OC 'incident' today.

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So me and a friend went to town today. Looking to buy some gun powder, primers, etc. - getting into reloading. I told him Bass Pro Shop is supposed to allow OC'ing now -h e stopped shopping their a while back due to their former policy. He was skeptical, but said we'd try them out - after we went to Academy Sports first.

So we head over to Academy Sports in Bossier City, both OC'ing. The greeter lady stopped us right off the bat and asked what area of the store we planned on shopping in. (None of her business amirite?) My friend answered "oh all over, just looking around". She said unless we were heading straight to the gun-counter (in the far back of the store) we couldn't come in carrying guns - or unless we were BCPD officers. This kinda stunned us cause we'd never had a problem before. My friend was so upset I think he decided not to make an issue of it (right then) and said fine, we're leaving.

Went to Bass Pro Shop, man it was crowded, both in customers and employees. Walked in with nothing but nods and smiles to us. Talked to the guys in the gun section about ordering us some small rifle primers (he's building an AR-15 and wants to reload his own ammo to save money!) again, not a single question about us OCing. Even spoke with the manager about the hunter-classes they've been having, she was helpful too. All in all a very friendly, very pleasant experience.

Went home, emailed Academy (apparently you can't contact the manager on the weekends) asking what their company policy is. Expected reply date was listed as "1-2 business days".

Long story short: Anyone else had problems OC'ing at Academy Sports?

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A friend of mine and myself carried at an Academy in Kenner after going to the last gun show at the Ponchartrain Center. He was wearing that damn tactical holster that drew looks like honey draws bees. No comments from anyone.

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I've carried in the Acadamy here in Baton Rouge on Seigen Lane several times. Never had any negative comments. I've spoken to the gun counter guys and compared the Bersa Thunder .380 they had on sale vs the one I was OCing and my impression of the gun. Nothing but positive comments from them. Never had any problems from greeters.

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While you were at Bass Pro, did you happen to wander out into the Louisiana Boardwalk? They have rules posted (tiny print, long list, take a while to read) banning guns except for on-duty officers.

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KBCraig wrote:

While you were at Bass Pro, did you happen to wander out into the Louisiana Boardwalk? They have rules posted (tiny print, long list, take a while to read) banning guns except for on-duty officers.

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http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum26/30345.html

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The door greeter is the last personI would expect to know the Store Policy but should be the most knowledgeable about it.

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Oscarr - found this on the Mississippi forum from earlier this month:
http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum32/29469.html

"...after a few emails I recieved a reply from M. Wade Turner stating that:

Academy has reviewed and investigated the incident that you reported, and we have discussed the issue with our store personnel. As I understand, you were carrying a holstered handgun in open view during a visit to our store, and one of our store associates asked you to not do so. Your communication asks about Academy’s policy in this regard.

Academy’s policy is that customers who possess a license to carry a handgun are permitted to carry the firearm on their person at all Academy locations in states where the law permits. It is our understanding that in Mississippi, residents who possess a firearm permit may carry a concealed handgun on their person, but not an open handgun. To be sure, after receiving your communication, we contacted the Mississippi Department of Safety on April 20, 2009, and the Department confirmed that open handguns are not permitted in the State. As a result, our policy in Mississippi is that customers may carry concealed handguns but not handguns in open view, and our store associate was simply following this policy when he asked you about your firearm.
"

Following the logic I put in bold above, if they contact the state and the state (LA) says OC is legal, then Academy should permit it in their LA locations.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of reply you get from your complaint.

Missed you at the meet up, man!

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NavyLT wrote:

But Mississippi IS an open carry state, with a license!

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But that license is a concealed carry license.

From the OC map on this site: "As the Mississippi courts have said that a handgun in a holster is concealed in part, a License to Carry a Concealed Pistol or Revolver is required to openly carry a handgun in a holster in Mississippi."

That's not how the LA courts or AG interpret it.

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Dustin: I agree!
Thanks for the link IA-Pro, and ya, I really wish I could have gone, maybe next time.

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Got a reply from their corporate office finally. They said nothing about a policy either way, instead they asked for our phone numbers so they could forward it to Store Director and District Manager and they'd contact us about it.

We shall see.

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NavyLT wrote:

IA-Pro wrote:

NavyLT wrote:

But Mississippi IS an open carry state, with a license!

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But that license is a concealed carry license.

From the OC map on this site: "As the Mississippi courts have said that a handgun in a holster is concealed in part, a License to Carry a Concealed Pistol or Revolver is required to openly carry a handgun in a holster in Mississippi."

That's not how the LA courts or AG interpret it.

Click to expand...

However, Acadamy Sports says that, "To be sure, after receiving your communication, we contacted the Mississippi Department of Safety on April 20, 2009, and the Department confirmed that open handguns are not permitted in the State. As a result, our policy in Mississippi is that customers may carry concealed handguns but not handguns in open view"

Which is not true. Open handguns are permitted in the State, with a license.

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I'm not arguing with you. I know it's technically not true. But if Academy called Mississippi and asked "are open handguns permitted in this state?" (their words above, not mine), the idiots at the Dept. of Safety could say no because technically it's not - you have to have a concealed permit. I don't think it's a stretch to say that's probably what happened.

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I have dealt with the DM for Academy in this area before. It went very well.

I had a delay on my 4473 and their gun clerks wouldn't give me my NTN (the number I need to use to clear up a delay with the FBI). I emailed the DM the account of the situation, as well as links to the applicable laws and the phone number to the FFL Help Center (and even what numbers to push to get to the people he might need to talk to).



He called me back and apologized profusely for his employees' ignorance and thanked me and said he appreciated my doing that footwork for him to clear it up. He had the store manager call me post haste with the number and also apologize.



Maybe if you do something similar it will go just as smoothly.

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They said they'd have the DM and/or Store Manager contact me. If I don't hear anything in a week or so I will make a polite phone call to them and email them links to applicable laws etc.

Thank you mucho for the information.