2AO Way to Go for 2nd Amendment Supporters

It almost happened to me recently. I almost spent big bucks at a restaurant in Alexandria, Va., owned by an anti-gun senator in Washington D.C. Thankfully, one of the members of our dinner party knew that fact beforehand and we went to a different, gun-friendly place. But how do you know? When you're out there hunting and want to eat dinner somewhere, or even if you want to take your best suit to the dry cleaners, wouldn't it be nice to know that the owners are of the same mindset as you?

Thanks to a new organization, 2AO, you can find out if businesses in a 50-mile radius from your location are pro-2nd Amendment and if you are inclined, visit their businesses.

2A0 is new this year. It started because Bryan Crosswhite owns a restaurant, The Cajun Experience, in Leesburg, Va., that hosts Open Carry Wednesday. Some of his patrons asked, Where are the other restaurants that do this? So, Bryan put up a website that listed pro-2nd Amendment places. When the website launched, the Washington Times picked up the story immediately, as did The Blaze and NRA News. I had to build a website within two hours because of the amount of press we were getting … we're getting a business a minute launching at our website. The site also offers personal memberships.

We're going to use the Zagat model for businesses. We'll send a new decal with the new year on it, annually, upon renewal, said Bryan.

Our organization is focused on those businesses that are pro-2nd Amendment, not those people who are not. We are not an organization that is targeting people. We're not a pro-gun organization. We are a pro-rights organization, stated Bryan.

We'll be informing our members about things that are going on in D.C. … we want to be that voice for small business owners, he added.

When asked how he has time for this organization, he said, I don't … I've asked my partner to take over the new restaurants (They have 10 in the works.) and I am going to devote my time to this organization. Since I'm in downtown D.C., it's the perfect place to be. I'm a few blocks from the White House.

Walmart - the corporate office - has signed up, along with other businesses, and some police stations.

Currently, 2A0 has an app for the iPhone and Android in the works. It's being created by two developers in San Francisco. One of them, Chris Timberlake, is the third cousin of Justin Timberlake. We need to convince Justin to support the 2nd Amendment, said Bryan, Chris is going to build us an app that is going to work so that if you're in Alexandria, Va., or Baton Rouge, La., and you want to go out to eat and you want to see who's pro-2nd Amendment, you can see that in a 50-mile radius. The app and website do not list publically all of the supporters. A lot of organizations want to post all their members on a website. We're not about that; we want to keep it private, said Bryan. That policy makes it more difficult for the anti-gun organizations to target businesses easily.

Memberships are free. Donations are accepted. 2AO is looking at corporate sponsorship program. 'This is not about money to us; it's about a cause, said Bryan.

Visit 2A0.