The Second Amendment Versus The Fifth

I am working in a laundromat. A customer comes in wearing a handgun in a holster on his hip. He isn’t doing anything wrong, but the aisles in the laundromat are small at the best of times, and he is the type of guy who doesn’t move out of the way for people.

As a result, people are having to squeeze past him while he stands there in the middle of the aisle, his hand constantly resting on his gun. Several people flag the owner down and complain.

Customers: “He is making us nervous and uncomfortable!”

The owner goes up to the man.

Owner: “Sir, may I ask you to put the gun in your car or otherwise take it off the premises?”

The man blows up, not loud, but venomous and angry.

Customer: “It’s my right to carry my gun wherever I want, no matter what!”

The owner tries to calm him down.

Owner: “I don’t have anything against guns in general, but you’re making the other customers nervous.”

It doesn’t matter; this guy is determined to make a scene.

Owner: “If you’re going to refuse to remove the gun, then I will ask you to leave the premises completely.”

The man stormed outside and began snapping pictures of the building and talking on the phone. The next thing we knew, a couple of cop cars pulled up outside. My boss knew a lot of the local police because we have to call them sometimes to remove drunks or help break up fistfights from the liquor store next door. He went outside to meet them and I watched from the window.

The man stood there talking, hand still resting on his gun. Apparently, he was insisting that my boss had violated his rights by making him leave. The cops had to spend a good five minutes at least explaining to the man that while he did have the right to open carry, the laundromat was private property and my boss could refuse service and have him removed for almost any reason. That included making other customers nervous.

The man finally left, and over the next couple of days, customers kept showing us posts he’d made all over Facebook about how we were fascist for not letting him stand in the middle of our aisles with his hand on his gun while other customers nervously squeaked by him. The best part was that nearly every comment on his posts was telling him what a moron he was and chiding him for constantly looking for a fight over his gun.

Plenty of people had carried in the laundromat, both concealed and open carry. They were just respectful about it.