Ironbar
Regular Member
imported post
OK, so I decide to intentionally go shopping at Costco today in response to the other Costco thread, and what happened to djhawes. Here is my experience.
I'm in the Tigard, ORstore for a little while shopping for sunglasses. I'm being assisted at the optical shop, and I'm just about ready to wrap up my transaction when I'm approached by two employees. The first one, Steve, inquires if I'm a LEO. I say no, and that I'm just an ordinary citizen exercising my 2nd Amendment rights.
So, Steve seems genuinely surprised that I'm not a LEO. He reports that he's never seen a civilian carry before. He was under the impression that it was not legal. So I inform him of the carry-ban cities, and that it IS legal with a CHL. I also give these two gentlemen a little background into Oregon law, and that it is a "shall issue" state, and a right to carry state. They didn't know it was a right to carry state.
So anyway these fellows inform me of Costco's policy of firearms/gun ban. Steve reports that it's in the membership material. I report to him that I have recently read over all the membership material and it is NOT in there. So the other fellow (I forget his name) goes to get it for me. So Steve and I chat for a bit.
The other fellow comes back after while with what appears to a form letter that Costco managers send to people in this situation, and was almost verbatim to the e-mail that djhawes received from Sher Moyer. I will post a copy of this letter on this thread tomorrow.
Anyway, the bottom line is that Costco does not allow open carry in their stores in spite of the fact that there's no actual written policy. I suspect that one will probably be forthcoming. Steve and the other fellow however stated in no uncertain terms that I was perfectly OK carrying concealed inside the store. So in reality, Costco just doesn'twant toSEE your gun.
Now as an epilogue, I would like to say that both Steve and the other gentleman that spoke to me were just that: gentlemen. They were non-confrontational about the whole thing, theywere both pro-gun and 2nd Amendment, and I have absolutely no beef with Costco or these two. They were perfectly polite, and I was allowed to complete my purchase and leave without a hassle.
So, I will continue to shop at Costco, however I will now carry concealed while doing so. I also intend to send a letter to Mr. Niels Knowlton, General Manager about this situation.
OK, so I decide to intentionally go shopping at Costco today in response to the other Costco thread, and what happened to djhawes. Here is my experience.
I'm in the Tigard, ORstore for a little while shopping for sunglasses. I'm being assisted at the optical shop, and I'm just about ready to wrap up my transaction when I'm approached by two employees. The first one, Steve, inquires if I'm a LEO. I say no, and that I'm just an ordinary citizen exercising my 2nd Amendment rights.
So, Steve seems genuinely surprised that I'm not a LEO. He reports that he's never seen a civilian carry before. He was under the impression that it was not legal. So I inform him of the carry-ban cities, and that it IS legal with a CHL. I also give these two gentlemen a little background into Oregon law, and that it is a "shall issue" state, and a right to carry state. They didn't know it was a right to carry state.
So anyway these fellows inform me of Costco's policy of firearms/gun ban. Steve reports that it's in the membership material. I report to him that I have recently read over all the membership material and it is NOT in there. So the other fellow (I forget his name) goes to get it for me. So Steve and I chat for a bit.
The other fellow comes back after while with what appears to a form letter that Costco managers send to people in this situation, and was almost verbatim to the e-mail that djhawes received from Sher Moyer. I will post a copy of this letter on this thread tomorrow.
Anyway, the bottom line is that Costco does not allow open carry in their stores in spite of the fact that there's no actual written policy. I suspect that one will probably be forthcoming. Steve and the other fellow however stated in no uncertain terms that I was perfectly OK carrying concealed inside the store. So in reality, Costco just doesn'twant toSEE your gun.
Now as an epilogue, I would like to say that both Steve and the other gentleman that spoke to me were just that: gentlemen. They were non-confrontational about the whole thing, theywere both pro-gun and 2nd Amendment, and I have absolutely no beef with Costco or these two. They were perfectly polite, and I was allowed to complete my purchase and leave without a hassle.
So, I will continue to shop at Costco, however I will now carry concealed while doing so. I also intend to send a letter to Mr. Niels Knowlton, General Manager about this situation.