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Open Carry in Christiana Mall, DE

urbanamish99

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
20
Location
Atglen, Pennsylvania, USA
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On Friday morning a friend of mine joined me to go stand in line to buy our new iPhones at the Apple Store in Christiana Mall. I decided that I didn't want to be unarmed in this situation, with hundreds of people lining up hours before the store opened to buy the new phone. I have a PA LTCF, but of course that doesn't help a lot in DE, so I decided to open carry.

I have a H&K USP .45 full size, in a black Galco belt holster, so it certainly isn't a small gun that doesn't get noticed. I had never OC'd in this mall before, so I was nervous about it, but I couldn't think of a good alternative, so I decided to go for it. I had not thought of the fact that no doubt there would be a heavy mall security force there for this event, but of course there was, with at least six guards working that area of the mall.

We got there at 6:30 a.m., 90 minutes before the Apple store opened, and were about 50 people back from the front of the line. As soon as the first guard instructed us as to where to line up, he noticed my gun, and did a double take, and I thought, 'oh dear, here we go', but he just checked it out, and gave me a strange look, then moved on. We proceeded to stand in line with the rest of the crazies for 90 minutes.

The media was there, covering the event, and a reporter asked to take my picture, which I consented to, and he asked my name, etc., asked about our excitement about the new phone, etc. He never mentioned the gun, and soon moved on down the line.

The store finally opened at 8:00 a.m., and we snaked our way in through the store, past the watchful eye of the three security guards at the door, and made our way up the counter uneventfully. We made our purchase and headed back to the safety of Pennsylvania.

I ate lunch at McDonalds in Gap, PA, where a fellow at the next table observed me as I sat down. He watched me bow my head to say grace, then commented that he 'appreciates my dedication to the ten commandments and the second amendment'. We visited a bit about guns, and he was interested to know that open carry is legal, and increasingly common.

Overall, an excellent OC day, despite my early hesitations.

Carry on!
 

MustangDave

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2007
Messages
82
Location
New Castle, DE, ,
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Cool. Would have probably been interesting if you went around 5pm, that is the curfew for the under 18 crowd (without being with someone 21 or older). There were lots of security and police. I watched the news at 11 and saw myself walking with my g/f.
 

Wynder

State Researcher
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Messages
1,241
Location
Bear, Delaware, USA
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urbanamish99 wrote:
I ate lunch at McDonalds in Gap, PA, where a fellow at the next table observed me as I sat down. He watched me bow my head to say grace, then commented that he 'appreciates my dedication to the ten commandments and the second amendment'.
Classic -- great story!
 

dave_in_delaware

Regular Member
Joined
May 10, 2007
Messages
394
Location
Newark, Delaware, USA
imported post

The Christiana Mall has a strict "no guns" policy. Supposedly, there are signs at every entrance stating this. A member was stopped, harrassed, had his firearm seized, and escorted to the door. The officer wrote the gun's s/n onto his hand, too....

I say we ban the Christiana Mall. It's obviously Anti-gun.
 

urbanamish99

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
20
Location
Atglen, Pennsylvania, USA
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I checked closely for 'No Gun' signs at the entrance, and did not find any. There is a lot of construction there currently, especially around the food court area. That may be why some of the entrances are not posted.
 

dave_in_delaware

Regular Member
Joined
May 10, 2007
Messages
394
Location
Newark, Delaware, USA
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Like I said, there are supposedly signs at every entrance. I don't recall any the last time I was there. But then again, that was last year when I wasn't carrying daily. I hate that mall in the first place. This is even more reason not to go there.

Here's what the Senior General Manager says about firearms inside the Mall:
Thanks for your note regarding firearm access at Christiana Mall.
Yes, the official policy is no firearms are permitted in the center. We
have it posted at all of the entrances as part of our basic "code of
conduct".. Our mall is owned and operated by General Growth Properties
and all of their 200+ malls have the same policy. It's designed to
provide our customers a safe, friendly, and comfortable place to shop.
Malls are private property with public access, so we do reserve the
right to enforce policies that we feel are necessary.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Again, thanks for send a
note out for clarification.


Regards,

Steve Chambliss, CSM
Sr. General Manager
Christiana Mall
(emphasis mine)
 

Reverend BCal

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
130
Location
Saint Joseph, Missouri, USA
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dave_in_delaware wrote:
The Christiana Mall has a strict "no guns" policy. Supposedly, there are signs at every entrance stating this. A member was stopped, harrassed, had his firearm seized, and escorted to the door. The officer wrote the gun's s/n onto his hand, too....

I say we ban the Christiana Mall. It's obviously Anti-gun.

How can a security officer (non-LEO) seize his weapon? He has no authority, nor to even request to see it. Not even an LEO could seize a handgun. Only request that the person vacate the premises. What kind of idiot would willingly hand over his firearm to a security officer?!

Has anyone checked to see if the signs posted are compliant with the law (size and content)?
 

dave_in_delaware

Regular Member
Joined
May 10, 2007
Messages
394
Location
Newark, Delaware, USA
imported post

Reverend BCal wrote:
How can a security officer (non-LEO) seize his weapon? He has no authority, nor to even request to see it. Not even an LEO could seize a handgun. Only request that the person vacate the premises. What kind of idiot would willingly hand over his firearm to a security officer?!

Has anyone checked to see if the signs posted are compliant with the law (size and content)?



I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said "seized" ... I should have said "temporarily seized while he was escorted to the door, when at that time the serial number was written down before having it handed back to him."

And it wasn't mall security, it was a Delaware State Trooper.
 
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