We sat while he ate a sandwich and drank orange juice.
This guy had a lot of show about him – flamboyant suit, Cuban-heeled boots, and two big pistols strapped to his waist.
It turned out he was not just high-powered because he represented Hollywood stars in their fights against traffic violations.
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We were discussing an individual I was writing a story about who he'd once represented.
Our common acquaintance was unhappy with the service he'd received from the attorney – maybe unsurprising considering he copped three years jail.
“It's because of guys like those that I carry these,” the attorney explained, slapping both hands on the guns strapped to his waist.
Turned out the lawyer had his throat cut a few years earlier when another unhappy client had turned up at the lawyer's house when he got out of jail and sought gruesome revenge.
Last weekend, in New York City, an off-duty corrections officer at Rikers Island, the city's main jail, was shot by police after he waved a weapon at cops.
According to reports, police believe the guy had been drinking at a bar and left carrying a gun by his side.
Passers-by called 911 and the suspect was shot after ignoring police instructions to put down his weapon.
Meanwhile, Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia and Virginia are four states that have recently passed laws allowing concealed guns into bars.
“If someone's sticking a gun in my face, I'm not relying on their charity to keep me alive,” said Adam Ringenberg, a drinker carrying a handgun, told The New York Times.
“That's not cool in my book,” countered another drinker. “It opens the door to trouble. It's giving you the right to be Wyatt Earp.”
As one commenter said on The New York Times website: “If you feel the need to go into a bar with a gun then why go in?”
“Now we're just one step away from the full intent of the second amendment, allowing Americans to have biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons when they go to the grocery store,” wrote another.
Gunburger, a pro-arms website, has published a list of restaurants that ban weapons, claiming gun owners should, in turn, boycott them.
“Why dine where you're not wanted?” the website asks. “Why shop where you and your family must be disarmed? Why remove your firearm, and put yourself and your family at risk, for the privilege of dining or shopping in another person's business?”
They might have a point.
You could always stay home.
Or come out of the closet, as this clip from The Daily Show suggests.
