Safeway - Open Carry Friendly

imported post

I have been eating lunch at the Safeway on 181[suP]st[/suP] and Halsey Street for about six weeks from today’s date.

Today I was eating lunch at about 1230 hours and I see four Gresham Police units coming into the parking lot at an urgent pace.

I am wearing a sleeveless T shirt with my Colt New Agent proudly displayed on my hip. I also ride a Harley-Davidson and had my “dew” rag on my head and fingerless ridding gloves. I am a big man (6’00” and weigh about 245) but not exactly Mr. Universe. :?I have a goatee and shave my head bald.

I sitting in the lunch area of the store (up front by the front glass) looking around. I see one police officer talking to a cashier and spot another one at the end of a food isle keeping an eye on me. I am thinking, “oh, boy. Here we go.”

The next thing that happens is the police officer talking to the cashier heads for the door that I am sitting nearby and another police officer is just coming in that door. He stops the officer coming in the door and says, “There is no problem here.” I check to see if the police officer is still at the end of the food isle and he is gone.

I checked with the manager, they are all friendly with me, and she tells me that a patron saw me with my gun and got excited and called the police. She also said that they gave me a “good guy” report to the officer and they do not have a problem with me carrying a loaded weapon in their store.

I guess that is why the police never came and talked to me.

So, Gresham OCers, it looks as if the Gresham Police department is well aware of open carry laws and as long as the business does not mind one being on their property with a loaded weapon we are good to go.

imported post

Way to go. I've never had any problems with Safeway either, but then that's been on the west side of town.



Ken

imported post

OUTSTANDING!!!! Short of the 911 call taker asking a "MWAG" caller what the "MWAG" is doing and informing the caller that it's legal (we've got a long way to go for that), this isthe way it should be!!!!!!!!!!!

imported post

Darn, MY Safeway refuses to let me carry... they were very polite but a big NO..

imported post

I carried in the local Safeway here in Medford on Friday after reading and posting on this thread. Didn't see any signs (but didn't look real hard as I never do) and had no problems.

I do think I need to get a bigger and brighter pistol though as the black 9mm in a black cordura thumb brake holster doesn't seem to get noticed by people even when I'm talking to them. Some, but not most.

A cop saw it today in Salem though and spent 5-8 minutes watching me from a distance. He never dismounted in motorcycle and left. Again....as it should be. And this was on the Capitol grounds.

We're making headway.

imported post

Outstanding report DJ. Glad everything was cool!

imported post

The night manager at Safeway here only asked me (very politely) to remove the firearm only after a couple of complaints from other (sheep) customers. She personally claimed to be a fan of self defense carry but had to abide by (verbal) policy as I never did get written confirmation from corporate. I had a good visit with the Ast. Manager of the store who agreed with the idea of carry but still claimed to have his hands tied.

I should have followed up a bit better but kept getting a negative vibe the higher I climbed. I did however get the Ast. Manager a packet of material on OC/CC, the law as well as the movement. Not a total loss..

Rev. Jim

imported post

JBURGII wrote:

The night manager at Safeway here only asked me (very politely) to remove the firearm only after a couple of complaints from other (sheep) customers. She personally claimed to be a fan of self defense carry but had to abide by (verbal) policy as I never did get written confirmation from corporate. I had a good visit with the Ast. Manager of the store who agreed with the idea of carry but still claimed to have his hands tied.

I should have followed up a bit better but kept getting a negative vibe the higher I climbed. I did however get the Ast. Manager a packet of material on OC/CC, the law as well as the movement. Not a total loss..

Rev. Jim

Click to expand...

I would keep pursuing the issue, Jim. The brothers here in the greater Portland, area went to great lengths to get Wal-Mart educated in what the actual management policy is concerning OC.

Of course, you have to determin if the "fight" is worth it to you or not and how much you are committed to see a change.

I know sometimes I just do not have the time or the will to make the calls,do the reasearch and send the letters. It takes an awful lot sometimes. But sometimes the cause is worth the fight.

When I do not feel like fighting (I am attending Mt. Hood Community College this fall and I would dearly love to open carry), I just carry concealed.

Good luck and you have the support from the whole forum I am sure.

DJ

imported post

Most of the problem I have had in following up is given in threads titled Junction City, I have been fighting a losing battle with a house full of evil tenants for the last year and it has really sucked up all my free time. I have just moved and taken them out of the equation so I am now able to become more active in OC and related activism.

I have this week thought about re-starting my push with local businesses. Just clearing out the cobwebs and oiling up my new .38...

Rev. Jim

imported post

I went back to my Sherwood Safeway last night for a bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar (we were canning homemade bread and butter pickles and ran out of cider).

I was OC with my G19 + the GTL22 light/laser in my Fobus Level 2 Roto-Holster. I was also wearing my old black NSA shirt - I'd forgotten I was wearing that particular shirt when I strapped on.

Just fine walking around, few weird glances from the sheep, but the employees were fine, UNTIL I got to the checkout.

Older gal is there. She looks me over and says "Oh, when did you guys get into town?", eyes moving to the emblem on my shirt.

I looked down and realized which one I was wearing, and said, "Oh, this is just a previous employer's shirt - I'm just a citizen now, exercising my 2nd Amendment Rights..."

"Huh", she blurts, grandma-style, "didn't think you could do that...".

"Oh, it's perfectly legal in Oregon", I reply, I point at the guy in line ahead of me, "He can carry, even you can carry".

"No", she said, "I mean wear that shirt while carrying a gun, when you don't work there anymore."

At this, I realized she'd been watching way too much TV. "NSA isn't a law enforcement organization", I replied, "they just crack codes".

"Humph," again. "My husband was FBI for 30 years and I never let him keep any of those guns in the house! We had children in there!"

At this point I realize I'm facing a hard-core anti, and just stop talking. She rings me up perfunctorily with a stern look on her face and off I go. No hassles from management.

I guess you can't win them all...

But man, I hate ignorance.

imported post

It's not always about converting the anti's. Desensitizing them and the sheeple is also effective as it reduces the MWAG calls.

I'm considering contacting the local 911 call centers here and asking for their policy on how they handle a MWAG call. See if they already have, or are receptive to, policies in place to eliminate or reduce police response to calls about people lawfully carrying.

imported post

We-the-People wrote:

It's not always about converting the anti's. Desensitizing them and the sheeple is also effective as it reduces the MWAG calls.

I'm considering contacting the local 911 call centers here and asking for their policy on how they handle a MWAG call. See if they already have, or are receptive to, policies in place to eliminate or reduce police response to calls about people lawfully carrying.

Click to expand...

That is something to consider, I have done that with my local PD since I spend a lot of time with them anyway. I had a chat with a couple of the dispatchers about MWAG calls.. told em to first ask if his name was Rev. Jim..

For the most part they have been pretty cool.

imported post

Well I was thinking more along the lines of public relations between the OCers and the PD/dispatching for all OCers rather than just me personally but in your situation that worked well.

The OC movement can't be purely carrying with no political or public relations "work" involved. The most effective way is to use all available resources and tactics to achieve the desired end result.

imported post

I did ask them what their sop was on mwag calls.. I don't remember the exact text of the convo but it was done with common sense from what I could tell. You still have to deal with the responding officer and whatever his attitude is at the time, but a good dispatcher will ask the right questions from the original caller in the first place. I have been subject to improper info from my dispatch on many occasions (tow truck) in response to police involved action and can tell you it is a real pain to show up to a scene uninformed.

I tried for the last year to keep local PD informed on OC and think I did a fair job so far. I have basically used them for practice in the event I have to deal with depts. I do not have a personal relationship with. Its funny to call dispatch (2-5 times a week) to report disorderly conduct (drunk/fighting) or drug dealers in the alley and they know me by first name, "Oh, Hi Jim, what do you need tonight?"...

imported post

It's not always good for them to know you at the dispatch desk.

When I was a much younger man I was at a party when a guy who had been made to leave earlier (due to being violent) returned with a shotgun and kidnapped one of the guests to take him to the home of the one who'd kicked him out.

Imagine my horror when, after telling the dispatcher the problem and her dispatching officers she started getting my information. As soon as I told her my name she asked "are you officer ______'s son?" When I said yes, the next thing I knew was that my DAD was on the line!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here I was a former Marine and "daddy" is telling me to stay where I am and not get hurt. The HUMILITY!!!!!!!

imported post

Oops! Luckily I have had good luck with these guys. I get your drift though as when I call they automatically have an assumed attitude because the nature of the facility I was managing (loaded with druggies, drunks and miscreants)...

So it CAN taint the PDs disposition as they respond to the call.

imported post

Former Marine??????????

imported post

Orphan wrote:

Former Marine??????????

Click to expand...

Yes, I'd served a four year tour and been discharged already at the ripe old age of 21. I returned to the Corps3 years later after I was engaged to my late first wife.

imported post

Autonym wrote:

... {Snip}...

"Humph," again. "My husband was FBI for 30 years and I never let him keep any of those guns in the house! We had children in there!"

... {Snip} ...
But man, I hate ignorance.

Click to expand...

I was just thinking about this "ignorance." I had my oldest son out shooting my .44 Magnum--S&W Model 29 with 4" barrel--when he was 5years old. I used to reload my own and I had some really hot 180 grain hollow points that would just rock your world. He handled them all.

We lived on five acres out in the country and our nearest neighbors were a mile away. My oldest son and I used to sit, lay, knell on the front porch with my old Winchester Model 270 .22 cal. and shoot walnuts off a treethat was 50 or75 feet away.

He is now 23, did two tours in Iraq, and has a concealed hand gun license andnever leaves home with out his .40. He is going to school at OSU and carries concealed on campus; i.e., no Virgina Tech for him!

You raise your children right around weapons and firearms, they learn to respect them and appreciate the rights we have to possessthe weapons we are alowed to own.

Guns are not a threat to children, only ignorant parents make guns unsafe forchildren :banghead:

imported post

DJ,

Yeah man, totally with you there. It totally blew me away how she was acting, and how she was implying her household ran, which is why I included what she said in my AAR.

How I live with my family, and like my father before me - I'm the head of the house. Not the master nor the dictator. Just the head.

The head of a body intakes information, considers that information, makes a decision, and then instructs the body to act.

You could also say I'm the leader of our family. There's a chain of command: Me --> My Wife --> My Kids.

Like any good leader, I look out for my 'troops'. I make decisions that benefit our 'unit'. I accept input from the troops, analyze their wants and needs, balance it against our unit's mission, then make the best decisions I can.

This lady obviously had far too much influence over her husband, to the point where I think she was the leader. If he really was FBI for 30 years, he knows exactly how a gun operates - and how they don't magically kill people on their own. Guns have no volition. He would also understand importance of training, and how with proper training you can make any device safer to work with.

It's a shame he checked his balls at the door.