Carrying Legally: Conversation with an Atlanta Motel Manager

AmmoLand ^ | July 18, 2025 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

In Atlanta, during coverage of the NRA Annual Meeting in 2025, this correspondent had an interesting conversation with the manager of my motel. The motel was chosen for a low price and a reasonably close location to the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta.

This correspondent has always pursued frugality as a virtue. Frugality can be taken too far. This correspondent may have been close to the edge in choosing a cut-rate motel a few miles from the city center in Atlanta. After registering with the NRA Annual Meeting and picking up press credentials for the event, it was a little before dark on Thursday night when I arrived at the reserved motel. The motel appeared to be a little “sketchy”.  The manager, a middle-aged black man, was behind bulletproof glass. Parking was severely limited. In the lobby, a younger man appeared to be intoxicated and bewildered about where he should be or what he should be doing. Someone kept calling the manager and asking for a particular female employee who was not available.

During the conversation with the manager, this correspondent noticed a “tell” and a print indicating the manager was armed. When it was mentioned that the NRA Annual Meeting was going on, the manager said he supported the NRA.

As the conversation progressed, this correspondent asked for two of the plastic card keys so as to have a backup. The manager said he would like to oblige, but they were running short.

Talking about the NRA led to a conversation about the advantages of being armed. The manager noted he was much more careful about avoiding confrontations now that he was able to carry a weapon legally. He stated that when he had carried illegally in the past, he was more willing to take offense and be aggressive.

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: 2a; atlanta; banglist; black; motel; nra

[marktwain]

Perhaps it was maturity, but the black hotel manager said he was much more careful about avoiding confrontations once he had the ability to legally carry a firearm.

[tired&retired]

Sounds more like maturity, finding and accepting self, and often a relationship with God that removes the fear response.

[riverrunner]

One is suppose to get wiser with age.

[riverrunner]

One is suppose to get wiser with age.

[Jeff Chandler]

It raises the stakes when you are carrying. It makes you more humble. What did that spider guy say?

[Cincinnatus.45-70]

Great report/article. Thanks for posting it.

[ConservativeMind]

I think I’ve been at such hotels…

[Leaning Right]

> I think I’ve been at such hotels… <

A friend of mine gets a nice travel allowance when he travels for business. When in Las Vegas he picked a cheap hotel to save money.

He moved out in the middle of the first night.

When I asked him why, he said “I could accept the first gunfire there, and then the police response. But the second time was a bit much.”

[old school]

Five-star or low-rent, always check for bed bugs!

[DeplorablePaul]

Depending on the jurisdiction, the consequences of being involved in even a clear case of self defense can be financially ruinous. Everyone who carries should have at a minimum USCCA insurance and remember the magic words: I feared for my life.

[bobbo666]

An armed society is a polite one.

Also, safer.