The Riverside Café in Wichita, Kan., has a new recipe for keeping thieves and other malcontents away from its restaurant. It has posted a sign in the window that clearly welcomes those who carry.
Given that the picture made it on Facebook, the social media response has been as expected, with a lot of back-and-forth that mirrors the divide the topic of guns holds in this nation.
The post focuses on the sign itself, with the homepage photo showing the front of the restaurant with the sign in it. “Guns are welcome on our premises,” the sign says, with the accompanying post saying, “We fully support the Second Amendment.”
The owner of the Riverside Café, Paul Cohlmia, didn’t create the Facebook post, leaving that determination to the person in charge of his restaurant’s social media presence. But he stands by it.
After the post generated some heated debate, Cohlmia wrote something up to post on Facebook to explain his position. “Have been broken in to 16 times, and robbed 3 time [sic] with a knife to my face.”
A reporter from The Wichita Eagle later contacted him to expand on his view. He intimated that while property theft doesn’t strike fear in his heart, when someone puts a knife to his face, the situation becomes way more personal, and that is what has led him to publicize his support of the Second Amendment.
“I just don't want to be a number,” he told the reporter. “I don't want to be in that situation ever again. It is scary, and everybody wants to give their two cents, but when it comes down to being robbed, it's a whole different story.”
While the sign has been displayed for more than a decade, Cohlmia said he was surprised by the response once the picture and post hit Facebook. As for those who said they’d never set foot in his business again, well, Cohlmia probably just shrugs his shoulders because he knows he can’t please everybody, but he certainly values the concept of personal protection.
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