Item: Guns and biscuits: Port Allen eatery offers discount to patrons packing heat
PORT ALLEN — Business has been booming at Bergeron’s Restaurant since owner Kevin Cox came up with an emphatic declaration of his support for the Second Amendment: offering any gun-toting customers a reduced price on their meals.
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Cox, who wouldn’t say if he owns a gun, said the new policy — which went into effect two weeks ago — was initially born of his desire to offer a special discount to law enforcement officers, something many businesses already do. But watching campaigns for stiffer gun control laws heat up following high-profile mass shootings, Cox said he was reminded how secure he felt whenever his gun-toting friends or family members visited the restaurant. So, he ended up expanding the idea.
While I don't doubt Mr. Cox's support for the principle of the right to bear arms, his new policy has certainly proved a boon to Bergeron's business. The discount has brought in more business than he's accustomed to.
“Today will be the busiest Tuesday I’ve ever had; and Saturday was the day I felt the real impact,” Cox said during the lunch rush. “It has just been crazy good. And most of them don’t even carry guns. They’re just happy I support the Second Amendment and they’re supporting the policy.”
Port Allen is a working-class community just over the Mississippi bridge from Baton Rouge, home to a diverse population, a lot of rail yards and tank farms serving the petroleum industry, as well as the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, the upriver limit for deepwater shipping from the Gulf and a busy transshipment point for barge traffic from upriver. The popularity of the restaurant's new policy is understandable given the makeup of the community, and the simplicity of the idea.
The policy is simple: To get the discount a customer can walk in with a gun visibly on display in a holster, or can simply show the weapon to the cashier while ordering.
It should be noted that, in most establishments, when a customer shows a weapon to the cashier when placing an order, the discount is more substantial.