Publix Asks Customers Not To Openly Carry Guns In Their Stores
BY Herschel Smith
5 years, 2 months ago
Publix is the latest retailer asking customers to leave their guns at home.
The Lakeland-based supermarket chain joins the growing chorus of national retailers asking customers not to bring guns into stores in states where it is legal to openly carry firearms.
“Publix respectfully requests that only law enforcement officials openly carry firearms in our stores,” the chain told the Sun Sentinel in a statement.
This one is disappointing, since I like the Publix right down the road from me and sometimes open carry there. I’ve been told by the store manager that he doesn’t mind it and that they (Publix) follow state law. I guess not now – they apparently all follow Florida state law. I wonder how Floridians would feel if we imposed our laws on them?
It’s all part of the shaming of gun owners in America, and they’ve buckled to the pressure. I’m willing to bet that not a single instance of trouble has ever occurred due to open carry. This is all about political statements. What a shame. I never thought I would have to post about Publix and gun control at the same time.
I’ll have to send their CEO, Todd Jones, a letter at todd.jones@publix.com.
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On September 11, 2019 at 10:09 pm, George said:
I think back to the shooter at the Walmart near El Paso. From the photos it was obvious that he was not very well trained with his weapon, if he was trained at all. He came into the store holding the weapon like he was auditioning for a Hollywood movie. Not with the weapon up and him being on the sights.
Had an open carrier been near who had a modicum of training there is a very good chance that kid would have been dropped near the front door.
On September 12, 2019 at 7:39 am, Jack said:
In my area most of the grocery stores prohibit weapons….
Since NC enforces “No Weapons Allowed” signs, how do you handle concealed carry when encountering weapons prohibitions?
On September 12, 2019 at 8:19 am, Mark Matis said:
I would merely note that I do not expect a grocery store to sell ammo. THAT is why I will no longer do business with WalMart.
On September 12, 2019 at 8:45 am, Frank Clarke said:
Most PUBLIX stores are in Florida; there are a few elsewhere, but the vast majority — maybe 99.5% — are in Florida where open-carry is prohibited by law (except when hunting or fishing or in transit to or from such).
This ‘request’ has all the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation.
On September 12, 2019 at 9:19 am, Herschel Smith said:
Frank,
That’s an interesting perspective, but I still expect NOT to be able to open carry in my local Publix. I’ll talk to the manager about it the next time I’m there.
On September 12, 2019 at 12:42 pm, dd said:
In my area most of the grocery stores prohibit weapons….Since NC enforces “No Weapons Allowed” signs, how do you handle concealed carry when encountering weapons prohibitions?
Make sure your concealment is solid. Concealed is concealed and carry anyways. Fuck the business, they do nothing to ensure your safety. Preferably shop elsewhere. The only reasons you would pull and threaten/use deadly force are against any violent foricble felony occurring in the store. Active Shooter, Armed Robbery, Aggravated Assault based on disparity of force factors (take Mas Ayoobs class to understand legal articulation or get his book – massadayoobgroup
If you have to use, be prepared/expect to take the ride. Congrats u are alive to do so
On September 13, 2019 at 11:10 am, Frank Clarke said:
My email to Todd Jones:
It’s sad to see a highly-respected American corporation cravenly bending the knee to the forces of darkness. It shows a lack of courage. It shows a lack of foresight. It shows a lack of knowledge or, worse, a rejection of knowledge.
Only two states, Texas and Florida, keep statistics on “does this arrestee have a weapons permit?”. The data from these two states is startling. Lawful gun-carriers are arrested (not convicted, just arrested) at rates between 1/7th and 1/13th the rate for the general population, depending on the year chosen. What that means is that the people who go to the trouble of getting a carry permit are among the safest, most law-abiding people in the country. As a class, they are more law-abiding than the police, and your policy is to insult them and treat them as if they were criminals-in-waiting. Was that your intent or did you simply not think this all the way through?
Recall, as well, that on August 8th, an ordinary citizen — not law enforcement — stopped a potential mass shooting at a Wal-Mart in Springfield MO. Are you publicly asserting that you don’t want any of your customers intervening to stop such incidents in your stores? That would be a surprise, and not a pleasant one, either.
Principles are funny things. They sometimes cause us to say things or do things that others — often ‘others who lack much in the way of principles’ — interpret negatively. That is, alas, what Publix’s latest announcement looks like. It looks like Publix flinched in order to avoid ‘bad PR’ from people whose thinking doesn’t extend beyond “guns bad”. Those same people see the world as full of evildoers who wish nothing so much as to harm others. In such a world, people with guns are a positive danger.
You might suspect that I hold a different view, and you would be correct. I believe our world, despite the occasional ‘bad apple’, is full of loving people who care about their neighbors and want them to live happy, safe, and prosperous lives.
How do you see the world?
On September 13, 2019 at 6:11 pm, Warren V. DeCee said:
Only your enemies want you disarmed.