Backlash to Chipotle gun request? Perry says ‘We’ll see’

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said “we’ll see” when asked if customers would react negatively to Chipotle’s request that customers not bring guns into its restaurants. 

“People get to make decisions about where they shop everyday, and if you want to do that in New York or Texas, that’s your call and then people will decide where they shop,” Perry said Tuesday on CNBC. 

{mosads}On Monday, Chipotle issued a statement saying it is “respectfully asking” customers not to bring guns into its restaurants after an “open carry” demonstration in a Texas restaurant brought “anxiety and discomfort” to other patrons. 

Starbucks and other businesses have made similar requests in the past. 

The restaurant said that historically it has simply complied with local laws. 

“However, because the display of firearms in our restaurants has now created an environment that is potentially intimidating or uncomfortable for many of our customers, we think it is time to make this request,” the company said in a statement, acknowledging there are strong arguments on both sides of the issue. 

“And we hope that our customers who oppose the carrying of guns in public agree with us that it is the role of elected officials and the legislative process to set policy in this area, not the role of businesses like Chipotle.”

The statement came a few days after Moms Demand Action for Guns, a group formed by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, issued a petition asking it to prohibit guns in its stores. 

“Together, we’re changing America’s culture of gun violence one company, one law, one legislator at a time,” the group wrote on its website, celebrating its victory. 

In Texas and other states that allow gun owners to carry concealed firearms, private businesses are allowed to prohibit people from carrying guns on their property. A business in Texas must post visible signs in both English and Spanish to comply with the law.