Few no-guns notices posted.
From:
Omaha
World-Herald (Omaha, NE)
Date:
Byline: John Keenan
Mar. 28--Signs you'll see at the entrance of O'Connor's Irish Pub in the Old
Market:
"Restrooms are for customers only."
"City Council: Please Send in the Non-Smokers."
What you won't see is a "No Concealed Weapons" sign reminding
customers that bars are among the few businesses in Nebraska where it is
illegal to carry a gun.
Almost three months after the start of a state law allowing people to carry
concealed weapons, signs banning guns from privately owned businesses haven't
exactly popped up all over the city. In fact, while some chains such as Bag 'N
Save have posted signs and shopping malls such as Westroads Mall have added
"no weapons" clauses to their posted codes of conduct, many small
businesses haven't seen the need. And at least one that did later reconsidered.
Under the law, concealed handguns are banned from some businesses, including
bars and financial institutions. Other businesses and employers can ban
concealed weapons from their property by posting a sign that guns are not allowed.
O'Connor's Pub owner Katie O'Connor said she didn't think a sign was
necessary.
"The ones you need to be afraid of don't have licenses for their guns
anyway," she said.
At the Nebraska Clothing Co. in the Old Market, owner Brad Ashford said he intended
to put up signs but never got around to it.
And now, he said, "It does not seem to be a problem."
If he saw a customer carrying a gun, he'd probably ask him or her to leave
the store, said Ashford, who also is a state senator.
"Of course, if I could see the gun, it wouldn't be concealed," he
added.
Ashford isn't alone in his laissez-faire approach. On the three-block
stretch between 13th and 10th Streets, none of the more than 30 merchants on
Howard Street had posted a "No Concealed Weapons" sign in their
windows.
At Countryside Village, Diana Abbott, manager of the Bookworm, which does
not have a sign, laughed at the question.
"It's not like a robber is going to look at the sign and say, 'Oh, I'm
not going to rob the place.'"
Downtown resident Brian Nicol said he was visiting relatives in Minnesota
just after that state's concealed-carry law went into effect in 2003, and the
difference between there and here was stark.
"It seemed as if there were signs in every bar and restaurant in
Minneapolis," he said. "It seemed almost in-your-face. You don't see
that down here."
Omaha attorney Scott S. Moore, a partner with the law firm Baird Holm, said
many of his business clients contacted him asking if they needed to post signs.
"More folks are opting to say they're going to just run with the law
rather than posting a sign," he said.
Some have said the signs would clutter their entryway, ruining the look as
people enter the business, Moore said.
"I expected a lot of folks to (post). I see the no-smoking signs go up,
but I haven't noticed the 'No Concealed Weapons.'"
Moore said business owners probably studied the law and were satisfied with
the conditions placed on people carrying guns. Business owners, he said, may
have concluded, ". . . if the state of Nebraska has determined that these
are people they're going allow a permit to, and take the coursework and go
through the background check . . . why should (they) be overriding that
policy?"
On a practical side, Moore pointed out, it's hard to enforce such a ban.
How, he asked, would business owners know if a customer has a weapon?
According to Deb Collins, a Nebraska State Patrol spokeswoman, the patrol
has received 1,026 concealed-carry applications and issued 605 permits since
the start of this year, leaving 421 pending. The patrol has not recorded any
shootings involving permit holders in that time, she said.
The Nebraska Humane Society did post a sign, said spokesman Pam Weise,
because animal-control officers write citations and enforce laws.
"We sometimes run up against people who are emotionally charged, who
aren't necessarily pleased with the situation that brings them to the
center," Weise said. "So just to maintain as much safety as possible,
we felt it was important to post it."
For some businesses, though, the issue hasn't even made their radar screen.
"We never even thought about it, to be honest," said Dave Butler,
co-owner of TenthPenny, a comic book shop in Bellevue. "It never even
crossed our mind."
Greg Cutchall put up a "No Concealed Weapons" sign at his Famous
Dave's barbecue restaurant at 71st Street and Ames Avenue, but a customer's
reaction persuaded Cutchall to remove it within days.
"He wrote that he was no longer going to do business with us,"
Cutchall said. "He went on to say how difficult it is for an individual to
actually obtain a concealed weapon permit, and that they're law-abiding
citizens."
One of the customer's points, Cutchall said, really resonated: The sign
wouldn't keep out someone who wanted to rob the place.
"Your business is more important to me than one of 1,000 ways people
could sue us," Cutchall wrote back, adding he would take down the sign.
After he removed the sign, Cutchall said, he received e-mails from other customers
applauding his decision and telling him they planned to eat at the restaurant.
"It's a little controversial," Cutchall acknowledged.
"There's a group of people who'll say, 'You're going to allow concealed
weapons in your restaurant?'
"But it's a city law now. It was kind of taken out of my hands when the
city decided to make it legal."
Copyright (c) 2007, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business
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