Waitresses at Colorado eatery carry loaded guns

Jessie Spaulding a waitress at the Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colo., brings food to a table, June 23. 2014. The western Colorado restaurant doesn’t just allow open gun carrying its waitresses carry loaded weapons right on their hips. At Shooters Grill in Rifle, open display of firearms is encouraged. A sign on the front door reads, “Guns are welcome on premises. Please keep all weapons holstered, unless the need arises. In such cases, judicious marksmanship is appreciated.” The restaurant also hosts concealed carry training that qualifies customers for Colorado and Utah permits. The $75 price tag includes dinner. (AP Photo/Glenwood Springs Post Independent, Christopher Mullen) Jessie Spaulding a waitress at the Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colo., brings food to a table, June 23. 2014. The western Colorado restaurant doesn’t just allow open gun carrying its waitresses carry loaded weapons right on their hips. At Shooters Grill in Rifle, open display of firearms is encouraged. A sign on the front door reads, “Guns are welcome on premises. Please keep all weapons holstered, unless the need arises. In such cases, judicious marksmanship is appreciated.” The restaurant also hosts concealed carry training that qualifies customers for Colorado and Utah permits. The $75 price tag includes dinner. (AP Photo/Glenwood Springs Post Independent, Christopher Mullen)

By Associated Press July 3, 2014 3 min read

RIFLE, Colo. (AP) – Many stores and restaurants are telling people not to bring their guns inside, but one western Colorado restaurant not only embraces the practice of packing heat, it encourages its customers to carry openly – and its waitresses do, too.

As she takes your order at Shooters Grill in the town of Rifle – yes, Rifle – waitress Ashlee Saenz carries a pad, pen and a loaded Ruger .357 Blackhawk revolver holstered on her leg, Old West style.

It’s loaded, and she knows how to use it.

Colorado is among the states where openly carrying a gun in public is legal. The issue has made headlines after gun rights activists carrying loaded rifles gathered in Target stores in Texas, Alabama and North Carolina to demonstrate their support of “open carry” laws. On Wednesday, Target Corp. asked its customers “respectfully” to not bring firearms into stores, even where allowed by law.

But in Rifle, Saenz, her co-workers and her customers at Shooters Grill are encouraged to bring their holstered guns in the restaurant, The Glenwood Springs Post Independent reports (http://bit.ly/1nOVk8R ).