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Toby Keith’s Virginia Restaurant Issues Polarizing Gun Ban

Nachos, not bullets.
Nachos, not bullets. Photo: Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill

Management at the recently opened Woodbridge, Virginia, location of country superstar Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill tacked a piece of paper reading “NO GUNS PERMITTED” on its front door, which has — perhaps predictably — blown up into a big news story, deeply polarizing all kinds of people who will never ever eat at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill: For every Facebook post lauding the bar’s “family friendly” decision, there’s a somberly worded protest note invoking the Constitution. “Since you folks dislike the right to bear arms,” one reads, “I will DEFINITELY not be going to your restaurant.”

Like many other places, it’s legal in Virginia to carry registered and permitted firearms, but ingesting alcohol and carrying guns at the same time is not. In Woodbridge, local laws allow business owners to set house policies.

Management says the ban is only in place for the purposes of insurance, not as any affront to personal freedom or as a political message, and the restaurant seemingly wants to get back to serving jumbo portions of nachos topped with three kinds of meat and all the fixins’. “While we understand and respect every person’s right to own and bear arms,” it explains, “we at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill, with guidance from the State of Virginia and based on insurance regulations, have adopted a no weapons policy. It is our desire to provided a safe, enjoyable and entertaining experience for our patrons and staff.” Woodbridge residents opposed to the policy, in the meantime, may do better to travel an hour north to Leesburg, where jambalaya is 10 percent off on Wednesdays for anyone who brandishes their Saturday Night Special.

Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill [Facebook]
No firearms policy at Toby Keith restaurant draws ire of gun rights advocates [Fox News]
Earlier: 10 More Discounts the Cajun Experience Can Give Its Gun-Toting Customers

Toby Keith’s Virginia Restaurant Issues Polarizing Gun Ban