Fire Mountain - Good Food, Anti-Gun

October 27, 2008

This is pretty much just a copy and paste from my post on the OpenCarry.org Michigan forum.

I don’t know how many of you have been to Fire mountain, but it’s a pretty good buffet.  You pay right when you come in the door.  So, I came in, paid, and found a table.  The place was pretty busy and I noticed a woman on the other side of the restaurant staring at me as I took off my coat.  I also noticed her staring at me most of the time while I was eating.  Since it was a buffet, I was up walking around a lot, and got a lot of looks.  I overheard the people at the table next to us “arguing” about whether OC was legal or not.

About halfway through our meal I noticed a management looking man stop our server and talk to her.  The only thing I could hear was her saying “That’s my table” while pointing at us.  Since another server joined the conversation, I assumed it was a discussion about how the tables were assigned.  Just a few minutes later a female manager came to the table and said “I have to ask you a question.”  Assuming she was going to ask something about the server, I didn’t think much of it.

The first thing she said was “Are you a cop or something?”, to which I said no.  She told me that she assumed I was because I had all of the “other little things to go with it” (it apparently being my gun.. I had my double mag pouch, flashlight, BlackBerry, and Serpa on my belt).  She then told me that they can’t allow that in the restaurant, and that I cannot carry like that.  I told her that it is legal to open carry a handgun in Michigan and she told me that you cannot carry in a public place like that.  I told her that the restaurant is actually private property, and that you can, in fact, open carry in public places.  She told me that the restaurant is public because anybody can pay to get in there… I didn’t even want to go there…

 I asked her about covering it up, and she said no they can’t allow it at all and that I could put it in the car, which wasn’t an option for me.  She told me that if I wanted, she would go ahead and call the police to “verify” the legality of everything.  I think she was trying to scare me, but I told her if she wouldn’t mind, I’d appreciate it.  I asked her if she found that it was legal, if I could stay, but she didn’t really answer me and headed off to call the police.

At this point, my girlfriend and I continued eating our meals, and got dessert.  While we were waiting for the manager to return, a man at the table next to us (the table that was discussing the legality of OC) asked me what I carry, and asked if I had a CPL.  He said he has a CCW.  One of the other employees also came to the table and asked how to get a permit for “that” (OC).  I set him straight and gave him the details.

The entire time I was sitting there, I was expecting to see county cops roll in and talk to me.  They finally did come in, but never came to the table.  After waiting long enough, I asked our server if she would get the manager for me.  The manager came back to the table and told me that she talked to the police and they didn’t even need to come to the table because they explained to her that it is perfectly legal.  After all of this, she told me that they still won’t allow it in the restaurant.  (I don’t know why she didn’t just kick me out, and wasted time calling the police if legality wasn’t an issue)  She said “It’s corprate pol…. this building is weapon free.”   She then told me that she had nervous customers, and complaints.  This made me wonder if it’s a corporate policy, or just an anti-gun managers policy.  I intend to find out.  

I explained to her that we will NOT be back and that I plan to report the issue here, etc.. . I told her that I find it weird that she was OK with losing customers like this. She just said she was sorry (I’m not sure why she’d be sorry).  

I have sent an email to their corporate office hoping to find the truth about their policy.  I’m a bit upset that I can’t go back to Fire Mountain, because I like the food.  It was refreshing though to hear that the Saginaw County PD know the law and didn’t find it necessary to even talk to me.  It’s also interesting that the manager made it even more of an issue by talking to me.  Once a manager comes to your table to talk, everybody around you gets curious and starts trying to figure out why.

I urge everybody to avoid spending money at Fire Mountain until this gets straightened out.  It would also be a good idea to send them an email and let them know how you feel about this policy. Money talks!

Filed under: Open/Concealed Carry |