Don't take your guns to George Webb's

Posted: March 9, 2010

Village of Sussex — Like some of the saloons in the Old West, customers at the George Webb Restaurant near the intersection of Highways 164 and VV are being told not to bring guns with them.

Dan Mueller, who grew up in the village and now lives in Hartford, is the local George Webb franchisee who also owns George Webb restaurants in Hartford and West Bend. He said it is his policy not to allow guns to be carried into the restaurants.

He said he posted a sign on the door of the Sussex restaurant because of an incident last month involving an individual who carried a side arm into the China Wok on east Main Street.

Mueller said he was also alerted to the possibility that some individuals might carry side arms into local restaurants unless there is a sign posted on the door forbidding it.

He said signs have not been posted at his Hartford and West Bend establishments because "it has not become an issue" at those locations.

He said he was concerned that customers may feel uncomfortable. "If they see someone sitting at the counter with a gun strapped on" or that someone might walk into the restaurant during third shift hours wearing a gun. The restaurant is one of the few establishments in Lake Country open 24 hours.

"We have customers who have stopped at a bar for a few drinks after working third shift before coming here to eat. I don't want a situation where there is someone carrying a gun," he said.

"I am a hunter. I own guns. I support the open carry law and people's second amendment rights. But I get concerned when some of my customers are uncomfortable and I want to control what is going in the restaurant," he added.

"It's like the saloons in the old west where you had to check your guns at the door. I don't want people carrying guns into the restaurant," he concluded.

The Wisconsin Attorney General's office issued a legal memorandum last summer confirming that state law permits residents of the state, with some exceptions, to carry unconcealed fire arms.

After the memorandum was issued, deputies with the Waukesha County Sheriff's office, which provides contractual police services to both the village and Town of Lisbon, explained to municipal officials the policies that would determine how sheriff's deputies would react to individuals openly carrying guns.

Individuals would be asked to remove the weapons or would be subject to arrest if carrying guns in establishments that had a posted a policy prohibiting guns, according to the policy.

On Feb. 15, two state troopers asked Town of Lisbon resident Joseph Schneider to return a gun to the trunk of his car after he wore into the China Wok. There was no sign posted at the door of the establishment and it was unclear whether the business had a policy against guns in the restaurant.

Gun rights advocates with Wisconsin Carry Inc. protested the troopers' actions, arguing they no right to question Schneider and ask him not to carry the gun in the restaurant.

A spokesperson for the state police, said the troopers questioned Schneider because they were concerned he might be impersonating a police office because of law enforcement style equipment found in his car.