Chipotle Caves to Gun Control Activists, Texas YR Chairman Responds

Gun control advocates are claiming victory as Chipotle announces a new policy asking customers not to bring guns in any of their 1,600 nationwide locations. Their statement came in response to a petition titled Burritos, Not Bullets, which featured a group photo of Texans posing with their long guns outside a Chipotle in Dallas, TX this weekend.

Dear Chipotle,

I am intimately familiar with the Chipotle in Dallas that prompted your letter. I worked in the same building for most of last year and took French classes at El Centro Community College across the street a few years before that. I can still picture the smiling faces of the Chipotle employees who greeted me for lunch 2-3 times a week. I would never want to expose them or others to harm.

What you may not realize is the West End (where this Chipotle is located) is not exactly the safest part of Dallas. I still remember the night in 2010 when I was walking back to my car after French class at the community college, which is a gun-free zone, when I was followed into a dark parking lot by two young men who began shouting at me as they followed me to my car. Once they were safely out of public view, one of them flashed a weapon at me as I drove off as fast as possible. I was shaken up enough that I carried a screwdriver to class for the rest of the semester so that I would have something more than my bare hands in case I was attacked leaving a future class. This occurred directly in front of the Chipotle in question. And lest you think this was an isolated incident, my boss in that Chipotle building last year, an African-American lady who supported Obama, carried her gun at work every day. I wish she had been there in the parking lot the night I was followed.

What you may not have considered is those who would regularly open carry their guns are some of the least likely to commit crimes. Why would someone likely to commit a future gun crime begin by carrying their gun in plain sight of hundreds of witnesses? Wouldn't a criminal want to stay beneath the radar and avoid detection? It’s not just common sense that supports this claim; the data supports it as well.

In Texas, over half a million individuals over age 21 have been granted Concealed Handgun Licenses (CHL’s) by the state. In 2012, the most recent year with data, there were 63,272 criminal convictions in Texas. Of those, only 120 involved CHL holders (0.19%). That works out to a conviction rate of 23 per 100,000 CHL holders, compared to 362 per 100,000 of the general public (over age 21).

If you truly want your customers to be safe, might I suggest surrounding them with responsible gun owners, not keeping us away. If you want them to feel safe, point to a responsible Texan with a gun, and show them the data.

In your attempt to pacify progressives who are so close-minded they would rather take away our constitutional rights than tolerate our values, you have allowed yourself to be played like a pawn by activists who care far less about your business than they care about advancing their liberal agenda.

By caving to emotion against the hard data, you are promoting irresponsible behavior. By siding with intolerant liberal activists, you are discriminating against responsible gun owners. As a responsible gun owner, I will respect your request and will do my best to keep my guns and myself away from your delicious burritos. I hope you have a change of heart.

Richard Morgan
State Chairman,
Texas Young Republican Federation