Mr. Jones (todd.jones@publix.com),

It is with great sadness that I write to you.  I have readers who have already done so, but I thought I should weigh in on your recent decision to ban open carry in your stores.

I had occasion to shop at Publix on Saturday and asked to talk to the manager.  He was a delightful man, very respectful, but just a bit ill-informed on what the law says about open carry and leaving me a bit confused on your policy.

I informed the gentleman that I chose to shop at Publix not only because I can openly carry, which is entirely legal in North Carolina, but also because I wanted to reward Publix for your stand.  I had previously been told by the store manager that Publix follows state law, whatever that happens to be.

In North Carolina, that has worked just fine.  No one gives me strange looks, women and children don’t run screaming for the doors, and sometimes store employees even discuss it with me, asking me what brand of firearm I have, asking about my recommendations for purchases, and so forth.

Your manager brought up the issue of the recent shootings in El Paso and elsewhere, saying that they would not allow something like an AR-15 to be brought into the store, and I explained to him that, as he knew, it was legal to openly carry a firearm in North Carolina.  If I touched my weapon, that’s called brandishing, and it’s illegal.  If I unholstered it, or pointed it towards anyone, that’s called assault with a deadly weapon, and it’s illegal.  He had not previously understood that.  The shooter in El Paso broke the law the second he exited his automobile holding a rifle.

When asked for clarification on the new Publix policy, he explained that Publix would “respectfully request” that people not openly carry in Publix stores, but that legally they could not do anything about it.  That’s not true, I explained.  I must respect the wishes of private property owners and refrain from openly carrying if I know the request has been made.

You see, there is no easy way around this.  You cannot have your cake and eat it too.  You cannot please the forces of gun control while at the same time leaving room for me to openly carry in Publix stores by merely “requesting” that I not openly carry, leaving it to my discretion because “there’s legally nothing you can do about it.”

I suspect that your HR department, your financial people, and your legal department, have made a choice to involve you in corporate gun control as social signaling at the country club.  You’ve been backed into a corner by your own people, and perhaps too stolid to understand that.  Otherwise, this decision is entirely on you, and you should be considered 100% responsible for the new policy.

Which is it, sir?  Were you backed into a corner by your own people, who convinced you that there was a happy medium on this issue?  Or was this your decision?  Who is it that wants to virtue signal at the country club?  Are you a member of a country club, sir?

In either case, I cannot say enough to express my disappointment with your company.  I explained to the manager that while I may have to make a pragmatic decision and shop at Publix in the future because only you happen to have a product and someone else doesn’t, I will not longer happily reward Publix with my hard earned money as a patron.  You are not entitled to my hard earned money.  You must earn it, and this decision is a huge blow against your account.

Don’t you see how much easier it would be had you simply told the controllers to go away, and that “You follow state law, whatever that may be?”  It works fine here in North Carolina.  How would you like it if we came to Florida and forced our own laws on you?