RESOLVED: Prattville, AL Bass Pro Shop now allows open carry!

Prattville, AL. One of the members of AlabamaOpenCarry.com was kicked out of the Prattville Bass Pro Shop for lawful open carry. After contacting the manager, he was told that corporate policy did not allow OC and that Alabama state law did not allow OC. That last part is, of course totally false.

I contacted them through the chat they have available at their "Contact us" link. Not very productive. "Stephanie" could not even assure me that I would receive a reply or even that my complaint would be forwarded to anyone. On top of kicking out one of us, their customer service is lousy.

Anyway, I suggest that, if you are usually a customer of theirs that you contact them by mail, phone, email, or chat to complain. I also suggest that you, like I, stop shopping there unless and until they adopt the standard policy of "following State law."

good report - I am working it. Bass Pro policy was worked out with OpenCarry.org over a year ago - open carry is ok, handling is not; guns being returned or brought for repair must be unloaded and promptly check ed in - nothing too hard about this except getting the word out to all the employees and managers.

Strange that they claimed "Corporate Policy" did not allow open carry. A visit to my local Bass Pro Shops (Hampton, VA.) will reveal several people open carrying at any given time. At least that seems to be the case every time that I visit the store. Could it be that our local BPS management is not aware of this "Corporate Policy"?

This is still being worked - manager confirmed to me that corp policy is to allow legal carry, including open carry, and manager is now seeing a legal opinion from teh local sheriff as whether open carry is lawful in Bass Pro in that counrty - hang on, this might get interesting

Mike said:

This is still being worked - manager confirmed to me that corp policy is to allow legal carry, including open carry, and manager is now seeing a legal opinion from teh local sheriff as whether open carry is lawful in Bass Pro in that counrty - hang on, this might get interesting

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What is really interesting about this situation is that a person who is not in the process of advocating OC is asking the sheriff for the opinion. The sheriff will feel an increased need not to blow the manager off and to answer his question accurately. Let's see what happens.

There are a couple of hundred people poised to pounce (figuratively) on the sheriff if he gets it wrong.

The deputy teaching the Bass pro shops "it's the law" seminar last year at the one outside Mobile AL, said he would arrest anyone carrying openly in there for trespassing. He said flat out said he could write up a encounter creatively to give him RAS. And he said you would be arrested with no warning from the business if they had a no firearm sign up. See the it's the law thread in the AL sub forum. The flat-out hostility toward OC and ignorance was incredible from this academy training officer.

Mas49.56 said:

The deputy teaching the Bass pro shops "it's the law" seminar last year at the one outside Mobile AL, said he would arrest anyone carrying openly in there for trespassing. He said flat out said he could write up a encounter creatively to give him RAS. And he said you would be arrested with no warning from the business if they had a no firearm sign up. See the it's the law thread in the AL sub forum. The flat-out hostility toward OC and ignorance was incredible from this academy training officer.

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If there is a "No firearms" sign, the officer will likely be able to arrest the carrier without the officer suffering any disciplinary action and without any recourse on the part of the carrier other than the charges being dropped or an acquittal. AL law is silent on signs on buildings (although it mentions "No trespassing" signs on open land). However, it is not unreasonable to interpret a sign posted at the entrance as denying permission (denied by the owner or his agent) to enter to anyone carrying a firearm. At that point in time, the officer is arresting a person for violating the law on trespass. He is not "trespassing" the person. The sign did that.

The act of "trespassing," which must, according to the AL code, be done by the owner or his agent, is simply an official notification that a person is not welcome on the premises. It is usually done in the presence of an officer so that an official record can be made. The purpose of this official record is to provide proof that future entries onto the premises by the "trespassed" individual are without the permission of the owner or his agent, thus creating the probable cause for an arrest.

It can be reasonably argued that the sign provided such proof, obviating the need to "trespass" the individual to create the probable cause. Since the probable cause exists, the officer can arrest. It would then be up to the legal system to determine whether or not the sign constituted a revocation of a carrier's privilege to enter the private property. I suspect that the sign alone would not be sufficient.

However, if I am correct, that will not stop a lawful arrest of the carrier.

Bottom line: If there is a "No firearms" sign, don't carry a firearm through that door.

and if you see a large gorilla, chomping on a cigar, in the store, leave him the hell alone!

eye95 said:

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Bottom line: If there is a "No firearms" sign, don't carry a firearm through that door.

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In my state I ignore them if they are on public buildings or pre-empted areas. Had a few places remove the signs after too.

sudden valley gunner said:

In my state I ignore them if they are on public buildings or pre-empted areas. Had a few places remove the signs after too.

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I hear you concerning public and preempted areas. In our state, when it's a private building, or a "semi-public" place such as Wal-Mart, it's still considered private property, and as such, if it's posted "No Firearms" it means that it meets CRS requirements prohibiting no firearms. Some here disagree, and as much as I'd prefer they're right, the regs just don't read that way, and if they're not reading that way, I'm not risking it. I'd rather steer clear of some place than run the risk of looking my CHP on a technicality or misunderstanding, particularly when two or more folks here who would both like it to read in our favor can't agree on what the reg is ultimately saying.

In Alabama, nothing in the code makes it a crime to ignore a "no guns" sign.

I still stand by my "bottom line." If there is a "No firearms" sign, don't carry a firearm through that door. It is a matter of respect for the rights of others. How can we expect our rights to be respected when we refuse to respect the rights of others.

For the third time today: To best defend our rights we should primarily focus on defending the rights of others, not vice versa.

eye95 said:

In Alabama, nothing in the code makes it a crime to ignore a "no guns" sign.

I still stand by my "bottom line." If there is a "No firearms" sign, don't carry a firearm through that door. It is a matter of respect for the rights of others. How can we expect our rights to be respected when we refuse to respect the rights of others.

For the third time today: To best defend our rights we should primarily focus on defending the rights of others, not vice versa.

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I agree. Although you may have a right to do something it may not be the right thing to do.

McX said:

and if you see a large gorilla, chomping on a cigar, in the store, leave him the hell alone!

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Look again, that's a carrot. I thought my eyes were bad.

eye95 said:

In Alabama, nothing in the code makes it a crime to ignore a "no guns" sign.

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Swell. Scratch your nuts and enjoy your freedom. Things in most of the other states of our union range between a bit and a lot more complicated

If rationality doesn't relieve that, I think some sort of medication has been available for five decades which fix this.

well,,,

since9 said:

Swell. Scratch your nuts and enjoy your freedom. Things in most of the other states of our union range between a bit and a lot more complicated

If rationality doesn't relieve that, I think some sort of medication has been available for five decades which fix this.

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my state also places no legal weight in "no guns" signs,
im sure this is true in many other states,
so im going to scratch my nuts, and enjoy my freedom too!

and speaking of medication, ive been reading some of your other posts.
ive asked you before, and ill suggest again, maybe you should check yours.

then again, maybe its not meds, you seem to go on a rant a couple days, once a month!
if youre also having cramps, it could just be your menstrual cycle!

I also have been in contact with Bass-Pro their reply is below. As you know CA is an unloaded open carry state. But I would believe the same would go for Corp policy.

reply from Dan H. Dugger manager Bass Pro Shops Manteca:

If you are bringing in a handgun in a holster, unloaded and you are openly carrying on your side you are welcome to have that firearm in the store without a trigger lock. If you have a Concealed and Carry permit it can be loaded and concealed in the store. If we see a concealed weapon we will ask if person has a concealed permit. Any other firearms will need to be trigger locked at the door including handguns. I am sorry for the confusion on this issue. If you openly carried into our store we should have let you do so. Thank you for bringing this to our attention and I hope you have a great day.

Unfortunately, at the BPS in Prattville, AL, the manager is relying on having been told that OC is illegal in AL to justify his position. The manager has been asked repeatedly to get clarification in writing, but has not responded. We don't know if he has gotten written confirmation or not.

OCing in that store could result in a call to the sheriff's office, and that sheriff has proved to be hostile to OC.

We are still working this issue.

maybe it's time for an open carry picket of the store with press coverage - if the manager sees people open carrying in opublic, maybe he will get a clue it's legal.

Mike said:

maybe it's time for an open carry picket of the store with press coverage - if the manager sees people open carrying in opublic, maybe he will get a clue it's legal.

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In Alabama, that would get us arrested. We have a law against being armed while participating in a demonstration. IMO, that is unconstitutional. We are working on repeal of that one. That, to me, is wiser than becoming a test case.

It is illegal in many states to "be at a demonstration while carrying a firearm". I know NC has a law like that and I'm pretty sure VA does, too. I don't have a copy of it right offhand, but I remember reading it somewhere...