A Response To BI-LO Policy
April 5, 2012 in politics
Part 3 in the ongoing saga with BI-LO and their Anti-Gun Owner firearms policy. After a trip grocery shopping left me with a bad taste in my mouth and an unoloaded and disassembled pistol in my car becuase BI-LO decision to disarm law abiding and property rights respecting people while hiding that fact in tiny letters I Wrote Them A Letter (pt.1), and Received A Response (Pt. 2.)
As their response was full of bad logic and bad information about the firearms policies of other retail chains I decided to write them back. Here is copy of the message I sent today to Mr. Dwane Bryant, the Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary for BI-LO Inc. I will keep every updated as the story develops. Here is a copy of the letter I sent:
Dear Mr. Bryant,
I appreciate your prompt response and your plans to look into BI-LO’s anti-firearm signage. I am confident that your conscientious efforts in this matter will lead to your company adding more visible signs, thus reducing confusion, decreasing the chance of an avoidable tragedy, as well as ensuring that the signs are legally enforceable. I thank you for that.
I am writing to you again in regards to your statements explaining why BI-LO created, and stands by, its customer disarmament policy. Specifically, I wanted to address the claims that it is a sound business decision, that it honors safety, and that the policy is shared by all other major retail chains. I hope that by providing counter examples, including facts and figures, I can illustrate that the policy is based on incomplete, incorrect, and flawed data and may be costing the company money.
“…based on sound business judgment.” In North and South Carolina alone there are over 348,000 current, valid Concealed Carry permit holders and applications are at an all-time high (http://www.ncdoj.gov/CHPStats.aspx, http://www.sled.sc.gov/documents/CWP/SCCWPCalendarYear2010.pdf). In North Carolina, there are countless other citizens that legally Open Carry, which requires no permit. In effect, you are telling hundreds of thousands of potential customers to surrender their ability to defend themselves or take their money elsewhere. The occasional complaint by a small minority of anti-gun advocates should not outweigh the much larger community of gun owners and those who are not opposed to the carrying of firearms. In many cases, such as the Starbucks Boycott in February of this year, taking a pro-gun owner stance proved to be an asset, not a liability (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2012/02/starbucks-guns-boycott.html).
“…seeks to honor the security and safety of employees and customers.” Anti-Firearms policies are only respected by law-abiding firearms owners. As incidents like the shooting sprees at Ft. Hood, Virginia Tech, Westwood Mall, and multiple others have shown people who wish harm on others are not deterred by Gun-Free policies. Instead of disarming criminals, these signs simply inform criminals that they are going to be rewarded with a building full of victims. Additionally, according to the most the most recent data I could find for North Carolina, Concealed Carry permit holders are five times less likely to kill someone than the general public (http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/12/foghorn/ny-times-uses-deceptive-statistics-to-promote-anti-gun-agenda-again/).
“This is the same policy adopted by all other major retail chains of which we are aware.” Many chains have policies that allow for different kinds of firearms carry within their stores. A few chains defer to state, local, and federal law (i.e. if Open Carry is legal then it is allowed). These major retail chains include: Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, Barnes & Noble, Toys-R-Us, Sears/K-Mart. Restaurants that maintain a similar policy are: Starbucks, Bob Edwards, and White Castle. (http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/showthread.php?71026-Corporate-Policies, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2012/02/starbucks-guns-boycott.html). This is just a partial list and contains only major chains with published letters from their corporate offices or reported in mainstream news. Anecdotal evidence, such as a lack of signs forbidding guns or reports from Concealed Carry activists, is also available at your request. As shown, if BI-LO were to adopt a policy respecting gun owners it would not be an anomaly; instead, the company would become part of a growing corporate community.
Thanks,
Mr. Xaq Fixx
–
XaqFixx.com
(559) Xaq-Fixx
***@XaqFixx.com
UPDATE: David Codrea of the Gun Rights Examiner has a post covering my experience with Bi-Lo titled “This is how they show respect” over on his blog The War on Guns..
Carl-Bear said on April 6, 2012
I’m reminded of an “incident” at a NH Walmart a few years ago.
A gentleman entered the store one evening. A “people greeter” noticed the man’s holster on his belt and politely called to him, “Excuse me, sire.”
“Yes,” the man replied quizzically.
“This may be a silly question,” continued the people greeter. “But did you realize your holster is _empty_?”
The man explained that he was relatively new to NH and wasn’t sure of the law regarding carry in a store. So, to avoid potential hassles, he left his sidearm locked in his vehicle. The people greeter then told him, “Sir, open carry is perfectly legal here, and Walmart has no rules against it. You can go back and get your gun now if you want.”
“Are you sure?”
“Sir, this is New Hampshire, not Massachusetts. We’re sane here.”
And do know of a case in another state where a Walmart manager ordered an armed customer out of the store. Corporate headquarters sent her a written apology, and reamed out the manager. Reportedly, he never tried that stupid stunt again.
(Full disclosure: I was the NH people greeter. Money was tight.)
XaqFixx said on April 7, 2012
I hope to be up in NH in a few years. I hope to open a brewery in Manchester. I had already applied at Sig Sauer.
Dan Bidstrup said on April 6, 2012
Perhaps the Bi-Lo folks would benefit from reading my column on Examiner.com entitled “Who Are We Protected From with a Gun Free Zone? http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-denver/who-are-we-protected-from-with-a-gun-free-zone
Slobyskya Rotchikokov said on April 6, 2012
Came over from David’s place. I salute you, sir! If MORE citizens would speak out and stand up for their God-given rights, the brain-dead corporate entities who do nothing more than regurgitate, at will, whatever anti-gun, anti-freedom pap they have been spoon fed by socialist government tyrants and fellow travelers, will at least understand that they are placing themselves in a most unpopular and financially unrewarding position.
And the head-pats and smiling nods of approval from their communist democrat masters will not help their bottom lines.
XaqFixx said on April 7, 2012
I appreciate you coming over. Firearms need legalized and normalized.
Gunnar said on August 1, 2012
Xaq,
Ran across this set of letters you sent. Small world LOL! I take it you never got a response from the second letter you sent? Very good job on being diplomatic with the corporate suit! I have to say, I never knew that Bilo had a no weapons policy and therefore was a free crime, excuse me, I meant gun free zone! I have been shopping at the one by my house on the NW side of town forever and always open carry in the store. Almost everywhere I go actually. I have never had anyone ask me to leave or tell me that guns were not welcome in the store. The security person smiles at me and no one seems to have any bit of a problem so maybe even they are not aware, or maybe they are just more “sane” on the NW side than they are on the S side here LOL! I am a big open carry advocate and flex my right to carry as much as possible.
Speaking of this, I wonder if you are aware that our work has a no weapons on the premises policy and am curious as to how you feel about working in a place that shuns our rights as well, and am curious as to how you deal with it. I for one am not happy about it at all but in the spirit of needing to work, I deal with it. To be perfectly honest it really sucks since the drive to here and home every day is the most dangerous thing I do. I get around not being armed by carrying pepper spray and a knife (lot of good either of those would do in the face of a criminal with a firearm), but I dont like having to walk into my empty house every afternoon with no real protection…
Look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Gunnar
XaqFixx said on August 1, 2012
Gunnar,
He never replied to this one and signs have not been updated in NC or SC. I fear their bad policy is spreading too with their buy out of Winn-Dixie.
When it comes to company gun bans, I think they are terrible but follow them. I do wish they ended at the doors and did not extend to the parking lot. All other things equal I would rather work for a company with an employee friendly firearms policy but understand that isn’t always an option. Unless your HR Director is vehemently anti-gun on a personal level then maybe talking to them or organizing a petition signed by other employees, even those who don’t carry, encouraging a compromise (concealed carry only, unloaded and locked in the office, or vehicle carry.) There is also a movement in NC to force companies to allow employees to keep a gun a locked in their car, but I am not sure about how I feel about it or its chance of passing.
CarsonTech said on August 3, 2012
Xaq,
It’s nice to see another liberty minded person living within the imaginary boundaries that make up “South Carolina”. I’m only aware of one other person that loves open carrying, knows what “Porcfest” is, and lives in SC… and that’s my wife.
I, too, love to carry openly. I, too, take advantage of carrying openly in public when I am in NC (or any other state that doesn’t prohibit open carrying). I carry openly here in SC, whenever legal, such as on private property with permission and such.
I ventured into the realm of the Bi-Lo “no weapons” policy, as well. I received no response with each call and email I sent. I’ve boycotted them by not shopping at their stores and telling everyone I know about there ridiculous policy.
Are you aware of this thread on OpenCarry.org ?:
http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/showthread.php?83582