groovatron
Master
So, my wife basically forced me to go out last night. I had last week off work and I hardly left the house. Got a bunch of stuff done that I haven't had time to do.........anyway......my buddies band was playing at a local bar. I figured I'd go have a beer, check out a few songs, and head home. I wasn't in the mood for a party. My personal rule for carrying and alcohol is 2 drinks. If I am legal to drive, then i feel comfortable carrying. If I am having a "night out on the town," then the gun stays at home and I make other self-defense plans......So, in this case, I left my .45 at home and carried my LCP in a right-front pocket holster as a primary. In my left front pocket I had a 5" lockback blade that clips onto the inside of the pocket.
I don't frequent the bars in NWI, so I am not too familiar with rules and clientele of most of the bars. That being said, I made sure to look for "no weapons" signs or the like as I entered. I saw nothing. The bouncer checked my I.D. and I headed to the bar for a beer. I then stood right in front of my buddies band and watched them. I wasn't there for 5min when a muscleman bouncer came up and pulled me to the side. The exchange was as follows.....
Bouncer: "You need to put the knife in your car, or leave the premises."
Me: suprised.."Oh,okay...I'll go put it in the car. Do you guys have a sign or something that states your policies on weapons? I didn't see anything."
Bouncer: "You need to put the knife in the car or leave!"
Me: "I will sir, I just wanted to know if there was a sign that I missed. I'd like to read it."
Bouncer: <points to a sign on the wall>...to the best of my recollection, it reads..........No Hoods Up, No Chains, No Skull Caps......then at the bottom it says that the bar reserves the right to ask anyone to leave.
Me: "I'm not seeing where that sign says anything about knives."
Bouncer: "The bottom says I can kick anyone out that I want to.....go put the knife in the car."
Me: "No problem sir. I would like to make a suggestion that you could pass on to your manager. If you have a no-knife policy, it would probably be a good idea to put it on your sign."
Bouncer: "We don't put it on the sign because it will scare customers off when they see the word knife. They might think we have a knife problem."
Me: laugh..;"Cool man, I'll go put the knife in the car. I wasn't trying to be difficult. I'll be right back...thanks."
Bouncer: "No problem"
So....the knife went into the car and me and my LCP returned to the bar to finish our nights excursion. As I sat at the bar for the next hour, I watched everyone around me. I watched security patrol and look at pockets, tell people to remove there hats, etc. I made a note to myself to never go to that bar again...(although they did have Bell's 2-Hearted on tap which is my fav)...So what did I learn?....well, if you don't know a places policies, especially at a bar, conceal deeply. I only had the knife clip showing on my pocket. It could have been any number of things, but the bouncer knew. I still get the feeling that because of the lack of signage, that the place may have had the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Anyway, the bouncer was overall as cool as a bouncer can be about it, and he didn't notice the pistol in my pocket, which gave me further confidence that my LCP does not noticeably print
I don't frequent the bars in NWI, so I am not too familiar with rules and clientele of most of the bars. That being said, I made sure to look for "no weapons" signs or the like as I entered. I saw nothing. The bouncer checked my I.D. and I headed to the bar for a beer. I then stood right in front of my buddies band and watched them. I wasn't there for 5min when a muscleman bouncer came up and pulled me to the side. The exchange was as follows.....
Bouncer: "You need to put the knife in your car, or leave the premises."
Me: suprised.."Oh,okay...I'll go put it in the car. Do you guys have a sign or something that states your policies on weapons? I didn't see anything."
Bouncer: "You need to put the knife in the car or leave!"
Me: "I will sir, I just wanted to know if there was a sign that I missed. I'd like to read it."
Bouncer: <points to a sign on the wall>...to the best of my recollection, it reads..........No Hoods Up, No Chains, No Skull Caps......then at the bottom it says that the bar reserves the right to ask anyone to leave.
Me: "I'm not seeing where that sign says anything about knives."
Bouncer: "The bottom says I can kick anyone out that I want to.....go put the knife in the car."
Me: "No problem sir. I would like to make a suggestion that you could pass on to your manager. If you have a no-knife policy, it would probably be a good idea to put it on your sign."
Bouncer: "We don't put it on the sign because it will scare customers off when they see the word knife. They might think we have a knife problem."
Me: laugh..;"Cool man, I'll go put the knife in the car. I wasn't trying to be difficult. I'll be right back...thanks."
Bouncer: "No problem"
So....the knife went into the car and me and my LCP returned to the bar to finish our nights excursion. As I sat at the bar for the next hour, I watched everyone around me. I watched security patrol and look at pockets, tell people to remove there hats, etc. I made a note to myself to never go to that bar again...(although they did have Bell's 2-Hearted on tap which is my fav)...So what did I learn?....well, if you don't know a places policies, especially at a bar, conceal deeply. I only had the knife clip showing on my pocket. It could have been any number of things, but the bouncer knew. I still get the feeling that because of the lack of signage, that the place may have had the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Anyway, the bouncer was overall as cool as a bouncer can be about it, and he didn't notice the pistol in my pocket, which gave me further confidence that my LCP does not noticeably print
