Texas Pro-Gun Activists Kicked Out of Chili's and Sonic

Members of gun activist group Open Carry Texas were kicked out of two Texas dining establishments over the past two weeks: According to videos obtained by Mother Jones, San Antonio locations of a Sonic Drive-In and Chili's both requested gun-carrying patrons to leave the premises. In the video captured at Sonic, an Open Carry member marvels "that's the second time in a row — dang" after an employee tells the group, who were sitting outdoors with assault weapons, that "I'm not gonna serve y'all." In the latter incident at Chili's, a manager leaves the group to check on the establishment's policy on firearms before ultimately asking them to leave their weapons outside.

In both instances, demonstrators left without incident, but the Open Carry Texas has since released a statement asking members to "immediately cease taking long guns into corporate businesses unless invited." The OC statement refers to past incidents after which "Starbucks, Wendy's, Jack In The Box, Applebees and most recently, Chipotle have come out asking we not carry our firearms into their establishments."

Chili's parent company is now "considering" an outright gun ban after this incident; Sonic has not commented, though its Facebook page has been inundated by commenters encouraging a future ban. The videos:

Video: Open Carry Texas visits Sonic Drive-In

Video: Open Carry Texas visits Chili's

· Gun Activists Flaunting Assault Rifles Get Booted From Chili's and Sonic [Mother Jones]
· Joint Statement on OC of Long Arms [Open Carry Texas]
· All Gun Coverage on Eater [-E-]