What should one bring to the table when dining at a restaurant? Well, of course, a wallet and some good manners are top priority; but at one Texas restaurant you can add a gun to that checklist. Brooks’ Place, a barbecue restaurant in Houston, Texas, has decided to offer a 10 percent discount to patrons who are openly carrying a firearm.
This new idea came as a result of the recent passage of open carry laws in Texas. Previously, Texas was one of the only states in the U.S. to prohibit the open carry of handguns. That changed, however, on January 1, 2016, when a new bill signed by Governor Greg Abbott in June went into effect.
Trent Brooks, the owner of the Brooks’ Place barbecue restaurant, is among the many supporters of this new law. “We support the Second Amendment, and anyone who has the sense to protect themselves, their homes and businesses, their families and their neighbors — when they have to,” he said. He also went on to explain that his new discount for pistol packing patrons is not a political act, but rather a display of appreciation.
The new open carry law in Texas allows anyone who is at least 21 years of age and who has a handgun license as well as a clean criminal and psychological record to openly carry a handgun, so long as it is not carried in a designated “gun free zone,” such as a school or courtroom. It does, however, allow private businesses the opportunity to choose whether or not they wish to allow the open carry of firearms in their place of business.
Previously, only long guns (shotguns and rifles) could be carried openly in the state of Texas. In order to carry a handgun, one would have had to carry it concealed. According to statistics, over 900,000 Texans possess concealed handgun licences. That’s close to 3 percent of the state’s population.
