maverick2694
Regular Member
On Saturday, August 7th, I took my wife out to dinner at the Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse in Hampton, and we then proceeded to shop around the Peninsula Town Center mall. I was OC'ing my Kimber Compact CDP II in a Serpa holster. We passed several police officers and security guards, with not a word said. As we continued walking around, we decided to check and see if Barnes and Noble had Deadwood season 2 (they had a lot of their DVD's and Blu-Rays 40% to 50% off).
As we were browsing through the DVD's, we were approached by a manager. The manager identified herself as the store manager, Diane. She informed me that all weapons, whether legal or not, were prohibited from all Barnes and Noble buildings. I asked her if this was her policy or the corporate policy, and she stated that it was corporate policy. As we were talking, I politely challenged her about the corporate policy, and pulled up the response from Mary Ausman (Supervisor of Customer Retention) that was posted in the thread about the Libbie Place incident. Mrs. Ausman's letter states that the Barnes and Noble corporate policy is to follow state and local law. Once this was pointed out to Diane, she stated that prohibiting firearms was her policy and until she had a hard copy of the corporate policy nothing was going to change it. She then asked me to leave the store.
As soon as we left, I called Barnes and Noble's customer service line to reverify their policy. I spoke with Elaine, who was very professional and courteous, and she assured me that Barnes and Noble did not prohibit law abiding customers from carrying in their stores. I described the incident to her, and she informed me that Diane was not the store manager, but an assistant manager. She then gave me a reference number, apologized for the incident, and assured me that the store manager, Linda McGee, would contact me about the incident within the next few days.
Today, I spoke with Linda, the store manager. She stated that I was not prohibited from entering the store with my pistol, and that corporate policy is to allow customers to legally carry. She also said that it is her personal preference that no one bring any type of firearm in the store, and that if anyone (customer or employee) comes to her feeling uncorfortable about the firearm, that I would be asked to leave again. She said that she felt that asking the person OC'ing to leave was the easiest way to keep everyone happy. I asked her what she thought about the rights of the person carrying, and she said that she could ask anyone in her store to place the firearm in their car and that they have the right to refuse. I then explained to her that almost anyone OC'ing would not like to place the firearm in their car because anyone watching would see them place it in the car and then leave it unattended, leaving it open for theft. I then asked her what would happen if the person refused to place the firearm in their vehicle, and she said that they would be asked to leave. I then told her that anyone who refused to leave after being asked, as she said they have the right to, would then open themselves up to trespassing charges. She had no response to that statement. I then thanked her for her time, and wished her a good day.
I don't really plan to go back to that store anytime soon, as I usually stay south of the HRBT, but I felt that my fellow OC'ers would like to know about the incident. If we do go back and I am asked to leave again, I will file another complaint, but instead of the store manager I will speak with the district or general manager.
In case anyone is interested, here is the managers name and contact number:
Linda McGee
Store Manager, Peninsula Town Center Barnes and Noble
(757) 827-1158
As we were browsing through the DVD's, we were approached by a manager. The manager identified herself as the store manager, Diane. She informed me that all weapons, whether legal or not, were prohibited from all Barnes and Noble buildings. I asked her if this was her policy or the corporate policy, and she stated that it was corporate policy. As we were talking, I politely challenged her about the corporate policy, and pulled up the response from Mary Ausman (Supervisor of Customer Retention) that was posted in the thread about the Libbie Place incident. Mrs. Ausman's letter states that the Barnes and Noble corporate policy is to follow state and local law. Once this was pointed out to Diane, she stated that prohibiting firearms was her policy and until she had a hard copy of the corporate policy nothing was going to change it. She then asked me to leave the store.
As soon as we left, I called Barnes and Noble's customer service line to reverify their policy. I spoke with Elaine, who was very professional and courteous, and she assured me that Barnes and Noble did not prohibit law abiding customers from carrying in their stores. I described the incident to her, and she informed me that Diane was not the store manager, but an assistant manager. She then gave me a reference number, apologized for the incident, and assured me that the store manager, Linda McGee, would contact me about the incident within the next few days.
Today, I spoke with Linda, the store manager. She stated that I was not prohibited from entering the store with my pistol, and that corporate policy is to allow customers to legally carry. She also said that it is her personal preference that no one bring any type of firearm in the store, and that if anyone (customer or employee) comes to her feeling uncorfortable about the firearm, that I would be asked to leave again. She said that she felt that asking the person OC'ing to leave was the easiest way to keep everyone happy. I asked her what she thought about the rights of the person carrying, and she said that she could ask anyone in her store to place the firearm in their car and that they have the right to refuse. I then explained to her that almost anyone OC'ing would not like to place the firearm in their car because anyone watching would see them place it in the car and then leave it unattended, leaving it open for theft. I then asked her what would happen if the person refused to place the firearm in their vehicle, and she said that they would be asked to leave. I then told her that anyone who refused to leave after being asked, as she said they have the right to, would then open themselves up to trespassing charges. She had no response to that statement. I then thanked her for her time, and wished her a good day.
I don't really plan to go back to that store anytime soon, as I usually stay south of the HRBT, but I felt that my fellow OC'ers would like to know about the incident. If we do go back and I am asked to leave again, I will file another complaint, but instead of the store manager I will speak with the district or general manager.
In case anyone is interested, here is the managers name and contact number:
Linda McGee
Store Manager, Peninsula Town Center Barnes and Noble
(757) 827-1158
