With the National Rifle Association in town for the weekend, restaurateur Joe Groves has a message for its members: He wants your business.

But also, he'd like you to contribute to a cause he believes in.

Customers who visit Ellen's in the West End over the weekend will be greeted with a message when they get their receipts:

"Thanks for visiting Ellen's! A portion of this week's proceeds will be donated to organizations dedicated to implementing reasonable and effective gun regulations. Welcome to Dallas!"

Groves, who has owned the restaurant since 2012, also wants you to know something:

"I am not anti-gun. I am not anti-Second Amendment," he said. "As the owner of a restaurant and as someone who cares about these issues, being pro-Second Amendment and being pro-safety are not incompatible."

There have been a few protests of Ellen's gun safety message on the restaurant's receipts. (Facebook / Joe Groves)

Joe Groves' reply to the message from someone who didn't like Ellen's campaign to raise awareness of firearms regulations. (facebook / Joe Groves)

Groves said he and his friends started thinking about common-sense gun safety measures in the wake of the downtown shootings of four Dallas police officers and one DART officer in 2016.

"That happened just a couple of blocks away from us," Groves said. "We knew a lot of those cops. They were our friends. We loved them. This was personal."

Ellen's had five or six tables full of convention attendees on Thursday night, Groves said, and they weren't shy about speaking their minds.

Joe Groves

"I'm making a list of the vile, racist, moronic conversations overheard from NRA attendees eating at the restaurant," Groves said on Facebook. "They don't even speak softly."

When commenters on Facebook asked for examples, Groves said, "Here's a preview: 'You don't sound black. You know, the reason we need our guns is because of the blacks. Are you from India or something?' — said to our AA manager."

Visitors also asked Hispanic servers, "Do you keep your illegals in the back?" and asked other employees, "What do you think about Obama?" Groves told The Dallas Morning News on Friday.

"There was definitely a constituency there and they had no qualms about speaking up," Groves said. "It was just demoralizing."

In protest, Groves said he has received a few calls to boycott the restaurant, "which is fine," but hasn't had too many angry responses directed his way.

"The majority of people in this country want compromise. They want peace and clarity," Groves said. "But when you have people on the fringes on either side, then you have a problem."

Groves and his staff have a list of several local organizations they are considering donating restaurant proceeds to, but he said he's not ready to mention potential candidates yet.

"I don't want to disappoint anybody," he said.