Page 1 of 1
Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:01 pm
by 68blackbird
Was talikng to a buddy of mine and he told me he was planning a trip to Laredo from Corpus. I had showed him the 30.06 forum, so he called around Laredo looking for a CHL friendly hotel. He told me that he usually stays at Hilton's, so he called and was told that they were NOT gun friendly, he said too bad, I am throwing away my Gold Card membership and will be staying elsewhere. Next place he called was Best Western on Hospitality Drive. My buddy asked the same question about CHL, the lady replies "oh yes, no problem, we even have safes in the room to secure them"....needless to say, he booked the room. I just wanted to share this info, we usually past No guns allowed establishments,thought I recommend someone a bit more kind to our type.
Re: Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:32 pm
by fickman
That's good to know, but respectfully, I would encourage your friend not to call and ask those questions in the future. . .
- They may tell you guns aren't allowed and only be referring to a gun buster sign or private company policy.
- Even if it's not posted, he could end up receiving oral notice not to carry.
- Many people around us have no conscious thought that we're among them. Asking this could lead to nervousness, panic, and a clerk or manager calling around to find out, "How can we keep those GUNS out?"
- A lot of people feel that you would be OK to carry in your hotel room even in a 30.06 posted hotel. You just can't carry on your person hanging out in the (restaurants, lobby, meeting rooms, etc.) YMMV when decided whether - and how - to take a firearm to your room.
Thanks for the info on Best Western! Glad to know that at least that location actually appreciates the 2A crowd.
Re: Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:37 pm
by 68blackbird
I would encourage your friend not to call and ask those questions in the future. . .
- They may tell you guns aren't allowed and only be referring to a gun buster sign or private company policy.
Actually I did,
he "snapped" when I told the possble consquences....
Re: Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 3:14 pm
by fickman
There's no way to stop everybody. Try the phrase, "It doesn't help to scare the sheep!"
I tried to call a theater (concert venue) years ago to find out if they were 51% thinking that most bartenders would be familiar with the phrase. He wasn't and every roundabout way I tried to get the answer from him didn't work. I don't think he was being coy. . . it just wasn't on his radar at all.
I called to check on their status for a concert I was planning to go to that night:
Me: Are ya'll a 51% establishment?
BT: What?
Me: Does more than 51% of your revenue come from alcohol? You should have a sign from TABC posted if so.
BT: What? We sell a lot of drinks. People come out, they have fun. We sell good food and cold drinks.
Me: But is it more than half the business?
BT: I don't know. We sell drinks. People enjoy themselves. It's fun. Good music. Good food. Cold drinks. What do you need?
Me: Is there a manager around who might know?
BT: No. What does it matter?
Me (trying to think outside the box. . . back then, Dallas' smoking law said "no smoking" in restaurants, but you still could in bars): Can people smoke there?
BT: Nope. We're non-smoking.
Me (realizing that just because they're non-smoking doesn't mean they're not 51%, they could have just decided to be non-smoking): Is there a manager who would know about the 51% sign?
BT: Look, buddy, what's going on? Why would it matter?
Me: There's a few ways it could matter to somebody.
BT: Like what?
Me (grasping for straws, not wanting to say the "G" word): Somebody could be on probation and prohibited from going to bars, which might use 51% establishments as the rule.
BT: Are you on probation?
Me: No. I'm just trying to figure out. . .
BT: What would it matter? When is it used?
Me (flustered): Well, for instance, if somebody had a CHL, they can't carry into a 51% establishment.
BT: What's a CHL?
Me: Concealed handgun license
BT: ARE YOU BRINGING A GUN TO THE SHOW TONIGHT?!
Me (kicking myself, and trying to avoid oral notice, even though I'm still anonymous): No. . . I'm asking for a buddy who had a DWI a few years ago and we thought about coming to next weekend's concert.
BT: Oh. I don't know. You'll have to call this week and ask for the owner.
Me (tail tucked between legs): OK. I'll do that. See ya'll next weekend.
I had visions of the gun topic being brought up at their next staff meeting. As careful as I thought I could be, I put it on their radar. They weren't 51% back then but have become so now (they have two windows that serve alcohol - and I'd be surprised if it outsold their food + ticket prices. The bar stands probably have their own business designation, but the way they filled out the paperwork, the whole building became 51%).
Whoops. That was my last time to even try to creatively decipher an establishment's status on the phone. What a train wreck.
Re: Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 3:22 pm
by Gameover
fickman wrote:There's no way to stop everybody. Try the phrase, "It doesn't help to scare the sheep!"
I tried to call a theater (concert venue) years ago to find out if they were 51% thinking that most bartenders would be familiar with the phrase. He wasn't and every roundabout way I tried to get the answer from him didn't work. I don't think he was being coy. . . it just wasn't on his radar at all.
I called to check on their status for a concert I was planning to go to that night:
Me: Are ya'll a 51% establishment?
BT: What?
Me: Does more than 51% of your revenue come from alcohol? You should have a sign from TABC posted if so.
BT: What? We sell a lot of drinks. People come out, they have fun. We sell good food and cold drinks.
Me: But is it more than half the business?
BT: I don't know. We sell drinks. People enjoy themselves. It's fun. Good music. Good food. Cold drinks. What do you need?
Me: Is there a manager around who might know?
BT: No. What does it matter?
Me (trying to think outside the box. . . back then, Dallas' smoking law said "no smoking" in restaurants, but you still could in bars): Can people smoke there?
BT: Nope. We're non-smoking.
Me (realizing that just because they're non-smoking doesn't mean they're not 51%, they could have just decided to be non-smoking): Is there a manager who would know about the 51% sign?
BT: Look, buddy, what's going on? Why would it matter?
Me: There's a few ways it could matter to somebody.
BT: Like what?
Me (grasping for straws, not wanting to say the "G" word): Somebody could be on probation and prohibited from going to bars, which might use 51% establishments as the rule.
BT: Are you on probation?
Me: No. I'm just trying to figure out. . .
BT: What would it matter? When is it used?
Me (flustered): Well, for instance, if somebody had a CHL, they can't carry into a 51% establishment.
BT: What's a CHL?
Me: Concealed handgun license
BT: ARE YOU BRINGING A GUN TO THE SHOW TONIGHT?!
Me (kicking myself, and trying to avoid oral notice, even though I'm still anonymous): No. . . I'm asking for a buddy who had a DWI a few years ago and we thought about coming to next weekend's concert.
BT: Oh. I don't know. You'll have to call this week and ask for the owner.
Me (tail tucked between legs): OK. I'll do that. See ya'll next weekend.
I had visions of the gun topic being brought up at their next staff meeting. As careful as I thought I could be, I put it on their radar. They weren't 51% back then but have become so now (they have two windows that serve alcohol - and I'd be surprised if it outsold their food + ticket prices. The bar stands probably have their own business designation, but the way they filled out the paperwork, the whole building became 51%).
Whoops. That was my last time to even try to creatively decipher an establishment's status on the phone. What a train wreck.
Re: Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:18 pm
by gregthehand
Don't rattle the monkey cage and then get upset when the monkey makes noise. Calling ahead to a hotel and asking "If I can bring muh gun" is trolling.
Re: Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:08 pm
by rp_photo
fickman wrote:That's good to know, but respectfully, I would encourage your friend not to call and ask those questions in the future. . . .
Absolutely correct. Nothing good is going to come from asking.
Re: Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:26 pm
by 68blackbird
68blackbird wrote:I would encourage your friend not to call and ask those questions in the future. . .
- They may tell you guns aren't allowed and only be referring to a gun buster sign or private company policy.
Actually I did, he "snapped" when I told the possble consquences....
Re: Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:34 pm
by cheezit
just wondering. one you rent a hotel room is it then a place of residence, simular to a camp grounds camping site thats not on fed land?
Re: Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 10:43 pm
by Maxwell
cheezit wrote:just wondering. one you rent a hotel room is it then a place of residence, simular to a camp grounds camping site thats not on fed land?
I can't remember the exact statute but I believe you are correct. As the room is under your control you are allowed to defend it, and that includes having a firearm.
My understanding, and yes i hope I will not be the test case, is that:
1, T he hotel can not prevent me (read legally allowed person) from having a gun in my vehicle.
2, By law it is legal for me to transport that gun from my vehicle to my place of residence whether it is a temporary or permanent residence.
3, I can have my gun in my place of residence.
So as long as I don't loiter in the general areas of a 30.06 posted hotel I have not broken the law.
But IANAL.
Re: Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 11:08 pm
by apostate
It doesn't surprise me. I once checked in at a Best Western while openly wearing a 1911.
Re: Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 11:35 pm
by 68blackbird
Maxwell wrote:cheezit wrote:just wondering. one you rent a hotel room is it then a place of residence, simular to a camp grounds camping site thats not on fed land?
I can't remember the exact statute but I believe you are correct. As the room is under your control you are allowed to defend it, and that includes having a firearm.
My understanding, and yes i hope I will not be the test case, is that:
1, T he hotel can not prevent me (read legally allowed person) from having a gun in my vehicle.
2, By law it is legal for me to transport that gun from my vehicle to my place of residence whether it is a temporary or permanent residence.
3, I can have my gun in my place of residence.
So as long as I don't loiter in the general areas of a 30.06 posted hotel I have not broken the law.
But IANAL.
This is discussed here...
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=36063
Re: Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 9:50 am
by dac1842
I recently stayed at a Springhill Suites, which is Marriott hotel. At the entrance they had a 51% sign. The only bar they had was open for about 4 hours at night, There is no way that alcohol makes up 51% of their sales. There is a movement among come chains to attempt to bar concealed carry. Thank God their managers or lawyers are too dumb to know which sign to post.
Re: Best Western - Guns allowed...
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 10:40 pm
by srothstein
Dac1842,
that might be a real and legit 51% sign, even with those limits. If the bar is run by a contractor (separate business entity), their license might be a real 51% license. And they could cover the whole hotel so that people can take alcohol to their rooms or allow for room service. It is a weird loophole that we have discussed before for bowling alleys and the like.