Walmart Asks Customers to Refrain From Open Carry

Walmart Asks Customers to Refrain From Open Carry

This correspondent walks into a Walmart about once a week to monitor local ammunition prices. Long experience has demonstrated that no gun signs are seldom noticed. Some effort is expended, attempting to do better at noticing them. At the entrance of Walmart, a sign mentioning a firearm was noticed, in relatively small letters, among other information, toward the top right corner of the entryway. The notice said:

Kindly refrain from openly carrying a firearm.

This correspondent is armed nearly all the time. Whether a firearm is carried openly or concealed or firearms are carried both ways, depends on what is deemed most advantageous for the particular time and place. Open carry is especially effective as a political statement. Open carry is not as necessary or useful in Arizona since the state restored Constitutional Carry in 2010.

This correspondent carried openly in the local Walmart in May of 2021 and met another customer there who was carrying concealed. At the time, Walmart did not ask this customer to leave the store.

Astute readers will notice the current Walmart signage is a polite request, not a demand or a command. The request only required a minor shifting of clothing to accomplish.  A polite society is a positive value. Acceding to a polite request does not mean it must be followed if it becomes burdensome or dangerous to do so.

There are only four states where open carry is generally banned by law. They are California, Florida, Illinois, and New York. One of those states is not like the others. Florida has permitless carry, but bans most open carry of firearms.

No thanks. Carry on! A Smiths near us usually has at least one person open carry at any given time.

“Many states have specific requirements for “no gun” signs. This Walmart sign is a simple, polite request, not a command.”

Exactly. And it is their business, so their rules

Gee, I wonder if Walmart did a study of all the violent acts committed against them and their patrons using firearms. Probably not, because the study would show that virtually every act involving firearms was committed by somebody who wasn’t able to legally possess the firearms.

And since they ignored the laws regarding possession, that would logically mean they would likely ignore the “kindly refrain” suggestion by Walmart.

The end result, logically, would be that the patrons of Walmart, who are legally able to possess a firearm, but abide by the “kindly refratin” policy, will be targets instead of would be heroes.

Way to go Walmart . . .

The request only required a minor shifting of clothing to accomplish.

I was under the impression in my state of Georgia that open carry is a right, but that depends on the policy of the establishment about guns, etc. Also when you go from open carry to "minor shifting of clothing" that could come under "concealed weapon" for which you do need a permit (weapons carry license as here in GA).

I could be completely wrong about it, although. I just look at carrying as a defensive measure, not a political statement as the 'correspondent' implies.

"Sensory-friendly hours"?

Are those the hours when these Walmart shoppers are allowed in the store?

Awhile back I was in a Target store, and there was a guy open-carrying (legal in my state, and evidently okay with Target).

The guy was carefully examining some merchandise on a shelf. He was paying zero attention to his holstered revolver. Anyone - a lunatic, a kid, a lunatic kid - could have easily taken his gun.

Better to carry concealed, I think.

Misinformation on CaCaLand. Any type of carry in California requires specific permission of local sheriff. No one gets that unless they are celebrity, politician, or private security of same. You can apply all you like. But, unless you find a sheriff not on the take, you will be denied.

Kindly refrain from openly carrying a firearm.

"Kindly" is a scammer word, commonly used by Asian Indian/Pakistani scammers. Anytime I read this in any document, it is blocked with extreme prejudice.

Totally better to carry concealed. For reasons you just stated.

Unless you are in a uniform or hunting or the like, open carry is an unnecessary distraction and, most importantly, sacrifices the element of surprise.

I generally encourage people to avoid it.

They asked nicely and don’t seem to have a problem with concealed carry. I’d say we are making progress. I’m not a fan of walking around a store with a rifle unless it’s a store that sells or repairs firearms. People who do it just to make a point have that right, but I don’t think they are doing us (gun owners) any favors. A pistol or revolver in a holster is a less ostentatious way to deliver the same message.

“Misinformation on CaCaLand.”

The article states California generally bans open carry.

Is that incorrect or misinformation?