Sonic and Chili’s release new gun policy for patrons
Sonic and Chilis joined Starbucks and Chipotle as restaurants making harsh anti-gun policies, asking customers to leave their firearms at home.
“We’re asking that customers refrain from bringing guns onto our patios or into our indoor dining areas,” Sonic announced.
Chili’s, owned by Brinker International, said in a statement, “We kindly ask that guests refrain from openly carrying firearms into our restaurants and we will continue to follow state and local laws on this issue.”
Chili’s statement implies customers are still permitted to carry a concealed firearm as long as they are complying with the applicable state laws. Sonic’s statement suggests no guns are welcome at their restaurants.
The announcements were celebrated by anti-gun groups like Everytown for Gun Safety, which had created a petition to pressure the restaurants into enforcing a no-gun policy.
Chipotle announced in May that only “authorized law enforcement personnel” should bring guns into their locations, while Starbucks made a similar announcement last year.
Starbucks faced gun owner protests, nicknamed “Starbucks Appreciation Days,” in the wake of their request in 2013 prompting their CEO to state “…we want to give responsible gun owners the chance to respect our request – and also because enforcing a ban would potentially require our partners to confront armed customers, and that is not a role I am comfortable asking Starbucks partners to take on…”