all our guests on game day – and every day.
The franchise in Mentor is among those affected by this corporate policy.
Other national companies have altered its stance on firearms -- or, at least, specific types of firearms -- in recent months.
Dick’s Sporting Goods, one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the world, suspended sales of certain kinds of semi-automatic rifles from its stores nationwide in December.
That move followed a decision made by Walmart to pull the Bushmaster gun from its website.
Both Dick's and Walmart's decisions were made in the wake of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.
We want to know what you think. Would a ban on guns inside the premises prevent you from eating at the restaurant chain? Do you approve of Buffalo Wild Wings' stance? Tell us in the comment section below.
Melanie Majikas
12:41 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Glad to see it. Alcohol and guns do not mix.
Chris M
9:43 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Alcohol and Cars don't mix either. will they ban anyone from using a car to go there?
Tim Walters
1:04 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Well all gun owners know it is a Felony to have a drop of alcohol and have a gun in your possession even if you did something right. Also not everyone that goes’s there drinks. I will not go back.
Tim Walters
1:28 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Also, I be-leave it is the right of the owner of the store to decide what they permit on and in there business. That is his/her right to say.
Jeff Andel
12:30 pm on Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Your wrong in my state you can be .04 while carrying.
Ken Overly
1:41 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Google Suzanna Hupp or Nikki Goeser. They have personal testimonials about being in establishments such as BW3s.
Ron
2:31 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Never been, for sure will never go NOW! MY RIGHT UNDER THE CONSTITUTION!
Stig
10:01 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Thanks. I FEEL SAFER!
2 Cents
2:36 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
I believe it is the right of the owner of the establishment..... The same as it is my right to eat wherever I want. It's unfortunate that this is even an issue. America is being split by a government / media partnership and we're all walking right into the trap like a bunch of brainless sheep. Wake up people. Live and let live. Freedom is a double edge sword but it is far better than the alternative.
Adam B
2:38 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Wasn't it against the rules to bring a gun into a bar anyway? Does this really change anything?
Ken Overly
3:38 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
No, it is legal for a concealed handgun permit holder to possess a gun in a bar provided they do not consume alcohol. It became legal as of June 2012 when Gov. Kasich signed SB17 into law.
Stig
4:24 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Another politician kowtowing to the NRA lobby. Kasich is a one term hack.
Nick Dunham
5:47 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
No, it is not illegal. In fact, contrary to popular belief, it is not even illegal to drink while in possession of a firearm. It is illegal to be drunk in possession of a firearm. However no clear BAC limit is defined unlike drunk driving, so ultimately it is at the discretion of the officer.
Ken Overly
9:51 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
@Nick Dunham - Your comment is not accurate. An establishment legally serving alcohol in the state of Ohio is required to obtain a class D liquor permit. It is a 5th degree felony to possess a firearm in an such an establishment (3rd degree if intentionally concealing it). Exceptions do exist for law enforcement officers, and for concealed carry permit holders provided they do not consume or are not already under the influence. My facts come from the Ohio Revised Code. Please check it for yourself. http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2923.121
Ken Overly
9:58 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
I previously stated the law changed June 2012 and was incorrect. The law actually changed June 2011.
Nick Dunham
12:54 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013
I don't live in Ohio Ken. The law on the books in my neck of the woods states that it is unlawful to be intoxicated & in possession of a firearm, but there is no mention of being in a bar whatsoever. I'm sure it's a little different everywhere.
keith forthman
3:07 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
I dont understand why the citizens are acting as if the government push to violate our rights is no big deal. Screw that . And all these companies giving into government , media will not change criminal mentality it will only make it easier you pray on victims. It only takes 1 bullet to kill or injure a person. For all you people who act like guns are the problem you need a reality check. Hope you never are in a situation were a gun coulda saved your life. And why we are at it lets take guns away from law enforcement,military why do they need assault riffles? Oh because CRIMINALS dont follow the LAW.
Stig
3:58 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
The establishment has the right to choose whom they serve and whom they do not. Does anybody really think alcohol and weapons are a good combination? Drunks with guns are a problem. Alcohol tends to make cowards braver, as does owning and carrying a concealed weapon.
Nick Dunham
5:51 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
I agree that businesses should have a degree of control of what goes on in their establishment, but not when it violates the Bill of Rights. It is already illegal to be drunk & in possession of a firearm. If someone was willing to violate that law, I don't see them having too much of a problem ignoring this sign which carries no weight of law.
Stig
10:21 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
@Nick Dunham...So if I walk into a restaurant and yell "FIRE" or "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU ALL" or I walk in nude or I am down loading child porn on a computer at the bar, that is okay too? Because there are situations that are prohibited from the 1st amendment. All of those things violate the bill of rights. How do you exist on a day to day basis?
Nick Dunham
12:57 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013
everything you mentioned in your reply is illegal, carrying a gun is not. See how thats not the same? How do you exist on a day to day basis with your backwards logic?
2 Cents
5:01 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
I agree with you Keith. One of these days America will wake up and realize that our government does not give a s#&t about us. Unfortunately, it will be too late. Until then, I will do everything I can to keep my rights and my neighbors rights whether he understands it or not.
Stig
9:18 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
So would you shoot your neighbor if he disagrees with your views on weapon regulations. I'm glad I don't live in the trailer next to you.
buffalo bill
10:55 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
stig is a fool
CCW_Mentor
9:13 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Stig needs to wake up and realize that there are between 70-80 million people with LEGAL guns in the United States. They are NOT shooting people in bars.
The ILLEGAL guns account for most of the crime statistics. This ban will do nothing to stop criminals from doing what they already do.
BW3 has become another gun-free zone for mentally ill to target.
Matt Dillon
7:53 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
I've been taking my family out to eat here about twice a month and making another trip to pick up sauce. I carry 99.9 percent of the time and will not be disarmed because a wing place has decided they know better than the founders. The chances of being in a mass shooting are very low but it has happened in this area. I remember a few years back a man walked into a McDonalds and shot a bunch of people and also here in bridgeville someone walked into a health club. A gun free zone can be a killing field and if researched you'll find where most of these shootings take place. BW3 you are asking to be robbed. I'll take my hard earned money and support someone who supports my rights and freedoms. In this economy they've got balls stepping on the rights of probably 1/2 of their customers. Chic fil a, here I come!
Stig
9:30 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
The founders created this document to be fluid. Open to adjustment vis a vis the Supreme Court and the American people. Not just prepers and loose cannons like you. Do you think you are as smart as the founding fathers? Are you the final say so regarding the Constitution? Where did you get your degree in Constitutional law? Faux Newz? The founding fathers did not carry Glok's into taverns. And they checked their long rifles at the door. The country may have turned out a lot different had macho men like you been arguing over the freedoms to be allowed in this country instead of our founding fathers.
Matt Dillon
8:05 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
To those of you who agree with this ban, I pray your never in the situation of me saying I told ya so..... If want to see how well strict gun control laws work, look no further than the home of our current president. Chicago is is the murder capital of the United States. The laws are so strict the average citizen can't get a gun to defend himself. I guess no one told the bad guys about those laws...
Stig
9:40 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Facts regarding Chicago gun related crime. Not just talking points by Newt and other Faux Newz talking heads.
1. In early 1998, Terry Hillard took the reins of the Chicago Police Department during a period of high, if declining, violence. Homicides fell the next year, following broader national trends.
2. In April 2003, Phil Cline replaced Hillard and nearly finished the year with fewer than 600 murders, which hadn’t happened in Chicago since 1967.
3. Murders reached a low of 448 in 2007. But by the end of the year, Cline was on his way out in the wake of scandals involving bad behavior by some officers, including a few in the specialized units.
4. Early in Jody Weis’s tenure, both murders and violent crimes spiked, the former breaking the 500 mark again. The pressure on Weis, due in part to his decisions to substantially remake aspects of the department, peaked too.
5. After Weis’s difficult start, homicides and violent crimes began to fall again. In 2011, murders reached a new low of 433, but Weis would not be around to take credit: Rahm Emanuel’s victory led to his resignation in March of that year.
buffalo bill
10:59 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
stig. Go get a life and get off your computer. Go get laid, go eat some of my delicious gun free wild wings. Do anything besides post on this site . PLEASE !!!!! Your making a fool of democrats everywhere .
Sincerely ,
Buffalo Bill
CEO Of Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.
Matthew Heinrich
9:35 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Hahahahahahaha Buffalo Bill I agree. I will continue to carry my firearm and still eat those wonderful wings whenever I please! It's not like they are running metal dectors, patting us down checking for weapons. Carry on suckers.
American
1:57 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
I'm sad to see so many people up in arms about things that were created to kill people and animals. Don't get me wrong.....I love all of the rights we have and don't want the government telling me how many pieces of toilet paper I can use to wipe my @$$. I also think semi-automatic and automatic guns have the potential to kill more. Their usefulness is to .....shoot more bullets.....to kill more. If we banned all guns in America....sales for compound bows would quadruple .....and mass murders would done with semi and automatic bows. We control how the government decides with our money and our votes.....which are one and the same. Alcohol, cigarettes, and $hitty fast food kill a lot of people each year but we vote with our money to keep those things main stream. If every single person including the servers at Buffalo Wild Wings carried guns all the time....I'd almost guarantee there wouldn't be any shootings! But I know a lot of dumb@$$es and see some posting comments here and I don't think that would be the best idea. Focus on helping others instead of making sure you are getting what you "rightfully deserve" and maybe America would be a little better!!!!
nojnkml
3:16 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
They just put a bww in West valley city, almost ready to open, in gang central of Utah. The Subway across the street has been held up and the win co .5 mi North had a shooting a few months back. I guarentee a half dozen shootings will happen within 2 miles of my work in 2013. I wouldn't set foot in any West valley estabishment that prevented my legal, lawful concealed .45. May the good lord prevent that I ever need it. We don't need gun control, we need morals, respect and decency.
Matt
7:52 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
just an FYI people the only person you legally have to tell your concealing is someone From law enforcement and if your concealing properly it shouldn't be a question I carry mine to my local bww because the parking lot is dark with no lights off in a field I feel safe inside it's outside I worry about
CCW_Mentor
9:27 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Also, by carrying into BW3 as a concealed carry permit holder, the most I would get is a misdemeanor trespass charge (parking ticket). The only reason I would be caught is if I actually had to take the gun out and use it.
I'll continue to carry in BW3 when I go grab some lunch with my co-workers because I feel it would be a safer environment for myself.
I don't drink if I carry. Married with two kids. Everyone feels safer by me having a gun. Guess spending 8 years in the military will do that to ya. And I also don't think military service makes me any better than your typical gun owner. People who love guns, love to shoot, and love to be good at it.
DieterMG
9:51 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Reading this article and the comments I am not sure:
Are we talking about a saloon in the old wild Western Frontier around 1850 or about a restaurant in the 21st century?
Leocadia Sigl
10:31 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Who needs to have one in there? I'd feel weird eating wings next to someone with a Gun,this gun thing has gone too far,I don't have one and don't plan to.
Grog
2:40 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Then you should probabyl feel very weird. I can guarantee you that someone around you while eating in a restaurant, sitting in a movie theater, standing in line at Wal-mart or th egrocery store, or th eparent at their kids football or baseball game has a concealed firearm. Legal CCW permit holders are not the problem with this entire situation. Illegal gun owners and people who think the triggger makes them bigger is the problem. I personally carry a Concealed Weapon at all times when I am not at work, government employee. Do I feel safer, YES. Do I have to carry, NO. Why do I? Because it is my right. I have passed all of the background checks, served in the military for the last 18+ years. Do you need to worry about me carrying a concealed weapon, NO.
Shane
1:14 am on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
If you were sitting in the movie theatre in Aurora when some scumbag started shooting up the place would you feel weird that the guy next to you had a concealed firearm to defend everyone?
Eddy_B
5:44 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
So then you don't eat next to an officer? Cause they carry, and not concealed...
I conceal carry from when I leave my home till I get back home... Noone knows, and god willing noone will...
A conceals carry person I like having an officer next to you.. Like it or not.. We're on te laws side.. If there's a hold up we're there to keep YOU Safe just like a law enforcement officer would..
Wake up were not the problem... The ones who don't follows laws and will still have guns are...
De
6:45 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
This actually came to light because an off duty police officer was told to leave because he was carrying his off duty gun. He was not drinking . I feel the company is wrong I would feel better knowing an officer carrying his gun was there if something went wrong . You know if a criminal came in you would have no idea he had a gun. I will not be going to this resteraunt
Shane
1:06 am on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
First off what ever did happen to the firearms that Dicks, and Walmart stopped selling? Did they donate them to local law enforcement? Did they donate them to any branch of the military? Did they melt them down? When firearms get banned they dont just disappear. If they really cared who has these firearms they would make sure thats what happened to them. Anything else is just a PR move. Also I will NEVER enter a Buffalo Wild Wings again knowing this. The only people these things ever affect are law abiding citizens, and for everyone that says "Alcohol, and firearms dont mix" Rednecks call that The Weekend!
Grog
2:20 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
I have spoken to management at both Dick's and Wal-Mart. All "Assault Style Weapons" were returned to the manufaturer.
Ken Overly
11:56 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013
The military would not want these civilian rifles. They are NOT the same as what the military uses. Many folks listening to the main stream media are being misinformed. They are often referred to as assault weapons because they have cosmetic features making them look like a military rifle, but they do not function like a military rifle. Military rifles are typically select-able between full-auto and semi-auto. Full-auto rifles are heavily regulated and not available to civilians except under very strict and very expensive licensing requirements.
Steve
4:31 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
First off Ken full auto weapons are not hard to obtain. I am a civillian, and I have 2 fully auto weapons. They are easy to get if you do not want to go the legal route. If you do obtain them legally like I did you just have to be willing to spend a little more, and be patient while going through the process. Secondly as for the military not wanting them that is also false. My first AR-15 I purchased at a gun shop near by was better than the standard M4 my brother was issued in the army. Even the pins, and trigger assembly were a better quality. Its not like they hand ALL of our troops to quality weapons. Obtaining top quality equipment is not easy unless you are willing to pay for it yourself. You do not get approved for everything you submit an inventory request for. At the very least the military would either modify them, and use them as training weapons, or they would sell them along with other military surplus, and use the profits. As for Law enforcement I know of a lot of police officers who would love to have a standard AR15. My cousin, and friends all had to buy their own firearms. Like Shane said it was just a PR stunt. If they really cared whos hands these firearms ended up in they would not have sent them back to the manufacturer just to be resold to the public
DieterMG
4:58 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
It would be nice to have a list of local restaurants and businesses where fire arms are allowed, so I can avoid going there.
Hope Mentor Patch can publish this list.
Ken Overly
12:02 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013
Well, some Ohio gun rights organizations publish lists of locations where weapons are banned to assist those that carry concealed. You could use it for the opposite purpose and find what you're looking for.
http://ohioccw.org/component/com_sobipro/Itemid,438/sid,54/
David Warner
12:56 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013
I will not support any business, that does not allow me to protect my family, while in their establishment.
joe fabeets
2:50 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013
who goes to BW3 (or whatever its called) anymore any way? its not 2002. played out, cheap (quality) food. this will cause more loss of customers not gain any. good job, B-dubs way to take a stand??
Joan K.
11:30 am on Tuesday, February 19, 2013
No one is being forced to eat at this establishment. If you want to carry your gun, go elsewhere.