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Target Addresses Firearms

WalkingWolf

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
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11,930
Location
North Carolina
@ Arin Morris,

I'm confused, too!

So, I guess when I go to my local Target and OC, I will "confusedly" be OC-ing my handgun (as I used to do there BEFORE this became news) -- and maybe/hopefully nothing will happen?

I hate to find out the hard way though...

;-)

Target has already made a statement that there will be no signs, no prohibition, it is a request. Target is dancing the jig on a fence post, the same as the other business that issued these non bans.
 

cloudcroft

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El Paso, TX (formerly Colorado Springs, CO)
True...but you never know how Target stores in a particular state may "interpret" Target's "confusing" Corporate policy -- or a local store manager/employees. Reminds me of the police "interpreting" state laws when they "mistakenly" and/or "inadvertently" hassle or arrest you.

;-)

So just in case, I will be looking for any signs at the door (here in The Springs) as I walk in OC-ing as per usual...but by then it'll be too late. At least unlike with the police, the worst Target can do is ask me to leave. :-(

Relatedly, I don't go to Starbucks anymore since CEO Shultz came out "requesting" the very same thing a while back -- gun carriers (OC or CC) weren't welcomed anymore, but they'd serve us 'if necessary' -- so I could stop going to Target, too. Problem is, however, as this trend continues I am not 'welcomed' at more and more stores. Eventually, I will have to stay home and hunt small game for sustenance...and grow my own coffee beans also (already have the espresso machine so I'm good there).

I guess the pigeon population here would be decimated also (and that's good as the hawks & falcons can't do that all by themselves) but not sure the apartment complex management would approve of my attempting to live off-the-grid, as it were -- simply because I can't go shopping anymore, not being 'welcomed' anywhere anymore -- as if we ever REALLY were welcomed in the first place (just tolerated). ;-)

Sad to see the majority of so-called "Americans" nowadays so frightened by an inanimate object...
 
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cloudcroft

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Just another case of a business preventing customers from defending themselves, yet at the same time, refusing to provide armed security for their customers -- even in the parking lots.

And also just another example of -- had these crime victims been killed on store property -- of businesses getting away with AT LEAST negligent homicide/manslaughter charges (I'd prefer worse) simply because of "the law" (apparently) protecting said business from ANY liability/responsibility whatsoever for their customers' safety.

And once again, all this is just as INSANE and OUTRAGEOUS as it was the LAST time customers got robbed/maimed or killed inside a business or on its property. And the many times before that. Criminals have NO BUSINEES even touching a decent citizen, yet they do that and more with impunity.

And as with school and workplace shootings, there will be more of them in the future...probably sooner than later.

P.S. We have one Walmart here in Colorado Springs I recall having lots of security presence in their parking lots...but it's in a trash/ghetto part of town. Still, considering the "clientele" of this Walmart, the 2 times I've gone there I'm sure glad I carried my OWN security -- especially in the parking lot -- and doing so OC, just in case any of the trash needed a reminder to behave.

And if they didn't behave, well, that'd be fine with me, too...
 
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WalkingWolf

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I have never seen Walmart with armed security here. At one time the parking lot was a meeting spot for low riders/hot rods and they had unarmed security. That didn't last long as the loiterers either ignored or made fun of them. When the Super Walmart was put up the problem disappeared on it's own. About 20 years ago there were some incidents of abduction from the Walmart parking lot, even then they did not provide any security.
 

PeterNSteinmetz

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Tempe, Arizona
It would be interesting to find the real data for the article cited in waskel's post. There are a number of intriguing coincidences listed there, but one really needs to compare the rates before and after.
 

cloudcroft

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El Paso, TX (formerly Colorado Springs, CO)
Some Walmarts in TX have armed security. One (that I know of) in El Paso, TX (the Westside Walmart, IIRC), hired off-duty EPPD officers for in-store security. And also IIRC, EPPD's official policy was if a business hired a City cop for such off-duty security, the cops HAD to wear their EPPD uniforms (and be paid a specific minimum wage, too).

I remember one incident where said "security cop" went after a shoplifter (who had stolen a leather jacket, IIRC) and confronted the POS in the parking lot. Said POS turned, drew his gun shot the cop in the face. The cop still was able to shoot the loser 3 times, killing him.

EDIT: As I was not sure of the facts (just from my recollection of the event 23 years ago!) I looked for this incident online and finally found it:

http://www.odmp.org/officer/274-patrolman-ernesto-serna

Also, I found that although the cop died (as I recalled correctly), it was at the hospital, not on the spot as I had thought.


Another such event (in 2008) -- store security confronting a shoplifter @ a Walmart on the far Eastside of El Paso -- the shoplifter stabbed the officer...but I think he survived (but looks like the shoplifter escaped):

http://privateofficer.org/walmart-security-officer-stabbed-by-shoplifter-wwwprivateofficercom/


Whatever, PLENTY of "stuff" happens at Walmarts or in their parking lots (same is true of Waffle House, Denny's, IHOP, etc...and even Starbucks) just Google for it:

http://walmartshootings.blogspot.com/2012_11_01_archive.html

...and the very same could be the day's news @ Targets, too...so it's best to be armed at all times.

As Joe Bob Briggs would often say while hosting "MonsterVision" (when he wasn't being distracted by the "Mail Girl"):

"Anyone can die at any time."

True!

But we all already KNOW that, don't we.
 
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DWCook

Activist Member
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Sep 28, 2010
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432
Location
Lenexa, Kansas
one of the Wally Worlds up here in Anchorage, AK has security guards. No idea if they're armed or unarmed as I never looked close enough or cared at the times that I would see them.
 

protias

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Dec 18, 2008
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7,308
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SE, WI
I was at Target yesterday and they have unarmed "security." I'm sure they'll be a lot of good if someone came in with a firearm. The two guys were like half my size.

Before anyone jumps down my throat, I had to go there since Walmart didn't have what I needed. :(
 

cloudcroft

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That was way back when: There are few "Americans" about nowadays. When once even the world knew what Americans were and what America and it's flag stood for -- no one really knows now. Not even most people who live here (who are mostly "residents" legal or illegal, but certainly not mostly "Americans").

And as for buying PRC-made (China) crap, there isn't much choice, as it's EVERYWHERE...which (IIRC) happened back in the Republican President Bush days when sorry, oppressive, brutal Communist China was given "Most Favored Nation" trading status (a complete moral disgrace but morality has been a casualty of "Progress" in America also). Democrats since then have just kept that ball rolling with China, that's all (I don't mind buying non-Communist Taiwan/Formosa products though, heck, most of our PCs come from there).

Point is, it's hard NOT to buy ChiCom PRC crap no matter what store you go to! Well, at least their SKSs are a great SHTF and "repel-boarders" gun...that's something! ;-)

Here in Colorado at the supermarkets, I try to "buy local" when I can, meaning buying local Colorado-grown/made products to support local farmers/ranchers and other local "Mom & Pop" businesses...at least I can try to support my STATE. But as for trying to support my COUNTRY by buying American-made products, it's as you say: A thing of the past (but that can ALWAYS change with the right people in office).

Yet as Alexander Pope said in An Essay on Man (1734), "Hope springs eternal." Things CAN change if we want them to. Nothing NOW must be so in the future. Nothing...

Still, as PRESENT reality is, finding a truly American-made product in a store is ALMOST as unlikely as seeing a unicorn (OC-er) out & about: Don't hold your breath.

;-)
 
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cloudcroft

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since9

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Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
July 2nd 2014: "Starting today we respectfully request that guests not bring firearms to Target – even in communities where it is permitted by law."

"This is a complicated issue, but it boils down to a simple belief: Bringing firearms to Target creates an environment that is at odds with the family-friendly shopping and work experience we strive to create."

http://abullseyeview.com/2014/07/ta...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Until we correct the massively twisted and distorted point of view held by the courts, less-rationally-minded business will be free to adopt the brain-dead, three-times stupid response of creating seriously dangerous "gun-free zones" in their walls, a target of opportunity which few criminals can resist.

Although so-called "gun-free zones" occupy less than 10% of the places visited by the general public, they experience a full two-thirds (66.1%) of all mass shootings, precisely because the public has been disarmed. When businesses disarm their customers, they engage in the most flagrant violation of their safety, placing them at 17.9 times greater risk than had they adopted the same stance as Walmart and the vast majority of local businesses, who simply say, "We respect the rights of our customers commensurate with all local, state, and federal laws."

If state law says "Open Carry is legal," as it is in 45 of our 50 United States (90%), but a business refuses to allow its customers to OC, that business is NOT respecting the the rights of its customers under the law. Doing so invites criminals to prey upon their weakened customers, and dramatically increases the likelihood of injury or death for both their customers as well as their staff.

BOTTOM LINE: If Target were truly interested in creating a family-friendly environment, they would focus first on SAFETY, not political correctness. The safest approach by far, by a factor of nearly 18 times, would be for them to adopt the same stance as the vast majority of their competitors by saying, "We respect the rights of our customers commensurate with all local, state, and federal laws."

Target already screwed the pooch once with their "we'll just store your credit card information 'for your convenience' crap." They're in the midst of a repeat performance, this time by creating yet another highly-dangerous "gun-free zone," putting their customers and staff at seriously-increase risk from the criminal element.

I think it's safe to say Target's Full Retard response severely tramples on the rights of its customers to protect themselves and their loved ones, a fact which will not go unnoticed by the general public at large. I, for one, will never frequent Target again, and I'm firmly convinced a great many other Americans will follow suit by BOYCOTTING Target until they change their policy commensurate with ration and reason.

Target Guest Relations: 1.800.440.0680, Option 2, 4.
E-mail: guest.relations@target.com
 
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arizonaopa

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2013
Messages
14
Location
Whetstone AZ
Wow, I'm not family friendly

Reading the message from Target, I am astounded. Since I own and carry a gun, I am not family friendly. Hope they don't tell my kids and grandkids.
 

razor_baghdad

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
277
Location
CONUS ~for now~
I LOVE your whole post but thought I'd make this distinction because it affects several of the [approx] 45 states mentioned: (bolded)

If state law says "Open Carry is legal -(AND / OR - State law DOES NOT SAY that OC is illegal - as in NC)," as it is in 45 of our 50 United States (90%), but a business refuses to allow its customers to OC, that business is NOT respecting the the rights of its customers under the law. Doing so invites criminals to prey upon their weakened customers, and dramatically increases the likelihood of injury or death for both their customers as well as their staff.

FWIW - I'll still continue to shop in Target - OC - business as usual.
 
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