Last night (morning) at around 1:30 a.m. I decided to run to Washington City Wal-Mart to pick up some much-needed food. I was, of course, open carrying my G23 while wearing jeans and a t-shirt. As soon as I walk in the store, the greeter says to me, "Is that a gun?" I said, "Yes, yes it is." (I really wanted to say, "Nope, squirt gun.")
I've walked past her at least a hundred times before, and it had to be this night that she noticed. She's like, "I can't let you past here with that, I'll lose my job." ...If that were true, she'd have lost it at least 50 times over. Anyway, she calls the customer service manager over to the front on the radio whilst I'm standing there with my cart being patient and polite.
The customer service manager comes over to me and says, "Why are you carrying a gun?" I answer with the always-safe "Because I can, and because Utah state law allows it. And no, I am not a police officer." She proceeds to lecture me about how her son has a concealed-weapons permit, and that means I need to carry concealed... blah blah blah, and her other son is in the special forces and has guns but never carries "Like that", pointing to my hip. At this point I'm getting a little irritated, and I say, "So what would you suggest I do? I can go put it in my car, I can leave..." She says, "Well, I don't know what Wal-Mart's policy is on guns, so let me call the store manager over here to sort all this out."
All I expected to do was grab some Hot Pockets and stuff and get out of there, but now I'm having a little giggle inside at this point, because I'm now considered a 'situation'. The manager eventually comes over after a few minutes and in her German accent says, "Well what is this?", looking at me standing with the two older ladies who are all sorts of flustered. The customer service manager explained to the manager, "Well, this gentleman here has a gun. He's carrying it in the open, so everyone can see it. I just don't know what to do, or what Wal-Mart's policy is on carrying guns or anything like that. What do we do about it?"
The manager then asks me, "So Utah lets you carry a gun like that? Out in the open?" Yes, Ma'am they do. She says okay, then proceeds to stay silent for a short time and look around her. She says, "So... what are you shopping for? How long do you think you'll be?" I told her that I would be fifteen minutes tops, and that I was just buying a little bit of food. She hesitated to say something again, so I decided to say what I wanted to originally, thinking I had really nothing else to lose because I was probably going to be asked to leave anyways.
"Ma'am, can I just say that this is a little ridiculous? There are no rules or policies posted at the front of the store, and if there had been I wouldn't have come in here and I wouldn't be dancing around here right now. I am more than qualified to safely carry a pistol because I have been trained by local law-enforcement in how to handle myself and any situation that I could encounter, but no I am obviously not a policeman, like I said before. I choose to carry my gun this way. I am obviously not a mad gunman, because I'm standing here having a conversation about something I've done a hundred times before. None of your employees have caught it until right now, none of your customers have ever complained, and you just told me you've never heard of anybody doing this in your store, even though I do it at least once a week. I'd really rather you tell me to leave, which I will happily do, than have me stand here when I could have better things to do. Legally, I am completely in the green. I'm just sorry that Wal-Mart doesn't know how they feel about it."
Yeah, a little forward and bold, I know. But I was very confident with how I worded everything. She nods her head and keeps quiet for another few seconds while her two elderly employees keep looking at her for some sort of answer, then says "So fifteen minutes, you said?" I tell her yes.
She then motions for one of her off-duty cashiers to come over and stand with us. The guy who came over was quite built, and a lot larger than I was. "A bouncer. Great.", I thought to myself. The manager says to him, "Jason, you are going to escort this gentleman during his shopping experience. Just try to stand in front of where his gun is so that they customers don't see it. If they say something, just tell them management is aware and okay with him carrying his gun." I'm laughing at this point, because I thought it was a joke. It wasn't.
Jason walked near me (not holding an iron curtain over my Glock) and we talked about his employment with the National Guard, guns, his wife and child and his child on the way, and about the LDS church! I told him, "I wish every Wal-Mart shopping experience was this personal!" This guy helped me grocery shop and at one point said, "Hey, what kind of bread did you want? I'll grab it while you grab the corn dogs."
My late-night Wal-Mart "experience" turned into comedy more than anything else. I walked out of the store with groceries and a smile on my face.
I feel pretty good about the whole experience and feel like I took care of everything appropriately and respectfully!
I've walked past her at least a hundred times before, and it had to be this night that she noticed. She's like, "I can't let you past here with that, I'll lose my job." ...If that were true, she'd have lost it at least 50 times over. Anyway, she calls the customer service manager over to the front on the radio whilst I'm standing there with my cart being patient and polite.
The customer service manager comes over to me and says, "Why are you carrying a gun?" I answer with the always-safe "Because I can, and because Utah state law allows it. And no, I am not a police officer." She proceeds to lecture me about how her son has a concealed-weapons permit, and that means I need to carry concealed... blah blah blah, and her other son is in the special forces and has guns but never carries "Like that", pointing to my hip. At this point I'm getting a little irritated, and I say, "So what would you suggest I do? I can go put it in my car, I can leave..." She says, "Well, I don't know what Wal-Mart's policy is on guns, so let me call the store manager over here to sort all this out."
All I expected to do was grab some Hot Pockets and stuff and get out of there, but now I'm having a little giggle inside at this point, because I'm now considered a 'situation'. The manager eventually comes over after a few minutes and in her German accent says, "Well what is this?", looking at me standing with the two older ladies who are all sorts of flustered. The customer service manager explained to the manager, "Well, this gentleman here has a gun. He's carrying it in the open, so everyone can see it. I just don't know what to do, or what Wal-Mart's policy is on carrying guns or anything like that. What do we do about it?"
The manager then asks me, "So Utah lets you carry a gun like that? Out in the open?" Yes, Ma'am they do. She says okay, then proceeds to stay silent for a short time and look around her. She says, "So... what are you shopping for? How long do you think you'll be?" I told her that I would be fifteen minutes tops, and that I was just buying a little bit of food. She hesitated to say something again, so I decided to say what I wanted to originally, thinking I had really nothing else to lose because I was probably going to be asked to leave anyways.
"Ma'am, can I just say that this is a little ridiculous? There are no rules or policies posted at the front of the store, and if there had been I wouldn't have come in here and I wouldn't be dancing around here right now. I am more than qualified to safely carry a pistol because I have been trained by local law-enforcement in how to handle myself and any situation that I could encounter, but no I am obviously not a policeman, like I said before. I choose to carry my gun this way. I am obviously not a mad gunman, because I'm standing here having a conversation about something I've done a hundred times before. None of your employees have caught it until right now, none of your customers have ever complained, and you just told me you've never heard of anybody doing this in your store, even though I do it at least once a week. I'd really rather you tell me to leave, which I will happily do, than have me stand here when I could have better things to do. Legally, I am completely in the green. I'm just sorry that Wal-Mart doesn't know how they feel about it."
Yeah, a little forward and bold, I know. But I was very confident with how I worded everything. She nods her head and keeps quiet for another few seconds while her two elderly employees keep looking at her for some sort of answer, then says "So fifteen minutes, you said?" I tell her yes.
She then motions for one of her off-duty cashiers to come over and stand with us. The guy who came over was quite built, and a lot larger than I was. "A bouncer. Great.", I thought to myself. The manager says to him, "Jason, you are going to escort this gentleman during his shopping experience. Just try to stand in front of where his gun is so that they customers don't see it. If they say something, just tell them management is aware and okay with him carrying his gun." I'm laughing at this point, because I thought it was a joke. It wasn't.
Jason walked near me (not holding an iron curtain over my Glock) and we talked about his employment with the National Guard, guns, his wife and child and his child on the way, and about the LDS church! I told him, "I wish every Wal-Mart shopping experience was this personal!" This guy helped me grocery shop and at one point said, "Hey, what kind of bread did you want? I'll grab it while you grab the corn dogs."
My late-night Wal-Mart "experience" turned into comedy more than anything else. I walked out of the store with groceries and a smile on my face.
I feel pretty good about the whole experience and feel like I took care of everything appropriately and respectfully!
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