Jersey Mike’s apologized to Parkland shooting father and gun control activist Fred Guttenberg this week after he complained about a man openly carrying firearms in one of their restaurants.
The dust-up started Saturday after Twitter user @CombatCavScout posted a photo of a man waiting in line at Jersey Mike’s while carrying two firearms on his hip.
“Dude. It’s @jerseymikes, not Fallujah,” @CombatCavScout captioned the photo. “You think you need a 1911 and an M&P to get a sub, but the thing that’s gonna kill you is cholesterol. Also, zero retention on that M&P. If I could walk up behind you in line and take your gun, you shouldn’t have it.”
As the tweet started gathering steam, Jersey Mike’s fired off at least eight responses making light of the situation, Business Insider reported.
“If the laws were up to us, we’d make it so everyone had to eat Jersey Mike’s Subs on Sunday,” the sandwich chain wrote.
The tweets have since been deleted, but not before Mr. Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, took notice.
“As most who follow me know, my daughter was a victim of gun violence,” Mr. Guttenberg tweeted. “@jerseymikes, I will never eat in one of your restaurants again. Mocking the desire of customers to be safe when eating is a bad idea. Thankfully, the laws are not up to you.
“Here is a photo of the customer that started this. @jerseymikes should ban open carry in their restaurants and here is why,” he added. “This customer was to incompetent to even properly secure this weapon and @jerseymikes turn that into a joke. Somebody could have died because of this.”
Here is a photo of the customer that started this. @jerseymikes should ban open carry in their restaurants and here is why. This customer was to incompetent to even properly secure this weapon and @jerseymikes turn that into a joke. Somebody could have died because of this. pic.twitter.com/KR0UeEGrWm
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) October 28, 2019
The incident sparked the hashtag #BoycottJerseyMikes, and by Monday evening, the chain apologized.
“Thank you. We apologize. We always want to do better,” Jersey Mike’s tweeted. The company has not made any other statements regarding the controversy.
Mr. Guttenberg told Business Insider that he has not heard further from Jersey Mike’s, “other than the unacceptable form response.”
“My advice to them would be to take this more seriously,” he said. “This customer could have gotten somebody killed. Failure to address this with a policy change will not only lead to loss of customers but increased liability as they are on record as choosing to do nothing but joke about it.”
