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Costco...open carry prohibited

D

DAVIDS447

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Mar 11, 2013
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DETROIT
COSTCO, Livonia, Michigan

Can Costco manager, prohibit - tell a customer to cover his weapon in the store...with NO warning signs, or notification of prohibition of Open Carry ????

Can any private business prohibit Open Carry...with NO signs or warning...???

Can store manager ask for you to cover weapon, with no posted warnings, causing a concealed weapon
situation... David
 
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Grapeshot

Grapeshot

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DAVIDS447 said:
COSTCO, Livonia, Michigan

Can Costco manager, prohibit - tell a customer to cover his weapon in the store...with NO warning signs, or notification of prohibition of Open Carry ????

Can any private business prohibit Open Carry...with NO signs or warning...???

Can store manager ask for you to cover weapon, with no posted warnings, causing a concealed weapon
situation... David
Click to expand...

It is first and foremost private property - they can exclude you for wearing a red shirt. They cannot force you to break the law (CC if you do not have a permit) , but you are left with the options of complying, putting it in your vehicle, or leaving.

No guns signs do have the force of law in Michigan, but are NOT mandatory prior to asking you to conform.
 
Raggs

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As I understand the agreement that is signed when you join states the no gun policy. If the person does not have a cpl he cannot cover it up even with the managers "permission" The manager can ask you to leave whether or not it is posted.




DAVIDS447 said:
COSTCO, Livonia, Michigan

Can Costco manager, prohibit - tell a customer to cover his weapon in the store...with NO warning signs, or notification of prohibition of Open Carry ????

Can any private business prohibit Open Carry...with NO signs or warning...???

Can store manager ask for you to cover weapon, with no posted warnings, causing a concealed weapon
situation... David
Click to expand...
 
Raggs

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In Michigan I do not think signs have power of law, some will be by to clarify that soon

Grapeshot said:
It is first and foremost private property - they can exclude you for wearing a red shirt. They cannot force you to break the law (CC if you do not have a permit) , but you are left with the options of complying, putting it in your vehicle, or leaving.

No guns signs do have the force of law in Michigan, but are NOT mandatory prior to asking you to conform.
Click to expand...
 
skidmark

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Raggs said:
In Michigan I do not think signs have power of law, some will be by to clarify that soon
Click to expand...

It's not a matter of signs. COSTCO is a "membership" store - you signed a contract agreeing to abide by their rules. They can terminate your membership if you do not abide by the rules. The contract will tell you if you get any portion of your membership fee back.

Just a quick reminder, only the government can infringe on your rights. Private property owners may violate certain civil rights laws in certain circumstances, but IIRC RKBA is not yet in that category.

This discussion has been held on OCDO before. Use the Advanced Search feature to help find the threads.

stay safe.
 
TheQ

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Raggs said:
In Michigan I do not think signs have power of law, some will be by to clarify that soon
Click to expand...

Signs aren't codified into law....BUT

If they can prove you saw the sign (ex: they have you on video clearly pointing at it and laughing in your way in) it could be used by the prosecutor as an element in proving a trespass case.
 
Grapeshot

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Raggs said:
In Michigan I do not think signs have power of law, some will be by to clarify that soon
Click to expand...

Upon review, I do see that there is some disagreement on that issue/question - been discussed on OCDO before.

Nevertheless, one can be directed to not carry, cover, or leave at the discretion of a representative of the store. Their internal policy may say otherwise, but that is a matter best addressed by requesting the store manager or contacting him/her after the fact.
 
Shadow Bear

Shadow Bear

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Old news, been hashed over.

Lesson learned? Read the agreement BEFORE you sign away your rights.:cry:

Cancel your membership, and go to Sam's Club.
 
Big Gay Al

Big Gay Al

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To the best of my knowledge, most Costco stores have a "No Guns at all" type policy. Meaning it doesn't matter if it's concealed or not, they don't want their patrons to be able to defend themselves in the event of a violent encounter in their store. They'd rather have a store full of sheep, then have even one sheep dog in the bunch.

As for any signs, most of what I've seen for "no guns" signs seem to be purposely made small enough that most won't notice. I have no idea why. That's just the way it is. I just happened to notice one at a Costco, because I was looking to see if they had a sign. When I found it, I went into the store, to the service desk, and dropped off a "No Guns=No $$" card, and left.
 
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FreeInAZ

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Shadow Bear said:
Old news, been hashed over.

Lesson learned? Read the agreement BEFORE you sign away your rights.:cry:

Cancel your membership, and go to Sam's Club.
Click to expand...

^^^ THIS

Costco is much closer to our family than Sam's- but we go to Sam's because of their "follow state law" approach. Just as we go to starbuck's vs another coffee house nearby. They support my rights, I'll give them the privilege of my business. Somewhere here we used to have a thread on corporate policy (by venator I think). Anyone left here who remembers that thread? It may have saved the OP some money & frustration?
 
Michigander

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They are pretty careful about not posting no guns signs in states where OC is rarer, because I don't think they want to scare away customers, aside from not liking OCing. This at least has to be my assumption, because every one I ever went to in Arizona was posted, whereas I've never seen or heard of one here being posted.

There are a few things I consider the place good for, and I am especially fond of how they treat their employees, but I agree with others on avoiding it. I haven't been to one in quite some time.
 
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smellslikemichigan

smellslikemichigan

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Raggs said:
As I understand the agreement that is signed when you join states the no gun policy. If the person does not have a cpl he cannot cover it up even with the managers "permission" The manager can ask you to leave whether or not it is posted.
Click to expand...

no it does not have that in the agreement. i recently signed up for a costco membership open carrying and have open carried many times at the madison heights. i thoroughly reviewed the membership application and asked the rep if their were any other rules i needed to be aware of. i also audio recorded her saying everything was in the application. there are no signs at the entrance either.
 
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smellslikemichigan

smellslikemichigan

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Big Gay Al said:
To the best of my knowledge, most Costco stores have a "No Guns at all" type policy. Meaning it doesn't matter if it's concealed or not, they don't want their patrons to be able to defend themselves in the event of a violent encounter in their store. They'd rather have a store full of sheep, then have even one sheep dog in the bunch.

As for any signs, most of what I've seen for "no guns" signs seem to be purposely made small enough that most won't notice. I have no idea why. That's just the way it is. I just happened to notice one at a Costco, because I was looking to see if they had a sign. When I found it, I went into the store, to the service desk, and dropped off a "No Guns=No $$" card, and left.
Click to expand...

they used to have the no firearms rule posted on their website, but that link went dead about 6 months ago.
 
DrTodd

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smellslikemichigan said:
no it does not have that in the agreement. i recently signed up for a costco membership open carrying and have open carried many times at the madison heights. i thoroughly reviewed the membership application and asked the rep if their were any other rules i needed to be aware of. i also audio recorded her saying everything was in the application. there are no signs at the entrance either.
Click to expand...

I have OCd a few times at the one near me without incident. The OP can cancel his membership; I've heard they are good about refunding your membership fee.
 
DanM

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DAVIDS447 said:
Can Costco manager, prohibit - tell a customer to cover his weapon in the store...with NO warning signs, or notification of prohibition of Open Carry ????
Can any private business prohibit Open Carry...with NO signs or warning...???
Can store manager ask for you to cover weapon, with no posted warnings, causing a concealed weapon
situation.
Click to expand...

Yes, yes, and yes. If you do not have a CPL, do not conceal . . . leave immediately. Because you may not legally conceal outside of your own property without a CPL. Period. There's legally no such thing as "permission" to CC on others' property.

That being said, several of us have had no issue OC'ing in Costco. Myself included:
http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/s...riences-Here&p=1583667&viewfull=1#post1583667
 
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smellslikemichigan

smellslikemichigan

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skidmark said:
Costco general rules are on pages 14 & 15. http://content.costco.com/Images/Content/Misc/PDF/09EX0308_ServiceDirectory.pdf

"No Guns" is not mentioned there, but there are policies you agree to abide by - go ask the store to show you all the policies you are under obligation to abide by.

Sure would save a lot of electrons being killed over speculation and guessing, woudn't it?

stay safe.
Click to expand...

yes, this is the agreement i reviewed when i purchased the membership. and at that time i asked if there were any other rules or regulations and was told "no."
 
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