KFC Bans us? Ban them in return!

[dwaldrip]

Twenty seven local KFC franchises are owned by Fowler Foods in Jonesboro, AR.



They recently posted their Memphis restaurants due to crime they were suffering, due to it being company policy in other states, and, in my opinion, due to their belief there are no good uses for guns.

My letter generated from the letter writing tool on follows:

******************************************

March 1, 2004

David Waldrip
8188 Cherryfield Lane
Germantown, TN 38138
dwaldrip@midsouth.rr.com

Mr. Chris Fowler
Fowler Foods
139 Southwest Drive
Jonesboro, AR 72401

Dear Mr. Fowler:

I am writing to express my concern over your posted policy of No Weapons at your KFC restaurant locations in Memphis. While I support the rights of private property owners to control the use of their property, I must express my concern over your decision to limit the rights of the public to lawfully carry handguns on your property. While privately owned, your property is advertised as open to the public. As such, you bear a greater responsibility for what happens on your property than does an ordinary private property owner. According to the Tennessee Supreme Court, McClung vs. Delta Square Limited Partnership, October 28, 1996, your company is responsible for the safety of your customers anywhere on your property, including the parking lots surrounding your establishment.

Your No Weapons policy means your customers must leave their means of personal protection at home, leaving law-abiding citizens at the mercy of criminal elements in our society, both on your property and during the trip to and from your property. Your policy endangers your fellow citizens’ inalienable right to life by limiting their right to self-defense.

Individuals who lawfully carry handguns under Tennessee State law undergo stringent background checks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), local Sheriff’s Office, and receive state mandated training prior to receiving a Handgun Carry Permit. The success of Tennessee’s carry permit law is well documented with regards to the safe and lawful manner permit holders comport themselves while carrying their handguns.
Criminals always look for easy targets of opportunity. It is completely plausible to anticipate that criminals will take note of businesses such as yours that prohibit legal carry of handguns and target them as locations where it is safe for them to commit their crimes without fear of meaningful resistance. In other words, your business can be expected to become an attractive target for criminals looking for easy prey, including you and your employees.

I appreciate your intention to provide a safe dining environment for all of your customers.. Your policy will have the potential for unintended consequences to the detriment of your customers, your employees and your company. I request your company rescind its No Weapons signs from your property.

Please note the following quotes:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..." -- Declaration of Independence

"The right of self-defense is the first law of nature; in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest possible limits...and [when] the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction." -- St. George Tucker, Judge of the Virginia Supreme Court and U.S. District Court of Virginia in Blackstone Commentaries, 1803

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." -- Thomas Jefferson's "Commonplace Book," 1774-1776, quoting from On Crimes and Punishment, by criminologist Cesare Beccaria, 1764

"[The Constitution preserves] the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...(where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." -- James Madison, Federalist, No. 46.

and then there is this...
"Gun control? It's the best thing you can do for crooks and gangsters. I want you to have nothing. If I'm a bad guy, I'm always gonna have a gun. Safety locks? You will pull the trigger with a lock on, and I'll pull the trigger. We'll see who wins." -- Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Mafia turncoat as quoted in Vanity Fair, Sep 1999

Please feel free to contact me at your convenience if I may be of any assistance to you on this issue.

Sincerely,


David Waldrip, Director
Shelby County Chapter
Tennessee Firearms Association

*****************************************
I've left three messages in followup with Mr. Chris Fowler, and have zero, zip return calls.

Let the feathers fly. Let Mr. Fowler know that you have rights, that you're really, really tired of being assumed to be a potential criminal just because you carry a weapon, and let him know you have a choice, and would just as soon go to Popeye's.

The number for Fowler Foods is (870) 935-6032.

--David