Joe's Sports in Boise is prohibiting open carry!

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Hey I just want to clarify a few things about my earlier post. First of all, I think that the sales manager in field and stream handled the whole situation very professionally. It is alarming that he didn't know the law about open carry, but he is a good man and was much more professional and courteous than many are about open carry. To his credit he immediately looked it up, and now understands the legality of open carry, Hopefully the other employee present at the confrontation has also looked up the law and has gotten over his misconception. He was also true to his word and has been talking to corporate about the whole situation, I know this because he told me. He also called both Cabellas and Sportsmans to find out there policy. Cabellas has a true to word open carry policy, but sportsmans said that they require the gun to be unloaded and a trigger lock to be installed. What is that all about? We had an interesting discussion this morning where I learned that he has in fact been reading this discussion. I didn't communicate this to him this morning but, I hope he joins the forum so as to be able to communicate his views and perhaps keep us updated on any policy changes at Joes. Just so everyone knows, although Joes may loose a lot of business from the current policy, the employees were friendly and weren't malevolent towards Saint or his friends at all. BTW when I said manager, I meant, STORE manger, the man that Saint talked to was a sales manager in charge of field and stream. Hope that clears a few things up.

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Flying,

I don't think anyone on here holds anything against any individual working for Joes... I heard that the manager was "cool" and not a jerk or anything, he did his job to enforce a policy that he's supposed to. It's just the policy could use some re-working to protect/allow civil liberties and self-defense while still maintaining a safe environment for shoppers.

As for Cabela's you're right, see the Cabela's thread on here. As for Sportsman's, I will say with 110% certainty that their OFFICIAL Corporate policy is to follow state law with the exception of Seattle, where Open Carry is not allowed to appease the hippies who are a large purchasing power in that area. I have clarified this several times, but the local Boise manager either isn't yet clear on the OFFICIAL policy or has an agenda to push, I know because I have the regional manager's cell number for Sportsmans, know him personally, and have worked over the months to clarifiy the topic. Sportsman's policy is that you can carry however you want AS LONG AS THE GUN STAYS IN THE HOLSTER... as in, don't whip it out to show to your buddy at the gun counter or to try to fit it to a holster... that's just asking for an accident to happen. The "checking it in" policy is if you're going for gunsmithing type work. I've probably said everything, but also see the Sportsmans thread under Idaho.

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Oh, one more thing. YES!!! It is commendable and says a lot positive about the manager that he went to look up the laws! Thank him for me will you? Hopefully corporate will see the sense in changing their policies, and I'll swing by and say "hi" and leave some money with you guys!

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IdahoCorsair wrote:

with the exception of Seattle, where Open Carry is not allowed to appease the hippies who are a large purchasing power in that area.

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I remember this from an earlier thread. I wanted to point out again that there is no Sportsmen's Warehouse in Seattle. The closest is in Federal Way. And in the Federal Way store, they have removed the offending sign, and allow Open Carry with no issues. Do you have information contradictory to this? If so, we'd like to hear them because several of us have contacted the store manager, and have OC'd there.

Please see this thread: http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/view_topic.php?id=2480&forum_id=55


Of course the rest of the message about the liberal hippies is spot on...

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hello,

I am the third member of the OC group. I was ok with them telling us that it was joe's policy to not allow OC but the statment that it was illegal in Idaho blew me away. people in the hunting department should really be smarter than that. actually any responsible citizen should know what laws are in place. joe's has lost my buisness untill a policy change takes place.

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ironshields wrote:

hello,

I am the third member of the OC group. I was ok with them telling us that it was joe's policy to not allow OC but the statment that it was illegal in Idaho blew me away. people in the hunting department should really be smarter than that. actually any responsible citizen should know what laws are in place. joe's has lost my buisness untill a policy change takes place.

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I might suggest that you also let the store and perhaps corporate know of this decision and why you made it (if you haven't already).

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My bad. Of course there is no Sportsman's in Seattle proper. :banghead: ... I think he was referring to the Portland store... I had it stuck in my head that it was Seattle for some reason... then again, OC is banned in Portland anyway (without CHL). Hm... maybe I should call him up and ask him exactly WHICH store he's referring to. Then again, maybe I took his comment about considering banning it in just that one location to mean that they did in fact ban it. Hm. Gimme some time, I've been talking with Sean too much lately... poor guy.

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I think he was referring to the Portland store... I had it stuck in my head that it was Seattle for some reason... then again, OC is banned in Portland anyway (without CHL). Hm... maybe I should call him up and ask him exactly WHICH store he's referring to. Then again, maybe I took his comment about considering banning it in just that one location to mean that they did in fact ban it.

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Portland may have been it. Let us know when you find out, I'm really curious

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hey guys love the site i live in idaho falls havent had any probloms with any of the sportsmans wharehouse my barber asked about my springfield xd 45 on my hip said he has ccw but dont carry. when i read the storys. i dont ever see idaho falls storys. would like to here.from this part of idaho. ther should be a meeting set up for all to express their thoughts.andhave some fun.:celebrate

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hey saint never herd of joes if iam in boise wont waste time stoppingin there another one bites the dust.:cuss:

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There is a posting in the Oregon portion of OpenCarry that sites an incident at an Idaho Joes as the reason all Joes are non carry now. It is said that a video of the incident was reviewed with the carriers being very confrontational and one with a hand on their handgun. If this is not the case I think someone with the facts should correct the Oregon postings. We are being blamed for an entire coorporate policy.

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I'll check it out. Thanks for the inform... but to my knowledge it was friends of mine who found out about the policy (originally in Idaho) that was already in place and my friends would never have even touched their gun even if they were unhappy about the policy. I'll see what I can find out.

Merry Christmas btw!!!

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i find it funny when i go into box sporting good shops and the person behind the counter knows nothing about firearms but wants to sell me a 800.00 handgun.

its sad that so many gun owners are ignorant about open carry and the laws regarding it. i am doing a quick stint in az for a few months.. I am amazed how many people i see open carrying.

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carracer wrote:

There is a posting in the Oregon portion of OpenCarry that sites an incident at an Idaho Joes as the reason all Joes are non carry now. It is said that a video of the incident was reviewed with the carriers being very confrontational and one with a hand on their handgun. If this is not the case I think someone with the facts should correct the Oregon postings. We are being blamed for an entire coorporate policy.

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I don't know where they got their facts but they are blatantly false. I was one of the people who was asked to leave Joe's and it was stated to us that it was an already in place corporate policy and falsely claimed that OC was against state law.

None of us touched our guns during the confrontation and were quite civil throughout. If someone has a copy of the video I would like to see it so I can see exactly what is being supposedly referenced.

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Has this policy been changed since the incident, or do they still ban carry?

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Saint wrote:

I then asked him if he was aware that the policy is nowhere posted throughout the entire store. He replied that yes he was aware of that.

I then proceeded to explain to him that Idaho had full state pre-emption of all city and county ordinances and that all three of us were fully legal in our actions. I also expressed my disapointment that Joe's had such a policy and told the manager that until such time as it was changed he had lost my business.

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Good job refusing to comply with request to leave loaded guns in your vehicle - but never bring up the absence of "no gun signs" - if you ask about signs, they will come.

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flyingkitchen wrote:

but sportsmans said that they require the gun to be unloaded and a trigger lock to be installed. What is that all about?

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Spoprtsmens' Warehouse? No way. Their Corp. VP, a friend fo OCDO, will quash this in a New York minute if he ever gets wind.

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If you have an issue at Sportsmans Have the employee or manager call their VP Matt French 1-801-304-5661 x44361. He will straighten them out.

Treat Sportmans just like Cabella's. If you are fitting your weapon for an accessory them it must be unloaded and checked in at the front desk.

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M1Gunr wrote:

If you have an issue at Sportsmans Have the employee or manager call their VP Matt French 1-801-304-5661 x44361. He will straighten them out.

Treat Sportmans just like Cabella's. If you are fitting your weapon for an accessory them it must be unloaded and checked in at the front desk.

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I had a gun counter worker question me one time about OC. Told him what the company policy was and he went into the back room to double check it int eh policy book - guess what. OCDO was right!

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This is what's going on in the Oregon portion.



"I got a call today from the VP of Operations at Joe's today, in response to my Email I sent last week.He's the one responsible for making the store policies. First, here's the letter I sent:

I recently was shopping in the Eugene, Oregon Joe's store and was wearing a holstered handgun that I carry for personal protection. I was suprised when I was asked by a clerk at that store to please remove the magazine from the firearm. I was told by the clerk it was because a recent armed robbery had some of the female clerks nervous about firearms. I complied with the request, but asked to speak with the manager.


When I spoke to the manager (I think I remember his name was Dave?) we had a nice discussion and he didn't seem to have a problem with me carrying my holstered firearm while shopping in the store. He stated he wasn't quite sure what the official policy was, but he was going to find out.


Both the clerk and the manager were very polite and nice to speak with, and the manager was especially concerned to make sure I wasn't offended by the clerk's request.


Many retail stores either have no policy, or their policy is that whatever is allowed by state law is allowed in their store when it comes to firearms carried for personal protection (either carried concealed or open).


Can you please verify if Joe's policy is similar to that (falls in line with state law), or if there is any official policy at all?


Thank you,

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We talked for about 45 minutes. I'm not going to go through much detail, but here's what I got from the conversation:

• He has an extensive firearms background, and is a tactical weapons specialist.
• He is aware of the OC movement, and supports the right to concealed carry and open carry (even though he would probably never choose to OC himself, he said).
• From a business standpoint, he has to consider the comfort of the diverse customer and employee base that doesn't know or understand firearms.
• Joes now has an officialNO OC policy, mainly due to a recentincident at an Idaho Joe's store where three people were OCing and were VERY confrontational (He stated he saw the videotape and one of the OCers even had his hand on his firearm!).

I admit I came across as somewhat hostile and pushy at the beginning of our conversation, and this man was a gentleman, polite, and very civil. I explained my reasons for OCing (The possibility ofchanging public perceptionis more worth itthan the very slight risk of being targeted first), and our conversation went very well after that.

He seems to be like a very reasonable, open minded person, fully supports firearms rights, and is open to change. At this point he seems to be ok with Concealed Carry in the store, but I think he feels he has to disallow OC in his stores to avoid upsetting customers and employees.

I strongly suggest writing him through Joe's "Contact Us" form:
http://www.joessports.com/helpdesk/index.jsp?display=store&subdisplay=contact

He says all comments cross his desk, so this is our chance to emphasize to him that we appreciate his desire to make customers and employees comfortable, and that WE are more comfortable carrying our personal protection firearms while we shop in their stores. Describe your positive experiences OCing, etc. Let him know if most people you encounter are not bothered by OCing and issues are rare.

Please don't blast him, the company, or its policy. We don't need to school him on the 2nd Amendment or gun rights, he's already on our side! His decision is purely from a business standpoint for the comfort of his employees and customers (and avoiding more problems like the one in Idaho).

I don't think we need to put Joes on a "Do Not Patronize" list. They are NOT Anti-Gun or Anti-Rights, they are a business trying to consider the majority of their customers.

...Orygunner..."



Do you suppose someone with a connection with Joes could request a viewing of the video?