FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. -- Gun rights advocates are going to start bringing guns into restaurants in Fairfax County to make a point to Virginia lawmakers.
When Dave Vann of Falls Church dines out, he brings his appetite and, sometimes, his Glock handgun, holstered at his waist in plain sight.
"Suppose I have to come to the aid of someone," Vann said.
Vann is part of a group called the Virginia Citizen's Defense League, and each weekend in April, dozens of members will go to Fairfax County restaurants with their legally holstered handguns.
They're not happy that northern Virginia state Sen. Dick Saslaw said restaurant owners don't want citizens with guns in their businesses.
"The ones that I've talked to have said that if somebody came in there and they weren't a law enforcement officer, just with a gun strapped on their hip like that, a six-shooter, they would probably tell them to leave," said Saslaw, D-Fairfax.
"We intend to show that he is absolutely wrong when he says we're going to be denied service and we're going to be kicked out," Vann said.
It is legal for people who have permits to carry guns, and Vann made his point by wearing a gun to the Ocean M restaurant in McLean.
Vann knows the owner, Paul Zucconi, and Vann said he has never been kicked out.
"I would just assume again that if they're carrying it, they've got to be licensed to do so," Zucconi said.
Customers sitting nearby said Vann's gun made them uncomfortable.
"If 60 people showed up at a restaurant where I was, armed, I'd leave," said one man.
Some restaurant owners agree with Saslaw. Randy Norton, the owner of Artie's in Fairfax Circle, said he's making a new rule because of the controversy: only law enforcement officers can bring guns inside.
"All our restaurants are family restaurants. We have kids, and we just don't need people wearing guns in restaurants," Norton said.
Virginia law allows people with a concealed gun permit to go into a restaurant that serves alcohol and keep their guns in plain view. They cannot order alcohol.
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