Who are the 2A “Good Guys” in Business?

I post on Reddit under the Triangle Tactical account quite a bit these days. You’ll find me mostly in /r/CCW and a handful of other gun related subreddits.

Recently there was a thread about how Dave & Busters (the adult arcade chain) had posted a sign banning open carry in their stores and that they were somehow “good guys” for doing this.

Commenters were implying that the banning of open carry was somehow a wink and a nod for folks who carry to just keep their gun concealed. I commented saying that I had a hard time labeling a business that bans open carry as “good guys” and my comment was downvoted relentlessly.

Ouch.

I feel like many are reading too far into this open carry ban. Over the past two years or so, we’ve seen Starbucks, Target, Panera Bread, and a host of other businesses make public statements that they don’t want people to carry guns in their stores, but none of these places have actually changed their policies regarding concealed or open carry. It’s a brilliant strategy that gets the anti-gun misguided moms off their back while still allowing responsible citizens to carry in their stores. When each of these businesses made their statement, the 2A community went up in arms, and lots of people decided not to shop at these businesses.

So, why is it that Dave & Busters are the “good guys” for banning open carry, but these other businesses that haven’t banned anything are the bad guys?