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Confronted at WalMart

chiefjason

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I was confronted about OC'ing my G19 tonight as I left Walmart in Granite Falls, NC. The guy looked to be a CSM, manager type. He spoke to me as I was leaving, however he missed me when I walked right by him coming in. I am positive this guy told me you could not carry any weapon in WM. His reasoning was because one of the employees could not. And he said they asked the District Manager. I politely told him that Walmart Corp policy was to follow the laws of the state it was in and that the guy could not carry because he was an employee. I told him I could not carry where I work either. :banghead:

At this point the guy blew me off to help another customer with a return. He did not ask me to leave, and did not ask me not to come back. He stated that he would not have let me enter if he had seen the weapon. Of course he asked if I was LEO first. Unfortunately his name badge was turned around and he left me with a "have a good night." So I walked out and will pursue this with the District folks. I know a couple of folks who work there so I may be able to track down a name. I have a good description that I will use in any email I can get out tonight. Here we go.

First negative managerial encounter. Any experience with this at other WM's? BTW, my wife is ready to boycott them! :lol:
 

chiefjason

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Mike wrote:
Keep discreetly open carrying in Wal Mart - if they wanted to ban gun carry, we would have seen signs posted by now :)

He did not ask me to leave, he did not tell me not to come back either. I plan to keep carrying if I keep shopping there. I did not mention signs at all. I was OC, the signs are only for CC in NC. That was not part of the issue anyway. I stayed on the NC is an OC state and policy is to obey state law right? I sent an email off already. We'll see what happens.
 

Mike

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chiefjason wrote:
Mike wrote:
Keep discreetly open carrying in Wal Mart - if they wanted to ban gun carry, we would have seen signs posted by now :)

He did not ask me to leave, he did not tell me not to come back either. I plan to keep carrying if I keep shopping there. I did not mention signs at all. I was OC, the signs are only for CC in NC. That was not part of the issue anyway. I stayed on the NC is an OC state and policy is to obey state law right? I sent an email off already. We'll see what happens.
OK, fine I think you did good - and don;t get me wrong, we never want to suggest anybody piost signs - if you say it, they will come.
 

Mr. Glock

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chiefjason wrote:
I was confronted about OC'ing my G19 tonight as I left Walmart in Granite Falls, NC. The guy looked to be a CSM, manager type. He spoke to me as I was leaving, however he missed me when I walked right by him coming in. I am positive this guy told me you could not carry any weapon in WM. His reasoning was because one of the employees could not. And he said they asked the District Manager. I politely told him that WM's? BTW, my wife is ready to boycott them! :lol:
I don't understand, why can one of his employee not carry? Do you work for a different Wal-Mart, and you entered another? Is this the reason, or not? Any way a customer service manager has no say, you should have spoken to the assistant manager about the confrontation.
 

chiefjason

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Mr. Glock wrote:
chiefjason wrote:
I was confronted about OC'ing my G19 tonight as I left Walmart in Granite Falls, NC. The guy looked to be a CSM, manager type. He spoke to me as I was leaving, however he missed me when I walked right by him coming in. I am positive this guy told me you could not carry any weapon in WM. His reasoning was because one of the employees could not. And he said they asked the District Manager. I politely told him that WM's? BTW, my wife is ready to boycott them! :lol:
I don't understand, why can one of his employee not carry? Do you work for a different Wal-Mart, and you entered another? Is this the reason, or not? Any way a customer service manager has no say, you should have spoken to the assistant manager about the confrontation.

I assume that they told the employee he could not carry at WM period. I don't know for sure. It was 11 pm so he was probably the go to guy. I'm going to contact the WM today. I do not work for WM, but my company has a no firearms policy too. He would not be the first manager I have heard of that tried to enforce the employee no firearms policy on the customers. Which is incorrect. I tired to continue the conversation and he blew me off with a "have a good evening" and started helping another customer. I was in no mood to argue after work, so I left and will take it back up today and next week.
 

REX681959

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chiefjason wrote:
Mike wrote:
Keep discreetly open carrying in Wal Mart - if they wanted to ban gun carry, we would have seen signs posted by now :)

He did not ask me to leave, he did not tell me not to come back either. I plan to keep carrying if I keep shopping there. I did not mention signs at all. I was OC, the signs are only for CC in NC. That was not part of the issue anyway. I stayed on the NC is an OC state and policy is to obey state law right? I sent an email off already. We'll see what happens.
If there is a no weapons , no firearms , or a sign with a gun & a slash through it you can NOT CC or OC there period. The only sign I have seen that remotely comes close to this is at gander mountain where they only allow CC.
 

chiefjason

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Rex, the only place a sign is ever mentioned is in relation to CC. You might have to deal with trespassing, but there would be no weapons violation. IIRC Gander Mtn in Huntersville allows OC. I think the sign refers to weapons being brought in for repair, not carried for defense. This is all base on conversations I have seen here. That could have changed.


Update. I got a call last night from the Manager at Granite Falls WM. She is a sorta pro gun person. She said they own guns and her husband is going to get is CCP. She seemed shocked that he inferred there were no weapons period allowed. She said several times that she would try to find a law that "allowed" OC. It took a minute to explain that she would not find one and that OC was legal because it was not illegal.

She mentioned that they had asked customers to take knives and firearms back to the car before. I politely explained that if she did that she was setting WM up to be liable if they were stolen. And from what I have read that has already happened. I did get the line that they follow state and local laws, whichever held more importance. To which I politely explained to her that if that was the case then OC is completely legal in the store. I got a lot of but this, and we don't want other customers nervous.

I also explained to her that the Hickory WM was now one of the most dangerous places to be in Hickory. And that I carried because I never know when something may happen. I explained that I have OC'd at all the local WM's and this was the first issue I have had.

She is supposed to check with the district Mgr and get back with me. I told her to look at the map here for the OC info. And to call me if she needed to find anything else about OC. Basically I wanted to let her know she could call me for more info. I also politely told her that if I could not OC, then I would shop at a store that completely respected my right to bear arms. She's off for 4 days so it will be next week before I possible hear from her. I'll update when I hear something.

And Merry Christmas all.
 

REX681959

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REX681959 wrote:
chiefjason wrote:
Mike wrote:
Keep discreetly open carrying in Wal Mart - if they wanted to ban gun carry, we would have seen signs posted by now :)

He did not ask me to leave, he did not tell me not to come back either. I plan to keep carrying if I keep shopping there. I did not mention signs at all. I was OC, the signs are only for CC in NC. That was not part of the issue anyway. I stayed on the NC is an OC state and policy is to obey state law right? I sent an email off already. We'll see what happens.
If there is a no weapons , no firearms , or a sign with a gun & a slash through it you can NOT CC or OC there period. The only sign I have seen that remotely comes close to this is at gander mountain where they only allow CC.



Sorry I took this to mean that you though a no weapon sign only applied to CC
 

chiefjason

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Rex, they only carry weight for CC. There is no sign that legally prohibits OC. There are places you are not allowed to OC, per law. The sign might make it easier to charge you with trespass. The only place that a no weapons sign is mentioned in the GS codes is in the Concealed Carry Scope of Permit. Regardless, I take it as a sign they do not want my business.


14‑415.11. Permit to carry concealed handgun; scope of permit.

snip....where notice that carrying a concealed handgun is prohibited by the posting of a conspicuous notice or statement by the person in legal possession or control of the premises.

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_14/GS_14-415.11.html
 

Myrighttocarry

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You're always good at keeping your cool in situations like that cheif, I admire your ability(from what I can tell over the internet) to keep your head about you and not enter into a confronation or make a scene. If everybody had a similar mentaility, rather than immediately getting offended because their rights are being infringed, I think it will go a long way in the OC 'cause.
 

lonewolf2810

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Myrighttocarry wrote:
You're always good at keeping your cool in situations like that cheif, I admire your ability(from what I can tell over the internet) to keep your head about you and not enter into a confronation or make a scene. If everybody had a similar mentaility, rather than immediately getting offended because their rights are being infringed, I think it will go a long way in the OC 'cause.
Well said MRTC keeping your cool and not getting into a confrontation over the situation is the way to do things. Very well done chiefjason.
 

chiefjason

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Thanks guys. I knew I was in the right and when he could not just get me to accept his authority on his word he ended the conversation. I was tired and just decided to pursue it later. I don't mind the confrontation, but have no need to turn it into an argument. At that point you need to find a better way.

Still waiting on info, probably be a couple of days still. Also found out that the lady is not the Store Mgr, just the Mgr on duty that day. So if I get a poor answer I got room to go up the ladder. I'll post as soon as I hear anything.
 

lonewolf2810

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That is probably the same Manager that called me about the sale of ammo after 10pm.
Have you had any problem the purchase of ammo after 10pm? If so you should contact her as she told me this isn't a store or a corporate policy.
 

Ratt402

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I am sorry to hear about these problems, the Wal-Marts I go to here in Greensboro (both the Wendover and Battleground) have never given me any problems at all. I open carry as well as conceal depending on what I am wearing. My wife has even noticed that I don't even get a second look when I do OC from customers as well as the employees. I am usually dressed ok and not looking like charles manson looking for victims. That and the fact of my age may be a factor as i am 45. I know this isnt fair that any of that shouldn't matter, but to most of the "unaware", it does as first impressions are what people use to base an opinion of something. We all are guilty of it, being from meeting someone for the first time to picking out a place to eat you know nothing about. Just some food for thought.
 

ocgso

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REX681959 wrote:
If there is a no weapons , no firearms , or a sign with a gun & a slash through it you can NOT CC or OC there period. The only sign I have seen that remotely comes close to this is at gander mountain where they only allow CC.

This is not correct.....



The sign at Gander Mtn says (I am paraphrasing from memory) "all firearms brought into the store for sale or service must be presented to customer service deskand placed in a container, this does not apply to concealed/carry permit holders"

The slash is the trick. It is a corporate sign for use in ALL states, including the ones where you must have a permit to open carry.

You are perfectly ok to open carry in Gander Mtn, as I have done literally close to 100 times. I have had many employees talk to me about my gun, my holster, why I chose it, etc. Even had one guy try to talk me into trading my PT111 for something with more punch :lol:

You are fine to OC there and you will not have a problem at the one in Greensboro, that I can promise you.
 

chiefjason

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I got an answer today.

I had to call corporate because my last email was not responded to. I talked to the Asset Protection Mgr. at Granite Falls WM. He informed me that I should not have been told that I was not welcome in the store. He said that I and my firearm are welcome at any time. He did say that if someone complained that they may have to ask me to leave because of GATTTOTP. I asked him to look into State v Huntley because a holstered firearm is not GATTTOTP. I also pointed him to State v Kerner for OC without a permit. He said he was an ex LEO, so he was familiar with OC being legal in NC. He sounded like he was going to check in to the cases. Seems he is personally interested in firearms law.

I described the associate that confronted me. He is an assistant mgr, and he seemed surprised he would tell me that. He said he was going to personally talk with him and take care of this. I mentioned that the associate in sporting goods asked if I was looking for .40 ammo most likely because I was carrying. He got a good laugh on that.

I got an interesting answer to the WM corporate policy on firearms. Seems we may not be able to find one because he stated there is no policy. They just go by state law. I know that's pretty much what we already knew. But I figured they would actually have it in writing. Maybe they don't. Regardless, he asked me to come back and shop with them anytime.

At least I finally got someone who could definitively answer my questions, and hopefully straightened him out on GATTTOTP a bit.
 

REX681959

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Ratt402 wrote:
I am sorry to hear about these problems, the Wal-Marts I go to here in Greensboro (both the Wendover and Battleground) have never given me any problems at all. I open carry as well as conceal depending on what I am wearing. My wife has even noticed that I don't even get a second look when I do OC from customers as well as the employees. I am usually dressed ok and not looking like charles manson looking for victims. That and the fact of my age may be a factor as i am 45. I know this isnt fair that any of that shouldn't matter, but to most of the "unaware", it does as first impressions are what people use to base an opinion of something. We all are guilty of it, being from meeting someone for the first time to picking out a place to eat you know nothing about. Just some food for thought.
You might not have as much luck with the one on Cone.
 
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