Sent this today.
This issue concerns both Circle K stores in Minden, LA. Yesterday morning, I noticed a sign near the entrance that prohibits all firearms in the store. This store is conveniantly located on my way to work and I have feuled and purchased other items there numerous times. I am a firearms instructor and a concealed carry permit holder. I carry a firearm with me everywhere I go. I don't know if this is a corporate oversight or simply ignorance, but Louisiana, like Florida, is a very active concealed carry state. Open carry is also legal in Louisiana. Like Arizona, no permit is required for any law-abiding citizen to openly carry a firearm. I do not know when these signs were posted, but I first noticed them yesterday.
It is certainly within your rights to ban guns in your store. I will honor that request and take my business elsewhere and advise all my associates to do the same. I am a business owner and if I am going to lose a group of customers, I want to know why. That gives me a huge advantage over my competitors! I understand the premise of such a rule, but I somehow doubt that a potential criminal will be detered by a small, barely noticeable sign. I would feel much safer in my place of business if I knew an armed, well-trained citizen was shopping in my store.
Please reply so that I will know how I and those I influence should procede.