RIFLE, Colo. – Servers at a restaurant in Rifle, Colorado, do not just carry a pen and pad, they also pack heat. Guns can be found all around Shooters Grill.
“It’s not a gimmick, it’s a way of life here, actually until recently, nobody said much about it,” Shooters Grill owner Lauren Boebert said.
The idea to open carry her gun inside her restaurant started as a way to exercise her Second Amendment rights, Boebert said. The open carry concept soon caught on with her employees.
"I don't see why you should have to hide the fact that you own a firearm or hide the fact that you're wearing one, so I absolutely love what we're doing here," server Ashlee Saenz said.
The guns are strapped tightly in their servers' holsters and have special release buttons to help avoid mishaps.
But if someone came to the restaurant to cause trouble?
"We have so many patrons that conceal carry, open carry, I believe that someone would be on the ground before we could even get our firearm out of our holster," Saenz said.
Servers who carry guns are trained to conceal carry. The bullets in the guns are "defense grade."
"A lot of people are shocked that I carry such a big gun and everyone wants to ask questions and their first question is always, do you know how to shoot it? And I do," Saenz said.
