independence
Regular Member
I've been too busy to post my open carry experiences during the past few months but hope to post a few during the next couple weeks. Here's what happened to me a few months ago in Mississippi:
I was driving from Alabama to Tennessee one night and had to go through Mississippi. At about 9:30 PM, I stopped in Iuka, MS at the Shell gas station\"Sprint Mart" at 1000 W Quitman St., Iuka, MS 38852. (Yup, I'm callin' em out.) I was really tired from a busy day at work. First, I filled up my tank with gas. Then, I went inside open carrying after checking and not seeing any postings at the door. I needed to buy some grocery type items which I needed for the next morning. There were two white guys behind the counter. The older guy was restocking stuff and eyed me with a smirk, for whatever reason. The younger guy never kept his eyes off me for a millisecond. In fact, he would periodically try to make awkward small talk with me from across the room. It was really strange. Like, I would be on the whole other side of the room getting a gallon of milk he would be yelling to me about the weather or something. Odd.
So, I came up to the counter with my items and the younger guy talks extremely friendly to me. Very warm country talk, etc. He rings me up and it is like maybe $30 of grocery items - which is not too hard to do at the exorbitant convenience store prices. *After* I pay him, he starts to get this (even more) super duper syrupy polite voice and says that he likes guns and everything and has one himself but they do have a sign banning guns and could I please not carry one next time I'm there. Since I hadn't seen the sign, I asked him where it was. He points at it. Turns out the sign was outside on the window several feet from the door and about 3 inches off the ground -- hardly noticeable by any stretch.
Now at this point I was really tired. I have to admit that after crossing so many borders during that day, I suddenly forgot I was in MS and was thinking I was in AL. I said to him, "Well, that sign doesn't carry the weight of law." (Which is true in AL.) I can't remember everything I said to him, but the other main thing I said was something like, "What I usually do if a business doesn't respect the right to bear arms is simply not come back. So, I guess I won't be coming back." I said all of this very calmly. He said something like, "I understand." About halfway through this conversation, the older guy (the boss?) walked by with an even bigger smirk. The younger guy then said something like that it wasn't a big deal that I open carried there at night because there weren't very many people but if I came back during the day, they would have to ask me to leave for sure. I told him something like, "Whelp, I don't plan to be back ever again or make any purchases here in the future so me coming back won't be a problem." I kept my cool the entire time but I felt like asking him to refund my money and just leaving my merchandise there.
I walked out the door and took a good look at his stinkin' little sign. Ridiculous. Not only was it several feet away from the door and like 3 inches off the ground, but it wasn't even legally binding according to MS law. It was about then that I realized my mistake of briefly thinking I was in Alabama and telling the guy the sign wasn't legally binding. I totally lucked out because the sign truly wasn't binding according to MS law, even though I thought I was in AL. It had the wrong verbiage and therefore wasn't binding. In other words, I was right but only by chance. Stupid laws. Anyway. I snapped a couple of photos for you.
FYI, for those who don't know, in order for a posting in MS to be legally binding, it must say:
"carrying of a pistol or revolver is prohibited."
(I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. See http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/mscode/ )
It's funny that his sign references 45-9-101 (13) but doesn't actually follow it.
So anyway, if you're ever in the tiny town of Iuka, MS, please boycott the Shell gas station\"Sprint Mart".
I was driving from Alabama to Tennessee one night and had to go through Mississippi. At about 9:30 PM, I stopped in Iuka, MS at the Shell gas station\"Sprint Mart" at 1000 W Quitman St., Iuka, MS 38852. (Yup, I'm callin' em out.) I was really tired from a busy day at work. First, I filled up my tank with gas. Then, I went inside open carrying after checking and not seeing any postings at the door. I needed to buy some grocery type items which I needed for the next morning. There were two white guys behind the counter. The older guy was restocking stuff and eyed me with a smirk, for whatever reason. The younger guy never kept his eyes off me for a millisecond. In fact, he would periodically try to make awkward small talk with me from across the room. It was really strange. Like, I would be on the whole other side of the room getting a gallon of milk he would be yelling to me about the weather or something. Odd.
So, I came up to the counter with my items and the younger guy talks extremely friendly to me. Very warm country talk, etc. He rings me up and it is like maybe $30 of grocery items - which is not too hard to do at the exorbitant convenience store prices. *After* I pay him, he starts to get this (even more) super duper syrupy polite voice and says that he likes guns and everything and has one himself but they do have a sign banning guns and could I please not carry one next time I'm there. Since I hadn't seen the sign, I asked him where it was. He points at it. Turns out the sign was outside on the window several feet from the door and about 3 inches off the ground -- hardly noticeable by any stretch.
Now at this point I was really tired. I have to admit that after crossing so many borders during that day, I suddenly forgot I was in MS and was thinking I was in AL. I said to him, "Well, that sign doesn't carry the weight of law." (Which is true in AL.) I can't remember everything I said to him, but the other main thing I said was something like, "What I usually do if a business doesn't respect the right to bear arms is simply not come back. So, I guess I won't be coming back." I said all of this very calmly. He said something like, "I understand." About halfway through this conversation, the older guy (the boss?) walked by with an even bigger smirk. The younger guy then said something like that it wasn't a big deal that I open carried there at night because there weren't very many people but if I came back during the day, they would have to ask me to leave for sure. I told him something like, "Whelp, I don't plan to be back ever again or make any purchases here in the future so me coming back won't be a problem." I kept my cool the entire time but I felt like asking him to refund my money and just leaving my merchandise there.
I walked out the door and took a good look at his stinkin' little sign. Ridiculous. Not only was it several feet away from the door and like 3 inches off the ground, but it wasn't even legally binding according to MS law. It was about then that I realized my mistake of briefly thinking I was in Alabama and telling the guy the sign wasn't legally binding. I totally lucked out because the sign truly wasn't binding according to MS law, even though I thought I was in AL. It had the wrong verbiage and therefore wasn't binding. In other words, I was right but only by chance. Stupid laws. Anyway. I snapped a couple of photos for you.
FYI, for those who don't know, in order for a posting in MS to be legally binding, it must say:
"carrying of a pistol or revolver is prohibited."
(I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. See http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/mscode/ )
It's funny that his sign references 45-9-101 (13) but doesn't actually follow it.
So anyway, if you're ever in the tiny town of Iuka, MS, please boycott the Shell gas station\"Sprint Mart".