TGO David

I can't say that I've ever felt intimidated while driving down the street and seeing unions picket or protesters protesting. Their intended goal seemed to be raising awareness. That was my intended goal with the suggestion here. Clearly it's raised some awareness or the Leftist bloggers wouldn't have already latched onto the story.

One nice footnote in all of this is that local Liberal Moonbat radio host Mary Mancini has picked up on it and given TGO a nice plug on her Blog. Boscos at Gunpoint LIBERADIO(!) Thanks for visiting, Mary!

Firstly, bite me. Secondly, I wasn't fighting for my right to stage a protest. That right is one of the few that anyone gives a flying fk about anymore. Infringe on someone's 1st Amendment rights and there is bloody hell to pay. Infringe on someone's 2nd Amendment rights and no one seems to care. Hell, there is enough disinterest among certain sects of gun owners. We see it all the time, and sadly we even see it here on TGO occasionally. Some gun owners insist that "They" aren't going to ban their guns since their guns are single shot sporting arms, or black powder, or over-under shotguns for hunting. But tactical-style weapons? Sure! Ban them. No one needs to own those types of guns! No, I'm not giving up on my rights. I'm just not going to pour time and energy into this idea since it seems to be a non-starter. But thanks for jumping in here to criticize! As for the other things posted... the idea of cards to leave behind seems a bit confusing to me. Is the idea to visit a place, deposit a card and then leave without doing business with them? How many people are really going to take the time to do that? Or do you leave the card after you've done business with them as sort of a "I'll never be back here again" once they've already got your money? Maybe I just don't understand the concept here.

There are some shirts on that page that really paint gun owners in negative tones. And of course the requisite chick with her finger on the trigger in their photos. Not a fan.

Just forget it. I'm pretty discouraged that we have even a fraction of people here who feel like the path of least resistance is the way to go. :-\ The rules of engagement have changed over the past 20 or so years and the Leftist anti-Liberty, anti-Personal Responsibility crowd have been fighting us using completely different, radical tactics. Yet for some reason we seem damned and determined to keep fighting the way we always have. I bet there had to have been a British commander or two during the Revolutionary War who was a bit pissed at his superiors for insisting that the Red Coats keep lining up in tight, nice, clean formations on the battlefield while the colonists were fighting using guerrilla tactics and handing them their butts. If there was, I'm starting to know how they must have felt. <-- apparently the new flag of the American gun owner.

You seem to have misread the intended purpose of a picket. It's not to cause the State to force anyone to do anything. It's to cause the business owner to reconsider his fear-based discrimination against those who wish to legally go armed while dining.

First and foremost, welcome to TGO. I see that was your first post here so thank you for signing up and joining us. There's definitely be a concerted effort among TGO members to email, call and sometimes even visit their Reps and Senators about this issue. We've made a good deal of impact on them from what I understand and we absolutely need to continue doing it. It's their right to post a sign but it's also our right, guaranteed by the First Amendment, to peacefully protest it. If they don't want our business, fine. But let's let it be known to everyone else that they don't want our business because we have opted to dine only in establishments that will allow us to exercise our right to bear arms for our protection. Owners of establishments catering to the public often make knee-jerk decisions based on popular opinion. Too many complaints about Pepsi being served instead of Coke? We'll see if we can change that. A lot of people asking for mozzarella sticks on the appetizer menu? We'll see if we can add that. People complaining about smokers ruining the dining experience? We'll support a law in favor of banning that. People complaining that they can't smoke while dining? We'll advertise ourselves as an age-restricted venue and cater back to the smokers. ... So why not make it so that they see just how many pro-2A, pro-personal protection customers are unhappy about their decision to prohibit carry because of their unfounded phobias? Writing letters doesn't help. As a business owner myself, I ignore a boatload of junk mail every day. But if I owned a restaurant and had taken a stance against HCP holders exercising their legal right (or privilege, as DaveTN calls it) to bear arms for their own protection in my establishment, and 25-50 people showed up and started picketing my business and drawing attention to my fear-based policies... I'd probably reconsider. And if I didn't, I bet other restauranteers watching from across the road or across the state on TV would. See above. Realistically, any business that opens itself to the public puts itself at the mercy of the public to ensure that money keeps coming in. If a business were to prohibit anyone who wore Ecko clothing from entering the establishment, it would by virtue of prohibiting an item also be telling a lot of young, black males to go do business somewhere else. And who could cry foul about it? They didn't say "No colored people allowed" they just said "No clothing popular among young black people can be worn here". No harm in that, right? It's the same sort of covert-discrimination that comes when you prohibit a legally licensed handgun carry permit holder from entering your restaurant while armed. Since most of us refuse to go anywhere unarmed, it's telling us that we as gun owners are not welcome there. Sure, we're welcome if we disarm. Same as the young black man would be welcome in my theoretical setting if he would just take off that Ecko jersey shirt and put on a nice Izod polo istead. Forced? No. Enlightened about the revenue they are losing? Yes.

Agreed 100%

I'm not sure where to start but I'm frankly a bit shocked and appalled that one of our own is so willing to lay down and surrender territory so easily. First of all, I never said that we would be mixing firearms and alcohol at this event. Second of all, I never said that I advocate people drinking and carrying. And thirdly, it's this "path of least resistance" mentality that has cost us so dearly in terms of ground ceded to the antis in years past. It's clearly your prerogative to sit out a protest like this, but if we as gun owners don't take the fight back to the street and show the rest of the world that we're not all bitter, reclusive wack-jobs holed up in our neo-nazi bunkers but rather moms, dads, teachers, doctors, lawyers, factory workers, softball coaches, pastors... their next door neighbors... then we might as just sit back passively and wait for them to legislate us out of existence. The choice is yours. My choice is to fight.

Actually there's more or less a precedent for that now as I understand it. But that's a topic for another thread.

You're a dick.

From the Clarksville's The Leaf Chronicle. So I am curious. How many of you would participate in a lawful, peacful protest in front of the Hillsboro Village location of Boscos restaurant following the presumed Tennessee House & Senate override of Governor Bredesen's veto? Here is what I am thinking: We would do this on public property, such as the sidewalk or roadside. We would do NOTHING to block or otherwise make it difficult for patrons of Boscos to enter or exit their property. We would just be there to peacefully and unobtrusively protest the manager's decision. We would hand out flyers to any interested party including a summary of HB0962, why we believe it makes good law. Also it would include a copy of the statement from the Boscos management (see above) and explain why we are protesting them. We would all dress nicely (i.e. no camo, no t-shirts with controversial or profane slogans or logos) and look the part of the responsible gun-owning Average Americans that we are. Our picket signs would all use proper spelling and grammar so that we don't look like uneducated morons. Optionally, we would wear EMPTY holsters as a show of being rendered defenseless by the management's decision to forbid us legal carry under the new law. I would contact the Steve Gill show by US mail, email and phone call asking them to come out and cover the protest and give the cause a little radio exposure. We would also have our own people video-tape the entire thing for submission to Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly or anyone else who wants to air it. Especially useful if some anti-2A people get nasty with us. The goals of this would be to: Put these restaurant owners on notice that not only will they lose our business as pro-personal protection consumers, but they will also have unwanted attention drawn to their practice. Inspire restaurant owners to reconsider their decisions and remove their individual ban on being able to protect ourselves while dining in their establishments. By dressing nicely, having intelligently worded signs and flyers, and conducting ourselves peacefully and with tact and decorum, show that gun owners are not all neanderthal redneck backwoods hicks as the media paints us so broadly. If successful, this model can be employed again and again as needed across the state. Thoughts?

How many of them are off the radar?

A complete non-starter.

A rifle will probably be next. I'll give you a shout when the time comes.

Thanks for the input?

NASCAR uniforms!!!

The plan is outdoors, probably under a large tent. I'd say dress would be casual. We're still working out the details so stay tuned to this forum.

Hit me up with a PM and we'll work out the details.

Among other things, I ordered the "As It Should Be" package from Brian that includes the Strong Mount and the roller handle. No case feeder since it only works for handgun brass and not rifle brass. No low powder alarm either, for the same reason that you stated.

Right now JHatmaker is first in line. If someting there doesn't go down as planned, I'll move on to the next taker.

I just ordered mine from Brian Enos @ Brian Enos - Competition Shooting Books, Slide-Glide, DVDs & Reloading Free shipping, no tax, plus Brian is a world-class competitive shooter and KNOWS his stuff and is more than happy to discuss all of the options with you on the phone and help you make the right decision. Highly recommended.

You can't go wrong with Gold Dots. Hornady TAP on the other hand... meh. The ballistics reports I've seen of TAP are pretty unimpressive. It's a lukewarm performer at best. Sadly I have a lot of TAP ammo in my stash. I need to shoot it up and replace it with better ammo.

You could always take a tour of the capitol and poop on his desk.

Just ordered my Dillon 550B reloading press with .45ACP dies and all the fixins from Brian Enos (Brian Enos - Competition Shooting Books, Slide-Glide, DVDs & Reloading). Had the pleasure of speaking with Brian on the phone this afternoon and he talked me out of the more expensive 650 XL and into the 550B which saved me about $400. It's rare these days to find someone who is willing to talk you out of a higher dollar sale, but Brian clearly is interested in helping his customers make smart decisions more so than making a buck. I highly recommend anyone interested in a Dillon setup give Brian a shot at your business.