While the gun-control debate rages on, one American restaurant owner is offering a discount to any customer who holds a firearm when purchasing a meal.
Bergeron’s Restaurant in Port Allen, Louisiana, is offering 10% off any meal to gun-holders after a series of national chains have banned guns on their premises in recent months.
Speaking to the Huffington Post, owner Kevin Cox said:
“There are people here with guns, this is not a gun-free zone. So if you want to cause trouble, you can think about who you’re sitting next to.”
Cox also told the Huffington Post that the deal was originally designed to encourage local police officers to visit the cajun restaurant, but was then broadened to welcome all gun carriers after they saw how popular the sign was in attracting new business:
“It makes us all feel better when state patrol, police and sheriff’s department come in and have lunch here because you know when they’re here we’re safe. And I realized that we have a lot of good people that carry a firearm in Louisiana – my cousins and relatives included – and I’m equally as safe when they’re here, and I need to encourage that.”
The restaurant owner also hopes it may act as a diversion to troublemakers, who might think their actions won’t be reprimanded in a gun-free eatery:
“So now you have a choice: You’re going to go to Bergeron’s and cause trouble or you’re going to go to Chipotle and cause trouble. I don’t think they’re going come here if they’re going to find good people carrying their guns.”
Cox has said business is ‘taking off’ since he promoted the discount, with gun-holders from all over the county stopping by to show their support.
It is legal to openly carry firearms in Louisiana without a permit, as long as you’re over 18 years old and not prohibited from having a firearm under federal or state law.
