BATTLE CREEK, MI - Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and handguns?

Handgun owners have been invited to bring their sidearms - openly carried and holstered with a concealed weapons permit - to the Battle Creek Bombers minor league baseball game on Friday evening.

The team, with sponsor Freedom Firearms, is hosting "2nd Amendment Education Night" at the 7 p.m., June 24, game at C.O. Brown Stadium in Battle Creek.

"It's as American as baseball and apple pie," Joel Fulton, co-owner of Freedom Firearms, said of bearing firearms. "And firearms are part of the fabric of our society."

Of the event, he said: "This is about being proactive. This is about taking personal responsibility for my own safety."

He said the game, which is also Boy Scout Night at the stadium, will feature displays offering information about Americans' 2nd Amendment rights, how to properly store firearms, and general firearms safety. It will include the NRA's Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program, which advises youngsters who see a gun not to touch it and to go tell a grown up, he said.

"Everything is focused on awareness, avoidance and safety - the proper rules of handguns in society," Fulton said.

But the team has reportedly been inundated by complaints from one or more anti-gun groups. And with two major criminal shootings fresh in people's minds -- the Feb. 20 shooting of eight people in Kalamazoo that left six people dead, and the June 12 nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., that left 50 people dead and 53 others wounded - why do this now?

Fulton said the night has been planned for about six months, with the marketing team of the Battle Creek Bombers asking Freedom Firearms to sponsor and host the game. He also said Americans should not let terrorists at any level dictate what they do.

"If we let them control our way of life, we've lost already," he said.

In the meantime, he said, "I think there's been a distinct rise in the sales of firearms over the last few years. I think a lot of people are exercising their 2nd Amendment rights more than they have in the past."

Attempts to contact Battle Creek Bombers General Manager Tony Iovieno or a spokesperson for the team or its administration were not successful Thursday afternoon.

A CPL (concealed pistol license) is required for those carrying sidearms, and those with weapons will not be allowed to drink. WOOD-TV reported that Iovieno told them those who bring their firearms will be given a wristband and won't be allowed to buy alcohol on the premises.

The team will provide ticket exchanges for anyone with tickets who doesn't want to attend the event and there will be extra security, he said. Iovieno told WOOD-TV that he appreciates the attention the event is attracting to the team and to Freedom Firearms and he said, "Minor League Baseball, in my mind, is all about pushing the envelope anyway."

A response to calls placed Thursday to the office of Battle Creek Police Chief Jim Blocker deferred questions about security plans for the game to the Battle Creek Bombers. There was no information on what plans the department has to keep armed game patrons separated from any protesters who arrive.

Fulton said there is already security planned for the event and he does not need additional security provided by the police department. He also said law-abiding gun owners are self-regulating.

"With all of the controversy that seems to be surrounding this event, if the anti-gunners are correct in their assessment of firearm owners and firearms in general, nobody in that stadium should make it out alive," Fulton said. "In contrast, what I think you will find is whoever attends that game is in the safest place in Michigan tomorrow night."

Firearms information displays, which will be available to see as early as perhaps 4:30 p.m. when members of the Bombers start their batting practice, will include one or more police officers providing gun safety locks, information from a conservation club, and information and displays from other vendors, he said.

Freedom Firearms is located at 539 Capital Ave. SW, just south of downtown Battle Creek. It has a gun range, the Southside Sportsman Club, that opened in 2002, and is owned by Fulton and his brother Jared Fulton. They opened a retail gun shop, Freedom Firearms, there in a 5,000-square-foot building in 2006.

The shop lays claim to being the largest firearms dealer in Calhoun County, with Joel Fulton estimating that he, his brother and their six other instructors teaching firearms safety classes to up to 75 percent of the individuals who have CPL licenses in Calhoun County and 5 to 10 percent of those in Kalamazoo County.

Who will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Friday's game?

Fulton said Tom Lambert, president of Michigan Open Carry Inc., has been tabbed for the honor.

A fireworks show will follow the game.

MLive writer Al Jones may be contacted at ajones5@mlive.com. Follow me on Twitter at ajones5_al.