Posted on 10/22/2006 5:25:01 AM PDT by sig226
Costco Bans Guns Fellow newslinks editor Bruce Kraft learned the hard way about Costco's gun ban. Below is his story.
Mark A. Taff
. . . We arrived at the registers, and got rung out. I paid, and as we are getting ready to head out, Brian came up and said that "for the comfort and safety" of their employees and guests, he asked that I leave my gun outside.
I said "No problem, sorry if I caused any fuss." I then asked if this was the policy of the Eden Prairie store, or a company-wide policy. He said it was company policy. I asked if I could get some sort of written statement or copy of the policy, because there were 35,000 permit holders in the state of Minnesota alone who were going to want to know about it.
Oh, and since they didn't want me in their store could they please return my groceries. Brian said "Oh, no, your perfectly welcome to shop here, we just" at which point I cut him off saying "You just asked me to leave, so obviously I am *not* welcome here, and neither is my money." (I have played out scenarios like this in my mind for several years, it was gratifying that he kept giving me all the right straight lines).
(snip)
Bruce continues:
"BTW, their letter is misleading, I never raised the issue of civil rights, because I firmly believe that companies have every right to ban whomever they please, I just think it is not fair for them to hide the fact."
You can read a pdf of the letter Costco sent to Bruce.
Call Costco at 1-800-774-2678 and give them your feedback on their gun ban policy.
(Excerpt) Read more at keepandbeararms.com ...
Then let them enforce it.
I agree with you there...
LOL!!
Because it's better than leaving it in my glove compartment. Or motorcycle saddlebag. Or bicycle rack.
Or, if I walked or took the bus, on the sidewalk.
Private property rights trump the right to keep and bear arms any time. If I tell you you cannot carry a weapon on my property it is my inalieanable right--since you have no right to be there anyway. If you cannot handle being away from your precious gun, too bad...go ahead, shop somewhere else.
This is a silly issue--not one of the public right to carry arms.
Yes, so do I.
Nice try to divert attention . My question was "Don't you enforce certain standards when others enter your own property?"
No need to post an answer, your elusiveness is answer enough for all.
So, you do enforce cetain standards when others are on your property. Why then should we have a second, different standard for the private property of a large corporation?
Obviously we shouldn't. Costco has every right to prohibit guns on their property. Customers have every right to avoid the store, and to tell others that they aren't welcome there when carrying either.
Funny thing about those "precious guns". They are a responsibility, a pain in the butt to carry, expensive and definitly not PC. But the minute you need one, you need one very, very badly.
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - A fatal shooting at an Albuquerque Wal-Mart last week was the state's first by someone with a concealed-carry gun permit, authorities said. Police said Felix Vigil was attacking his ex-wife with a knife near the store's deli counter where she worked when an armed customer intervened and shot him. The woman, Joyce Cordova, was treated for multiple stab wounds and later released from an Albuquerque hospital. The armed customer, 72-year-old Due Moore, was interviewed after the shooting last Thursday and released. Police spokeswoman Officer Trish Hoffman said it appeared the shooting was justified.
Gary Kleck estimates 2,000,000 defensive uses of a firearm each year. 1,000 of these kill the attacker. I have no number for the woundings. Most of them are simple displays. That means 2,000,000 attacks, or if we halve the number, there are 1,000,000 times a violent provocation ended when the potential victim displayed a firearm. This is an annual figure,
1,000,000 out of 300,000,000 means 1 in 300 odds of you being the victim. Those are pretty long odds, but considering the size of the sample, the number of trials gaurantees that somebody will be next.
I disagree with it. I think people should complain to Costco management and try to get them to change the policy.
Aside from police officers, several million of us walk into public places carrying loaded handguns every day. Publix Supermarkets allows loaded guns on it's premises. 7-11 allows loaded guns on its premises. Applebee's allows loaded guns on its premises. McDonald's. Circuit City. Borders. Macy's.
Florida state law also allows the no gun signs on the front of a business. None of the aforementioned businesses display these signs. They are all aware of the law, they all have legal departments. In fact, Home Depot won't allow employees to have a hunting rifle in their car if it is parked on Home Depot property, yet there are no signs informing the customers that they can't have their handguns. Home Depot is one of the most anal, lawsuit paranoid corporations on this continent. I guess they decided not to exclude all these customers. Maybe they realized that we are an assett.
Ha! Your anti-second amendment views are so rare on this forum that the only text you could agree with was yourself! The previous poster you quoted had quoted your text and then refuted it, but you could only agree with your own quote! Your little "Mr. Gun Toter" rant notwithstanding, you seem hypocritically offended that someone wouldn't want to buy groceries from a company that refuses to allow them to exercise their legally licensed right to be able to defend themselves. If Costco can refuse to do business with those who care about their safety and that of their family, than those families can just as fairly refuse to do business with a company that would deny them that right.
Also, according to Fortune Magazine, Costco is the only company with which Wall Mart can't keep up. There is a reason for this.
Hopefully market forces will also draw the violent criminals away from Wal-Mart parking lots where people can freely exercise their legal right to self-defense over to the Costco parking lots where people legally can't. For me it is enough that Wal-Mart and it's officers contribute primarily to Republicans while Costco contributes almost exclusively to Democrats. Someone of your anit-individualist persuasion probably prefers Costco's leftist political leanings.
1. Because he might feel the need for it in the parking lot between the car and the store door and what's he supposed to do with it besides carry it once he's inside and before he leaves?
2. What's "need" got to do with it?
Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Thank you.
I'm not going to go to businesses who prevent me from carrying a legal pistol. I will also tell them why, and I will also tell others, who will pressure them to change their policy.
The new Costco store in Union, NJ made ironworkers remove the American flag they were flying from the girder skeleton because they felt it would "offend" people from other countries. Costco also made them take down a tinsel-covered Christmas tree because it was allegedly "insensitive" to practicioners of other world religions.
The public outcry and negative press was so great Costco management capitulated and permitted the patriotic ironworkers do as they please. The flag and tree were subsequently returned to the top of the construction. Lots of great photographs were shown in the paper of burly workers posing with our beautiful flag and the tree. Following that little escapade one couldn't get me to shop in a Costco if I was given a free lifetime membership.
~ Blue Jays ~
A number of states include a provision in the carry law to allow businesses to forbid concealed carry of weapons on their premises. Minnesota and Florida are two such states. If a business wants to adopt that policy, so be it. I think the policy is wrong and I encourage all who agree with me to help me tell them that we will take our business elsewhere if they treat us like this.
"Following that little escapade one couldn't get me to shop in a Costco if I was given a free lifetime membership."
I for one refuse to be a customer of some place that requires me to purcahse the right to buy their products. AND THEN their products aren't any cheaper.
I can carry a gun anywhere in the USA.
Not Constitutionally.
Even though you didn't have the courage to answer the question I asked, private property owners have the Constitutional right to say no.
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