By: Jeff Sabin, WOWT Channel 6
While Nebraska Furniture Mart will start allowing concealed weapons on Monday, many other stores in the Omaha area already allow patrons to carry concealed weapons.
Nettie’s Mexican Restaurant in Bellevue not only allows concealed weapons, they encourage it with a poster just inside the front door.
Kathy Boyles, one of the owners at Nettie’s, says most of her customers like to know that concealed weapons are welcome.
“We’ve had some comment, ‘I don’t like the sign.’ But there’s really been no negative,” said Boyles. “There’s really never been someone say I’m not going to eat here because of that sign.”
She says they consider the sign a deterrent to criminals.
“If somebody that comes in that wants to hurt us, he knows that there’s probably going to be somebody here to protect themselves,” Boyles said.
Concealed weapons are allowed in many businesses across the metro. And concealed carry permit holders already know which ones they are.
Shea Degan is the owner of 88 Tactical, a company that provides training for concealed carry permit holders. “By state law they have to be aware of what businesses allow concealed carry and which ones don’t,” Degan said. “So those folks are going to know which ones are CCW unfriendly. And the folks who don’t have permits aren’t going to really pay attention.”
The Nebraska Firearms Association posts a list of businesses on their web site that ban concealed weapons. A number of large businesses that are not on the list include Walmart Target, Bakers, and HyVee.
