'Steer clear': Message at bottom of Texas restaurant receipt sparks criticism from NRA

DALLAS, Texas – The NRA is asking its members to steer clear of a Dallas breakfast joint that advertised a portion of its proceeds would be donated to "organizations dedicated to implementing reasonable and effective gun regulations."

In a Tweet posted Friday, the NRA asked its annual meeting attendees to "steer clear of Ellen’s in downtown Dallas! Why go there when there are so many other great choices?"

Dallas is hosting the NRA's annual convention this weekend and, as a result, Ellen's advertised it would donate a portion of the week's proceeds to organizations that work to implement "reasonable and effective gun regulations."

The restaurant posted Friday that its message was misconstrued because of a character limitand that it "100 percent" supports the constitution, "including the second amendment."

"We believe our position is anything but controversial," according to a post on the restaurant's Facebook page. "Rather, it is the American way of dealing with problems. Historically, every time we have had a big challenge, we have come together -- Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, and Liberals -- and put our collective brain power and dedication to the task.

"No one wants children to die in their classrooms. No one wants police to be killed in the line of duty. The differences we have are in our approach. But we can fix it if we breathe, calm down, and listen to one another. As Americans, that's what we are supposed to do."

Some defended the restaurant's position.

Others took the restaurant's Facebook page to leave bad reviews. While many of the 1 star reviews were blank, some explained they didn't support the restaurant because of the message included at the bottom of the receipt.

"No business should push a political agenda on their customers," one person wrote.

Ellen's owner Joe Groves told television station KTVT that no NRA member wants kids or police officers to get killed and that "people like me don't want to take their guns away either. Can we not have both?"

Ellen's began printing the message on receipts Friday. It later added that such regulations should protect Second Amendment rights and "help reduce needless gun violence."

But NRA member Patricia Ferguson wasn't having it. She told KTVT, "we don't want any more gun regulations."