Friday night I had to spend a couple hours at work, so on my way home, I thought I'd pick up some flowers for my wife because she puts up with a lot, plus we were having company on Saturday and she loves it when she can show her friends how much I love her. I stopped at Martin's supermarket on the west end of town (I live a couple miles outside town, in a nicer area). I was OCing my S&W model 327 (I've posted it in other threads) in a Desantis Speed Scabbard.
I walked in and straight over to the flower cooler and picked out a dozen roses. (BTW, they're a whole lot cheaper now than they were in February, if any of you are looking for bonus points toward your next gun purchase.) I took the roses over to one of the registers, and a decent sized fella came over to me and said, "you're going to have to cover that up. You can't show your gun in here."
I said, "why?"
"Because you can't carry like that?"
I said, "Oh, is it posted somewhere? I didn't see any signs when I came in. Is it a store policy? I'm licensed to carry by the state of Indiana, and with a license it's legal to carry open or concealed."
"Yeah, I know it's legal, but it's store policy. You're right, we should post it."
At this point, I covered my revolver and continued asking questions. The manager came over and started talking as well.
Manager: I know it's legal to carry, but if you carry like that, they won't let you in any stores.
Me: uh...yeah, Meijer doesn't care. Kroger doesn't care. Walmart doesn't care. I've carried like this all over town and you're the only one that seems to have an issue with it.
At that point, the security guy says to me "hey, let's go outside" so I start walking with him. The manager says, "aren't you going to pay and take your flowers?" and I say, "No, you won't be getting any of my money."
So I walked outside with the security guard and we started talking. Turns out he's an off-duty cop from Walkerton, just trying to make ends meet. We started talking about guns and stuff; he asked me what I was carrying and seemed interested that I carry a revolver. We talked about political correctness and about how the only time most people see guns is when they're used by criminals to harm people and when they're used by the press to sell commercials and advertising and sensationalize their writing. He had to get back inside the store, but I hope he takes the things we talked about back to the manager and tells him how messed up their policy against OC is.
So I tucked my shirt in behind my revolver so I'd be carrying openly again, then headed across the street to Kroger. They didn't have any flowers, but I talked to a couple nice employees who were sorry they didn't have flowers. They made no mention of my gun.
Is there anything else I should have said to the manager or done differently?
If you'd like to discuss OC/CC, I'd be happy to do so here: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...lf_defense/37307-common_oc_cc_threadjack.html but not in this thread.
I walked in and straight over to the flower cooler and picked out a dozen roses. (BTW, they're a whole lot cheaper now than they were in February, if any of you are looking for bonus points toward your next gun purchase.) I took the roses over to one of the registers, and a decent sized fella came over to me and said, "you're going to have to cover that up. You can't show your gun in here."
I said, "why?"
"Because you can't carry like that?"
I said, "Oh, is it posted somewhere? I didn't see any signs when I came in. Is it a store policy? I'm licensed to carry by the state of Indiana, and with a license it's legal to carry open or concealed."
"Yeah, I know it's legal, but it's store policy. You're right, we should post it."
At this point, I covered my revolver and continued asking questions. The manager came over and started talking as well.
Manager: I know it's legal to carry, but if you carry like that, they won't let you in any stores.
Me: uh...yeah, Meijer doesn't care. Kroger doesn't care. Walmart doesn't care. I've carried like this all over town and you're the only one that seems to have an issue with it.
At that point, the security guy says to me "hey, let's go outside" so I start walking with him. The manager says, "aren't you going to pay and take your flowers?" and I say, "No, you won't be getting any of my money."
So I walked outside with the security guard and we started talking. Turns out he's an off-duty cop from Walkerton, just trying to make ends meet. We started talking about guns and stuff; he asked me what I was carrying and seemed interested that I carry a revolver. We talked about political correctness and about how the only time most people see guns is when they're used by criminals to harm people and when they're used by the press to sell commercials and advertising and sensationalize their writing. He had to get back inside the store, but I hope he takes the things we talked about back to the manager and tells him how messed up their policy against OC is.
So I tucked my shirt in behind my revolver so I'd be carrying openly again, then headed across the street to Kroger. They didn't have any flowers, but I talked to a couple nice employees who were sorry they didn't have flowers. They made no mention of my gun.
Is there anything else I should have said to the manager or done differently?
If you'd like to discuss OC/CC, I'd be happy to do so here: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...lf_defense/37307-common_oc_cc_threadjack.html but not in this thread.
