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Published Wednesday**|**March 28, 2007
Few merchants see need to post no-weapons sign
BY JOHN KEENAN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Signs you'll see at the entrance of O'Connor's Irish Pub in the Old Market:
An apartment building at 16th and Harney Streets is one business that has opted to display a sign informing people who enter that concealed handguns aren't allowed there.
"Restrooms are for customers only."
"City Council: Please Send in the Non-Smokers."
What you won't see is a "No Concealed Weapons" sign reminding customers that bars are among the few businesses in Nebraska where it is illegal to carry a gun.
Almost three months after the start of a state law allowing people to carry concealed weapons, signs banning guns from privately owned businesses haven't exactly popped up all over the Omaha area.
In fact, although some chains such as Bag 'N Save have posted signs and shopping malls such as Westroads Mall have added "no weapons" clauses to their posted codes of conduct, many small businesses haven't seen the need. And at least one that did later reconsidered.
Under the law, concealed handguns are banned from some businesses, including bars and financial institutions. Other businesses and employers can ban concealed weapons from their property by posting a sign that guns are not allowed.
Weapon permits
1,026 - The number of concealed carry permit applications received by the Nebraska State Patrol since January.
605 - Permits have been issued
421 - Applications are pending
O'Connor's Pub owner Katie O'Connor said she didn't think a sign was necessary.
"The ones you need to be afraid of don't have licenses for their guns anyway," she said.
At the Nebraska Clothing Co. in the Old Market, owner Brad Ashford said he intended to put up signs but never got around to it.
And now, he said, "It does not seem to be a problem."
If he saw a customer carrying a gun, he'd probably ask the person to leave the store, said Ashford, who also is a state senator.
"Of course," he added, "if I could see the gun, it wouldn't be concealed."
Ashford isn't alone in his laissez-faire approach. On the three-block stretch between 13th and 10th Streets, none of the more than 30 merchants on Howard Street had posted a "No Concealed Weapons" sign in its windows.
At Countryside Village, Diana Abbott, manager of the Bookworm, which does not have a sign, laughed at the question.
"It's not like a robber is going to look at the sign and say, 'Oh, I'm not going to rob the place.'"
Downtown resident Brian Nicol said he was visiting relatives in Minnesota just after that state's concealed-carry law went into effect in 2003, and the difference between there and here was stark.
"It seemed as if there were signs in every bar and restaurant in Minneapolis," he said. "It seemed almost in-your-face. You don't see that down here."
Omaha attorney Scott S. Moore, a partner in the law firm Baird Holm, said many of his business clients contacted him asking if they needed to post signs.
"More folks are opting to say they're going to just run with the law rather than posting a sign," he said.
Some have said the signs would clutter their entryways, ruining the look as people enter the businesses, Moore said.
"I expected a lot of folks to (post). I see the no-smoking signs go up, but I haven't noticed the 'No Concealed Weapons.'"
Moore said business owners probably studied the law and were satisfied with the conditions placed on people carrying guns. Business owners, he said, may have concluded, "if the State of Nebraska has determined that these are people they're going allow a permit to, and take the coursework and go through the background check . . . why should (they) be overriding that policy?"
On a practical side, Moore said, it's hard to enforce such a ban. How, he asked, would business owners know if a customer has a weapon?
The Nebraska Humane Society posted a sign, spokesman Pam Wiese said, because animal control officers write citations and enforce laws.
"We sometimes run up against people who are emotionally charged, who aren't necessarily pleased with the situation that brings them to the center," Wiese said. "So just to maintain as much safety as possible, we felt it was important to post it."
For some businesses, though, the issue hasn't even made their radar screen.
"We never even thought about it, to be honest," said Dave Butler, co-owner of TenthPenny, a comic book shop in Bellevue. "It never even crossed our mind."
Greg Cutchall put up a "No Concealed Weapons" sign at his Famous Dave's barbecue restaurant at 71st Street and Ames Avenue, but a customer's reaction persuaded Cutchall to remove it within days.
"He wrote that he was no longer going to do business with us," Cutchall said. "He went on to say how difficult it is for an individual to actually obtain a concealed weapon permit, and that they're law-abiding citizens."
One of the customer's points, Cutchall said, really resonated: The sign wouldn't keep out someone who wanted to rob the place.
"Your business is more important to me than one of 1,000 ways people could sue us," Cutchall wrote back, adding that he would take down the sign.
After he removed the sign, Cutchall said, he received e-mails from other customers applauding his decision and telling him they planned to eat at the restaurant.
"It's a little controversial," Cutchall acknowledged. "There's a group of people who'll say, 'You're going to allow concealed weapons in your restaurant?'"
But concealed weapons are now legal, he pointed out.
"It was kind of taken out of my hands," he said.
Few merchants see need to post no-weapons sign
BY JOHN KEENAN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Signs you'll see at the entrance of O'Connor's Irish Pub in the Old Market:
An apartment building at 16th and Harney Streets is one business that has opted to display a sign informing people who enter that concealed handguns aren't allowed there.
"Restrooms are for customers only."
"City Council: Please Send in the Non-Smokers."
What you won't see is a "No Concealed Weapons" sign reminding customers that bars are among the few businesses in Nebraska where it is illegal to carry a gun.
Almost three months after the start of a state law allowing people to carry concealed weapons, signs banning guns from privately owned businesses haven't exactly popped up all over the Omaha area.
In fact, although some chains such as Bag 'N Save have posted signs and shopping malls such as Westroads Mall have added "no weapons" clauses to their posted codes of conduct, many small businesses haven't seen the need. And at least one that did later reconsidered.
Under the law, concealed handguns are banned from some businesses, including bars and financial institutions. Other businesses and employers can ban concealed weapons from their property by posting a sign that guns are not allowed.
Weapon permits
1,026 - The number of concealed carry permit applications received by the Nebraska State Patrol since January.
605 - Permits have been issued
421 - Applications are pending
O'Connor's Pub owner Katie O'Connor said she didn't think a sign was necessary.
"The ones you need to be afraid of don't have licenses for their guns anyway," she said.
At the Nebraska Clothing Co. in the Old Market, owner Brad Ashford said he intended to put up signs but never got around to it.
And now, he said, "It does not seem to be a problem."
If he saw a customer carrying a gun, he'd probably ask the person to leave the store, said Ashford, who also is a state senator.
"Of course," he added, "if I could see the gun, it wouldn't be concealed."
Ashford isn't alone in his laissez-faire approach. On the three-block stretch between 13th and 10th Streets, none of the more than 30 merchants on Howard Street had posted a "No Concealed Weapons" sign in its windows.
At Countryside Village, Diana Abbott, manager of the Bookworm, which does not have a sign, laughed at the question.
"It's not like a robber is going to look at the sign and say, 'Oh, I'm not going to rob the place.'"
Downtown resident Brian Nicol said he was visiting relatives in Minnesota just after that state's concealed-carry law went into effect in 2003, and the difference between there and here was stark.
"It seemed as if there were signs in every bar and restaurant in Minneapolis," he said. "It seemed almost in-your-face. You don't see that down here."
Omaha attorney Scott S. Moore, a partner in the law firm Baird Holm, said many of his business clients contacted him asking if they needed to post signs.
"More folks are opting to say they're going to just run with the law rather than posting a sign," he said.
Some have said the signs would clutter their entryways, ruining the look as people enter the businesses, Moore said.
"I expected a lot of folks to (post). I see the no-smoking signs go up, but I haven't noticed the 'No Concealed Weapons.'"
Moore said business owners probably studied the law and were satisfied with the conditions placed on people carrying guns. Business owners, he said, may have concluded, "if the State of Nebraska has determined that these are people they're going allow a permit to, and take the coursework and go through the background check . . . why should (they) be overriding that policy?"
On a practical side, Moore said, it's hard to enforce such a ban. How, he asked, would business owners know if a customer has a weapon?
The Nebraska Humane Society posted a sign, spokesman Pam Wiese said, because animal control officers write citations and enforce laws.
"We sometimes run up against people who are emotionally charged, who aren't necessarily pleased with the situation that brings them to the center," Wiese said. "So just to maintain as much safety as possible, we felt it was important to post it."
For some businesses, though, the issue hasn't even made their radar screen.
"We never even thought about it, to be honest," said Dave Butler, co-owner of TenthPenny, a comic book shop in Bellevue. "It never even crossed our mind."
Greg Cutchall put up a "No Concealed Weapons" sign at his Famous Dave's barbecue restaurant at 71st Street and Ames Avenue, but a customer's reaction persuaded Cutchall to remove it within days.
"He wrote that he was no longer going to do business with us," Cutchall said. "He went on to say how difficult it is for an individual to actually obtain a concealed weapon permit, and that they're law-abiding citizens."
One of the customer's points, Cutchall said, really resonated: The sign wouldn't keep out someone who wanted to rob the place.
"Your business is more important to me than one of 1,000 ways people could sue us," Cutchall wrote back, adding that he would take down the sign.
After he removed the sign, Cutchall said, he received e-mails from other customers applauding his decision and telling him they planned to eat at the restaurant.
"It's a little controversial," Cutchall acknowledged. "There's a group of people who'll say, 'You're going to allow concealed weapons in your restaurant?'"
But concealed weapons are now legal, he pointed out.
"It was kind of taken out of my hands," he said.
