A uniformed law enforcement officer was asked to leave a Cleveland, Tennessee, Outback Steakhouse restaurant on Friday because he was carrying his service pistol on his hip.
The Outback restaurant manager said the officer needed to leave because the restaurant is a “gun free zone.”
The officer, Andrew Ward, with the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency, used a Facebook post to explain what happened:
News Channel 9 reports that the restaurant’s regional manager and the VP of operations for Outback “apologized profusely” when learning of the incident.
And Outback’s parent company, Bloomin Brands, released a statement: “We’ve always allowed uniformed law enforcement officers to carry their side arms inside our restaurants. A manager made a mistake and we have discussed this with her. We have contacted the guest personally and apologized.”
Ward suggests the misunderstanding began when another customer filed a complaint, saying they were scared because “police are shooting people.”
Outback is reportedly sending Ward a $100 gift certificate.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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