Target asks customers not to bring guns to its stores

MPLS Star & SIckle ^ | 7-2-14 | evan ramstad

[thackney]

I have issues with “Open Carry” as it will give a gun man an intial target.

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I don’t want to tell others they cannot open carry. But I agree with you. It tells the bad guy “shoot me first”.

[defconw]

I don't go there either. While it is legal for me in my state to carry a rifle pretty much any where I go, or a pistol for that matter. I don't think it's the best way to make a point. I have a concealed carry permit for a reason. Now at home I can walk around with an arsenal if I want, generally don't :).

Scaring scaredy cats is not going to change their minds. IMHO.

[TurboZamboni]

Antifreedom nutters would set themselves on fire if they can blame a permit holder or tea party person for arson.

[Spirochete]

Name your store Target and then tell people not to come in armed. Seems a little odd don’t it.

Target is a good name for a gun-free zone.

[blu]

Who are these morons who are carrying long guns in public? That’s an in-yer-face sure enough reason to scare people. I have a CPL. I am familiar with our gun laws, and have had experience with local law enforcement. We are an open carry state, so it’s legal-but it’s still stupid! If I see a long gun in public, my first thought is “bad guy”. When I see a holstered gun, no biggy. When the folks at our grocery store see me, they automatically look at my face, then down to the side-they always want to see if I remembered to pull my shirt down over my holster!

Sorry, but the long-gun pro open carry idiots are ruining it. They are not educating the public, they are scaring the public. And they for darn sure are scaring me. First, because they’re Operating Dumb While Armed, and second, are they a good guy or a bad guy? Escape, evade.

[Biggirl]

There is Walmart.

[Biggirl]

These open carry folks could very well be forcing a major fed court battle down the road.

[upcountryhorseman]

I think target is a French store and doesn’t understand American values!

[Clump]

I bet you they will backtrack and “ask” people to not open carry.
Or they will just put a dumb plastic sticker on the door with a gun and a slash through it.
That doesn’t cut it in Texas as a lawful prohibition on concealed carry.
That said, I’ll make sure they don’t get my money anyway.

[pabianice]

The Wal*Borg near me does the passive-aggressive thing. They have a sparse collection of ammo in locked cases. Alas, there is never a salesperson with a license there to unlock the cases. Too bad, so sad. They long ago stopped selling firearms.

[xrmusn]

I don’t want to tell others they cannot open carry. But I agree with you. It tells the bad guy “shoot me first”.
= = = = = = = = = = =
Agree, ‘open carry’ is not for me.

In your scenario, it is akin to the Govt sending National Guard Troops into Airports with unarmed weapons in the name of ‘Security’.

Common sense tells me (especially if I were one of the ‘bad guys’) that if you can get the drop on the guy with the rifle, you can basically control the situation. That his clip is in his jacket is just a bonus SO, it is somewhat of a ‘suicide mission’ if the Troop is there to deter any hijackers or such.

[TurboZamboni]

Minneapolis...France, same difference. Only in MPLS they speak Farsi.

[wku man]

Carry concealed, everywhere that doesn't have a metal detector, regardless of whether you have a CCW or not. It's your right, and if the need arises, as the bumper sticker says, "I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6."

Any place that doesn't want my gun doesn't want my business.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[wastedyears]

And when there’s a rash of armed robberies at Targets all over the place, what then?

[TurboZamboni]

Post signs stating “No Robbery Allowed”, naturally.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Well at the rate Target is closing stores I don’t think they are going to be around much longer anyway.

[Still Thinking]

Target asks customers not to bring guns to its stores

I have mixed feelings about this (whether they should even be able to say this or not). OTOH, it's their property, so they should be able to do business on their own terms. So I can agree that they have the right to ban at least open carry if they want to do that. But to say they can ban CCW as well is to say they can ban things that have no impact on them, things they can't even detect are occurring. I generally don't think people are entitled to have opinions about things that don't affect them.

Another aspect of this is non-discrimination. Now I don't agree with anti-discrimination laws in public accommodations (though I do feel that most forms of discrimination are wrong and bad business besides), but the reality is that that is what the law is today. If you can't choose not to deal with people because of their race, or sexual preference, or any number of other characteristics, how can you be allowed to discriminate against people on the basis of which enumerated Constitutional rights they exercise?

[Big Mack]

I won’t offend them with any of my money fron now on.

[Ron H.]

Not surprising. I don't go there any way.

I don't either. I quit shopping there years ago when they banned the Salvation Army's Santa Claus and his red tea kettle from in front of their stores leading up to Christmas. They of course were forced to reverse that action the next year after they suffered a severe consumer and publicity backlash but that stunt told me all I wanted to know about their corporate character. Haven't been back since.

[Ron H.]

"We'd much rather our customers and employees be left at the tender mercies of criminals. Luby's is our model."

We should all do our part to help Target by telling everyone we know that Target doesn't allow firearms in their stores and people should proceed accordingly as robbers may be more inclined to target Target for armed robberies since no one shopping there is armed.

Makes about as much sense as the gun-free school zones where so many mass school shootings take place each year around the nation.