April 02, 2007

In a perfect world, the answer to my original letter to WalMart would have been clear and totally supportive of the right to bear arms for self defense. But in the real world of today, the answer I did get was pretty good.

Here is the letter from the Spearfish WalMart, and my response. (March 06, '07)

Thank you for the concerned letter, and I absolutely apologize for any misunderstanding of what our policy is and/or isn't, concerning firearms and whether or not someone can openly carry on our property.

WalMart has no policy to restrict any person who is legally carrying a firearm. That being said, my first concern must be safety, and an associate may ask to walk out ammunition for a customer when he or she is openly carrying a firearm as an added safety measure. This is not to restrict a sale, but is just an added step to ensure a firearm is not loaded inside our store.

Again, I'm sorry for any miscommunication when you were here in the store before, and I will re-communicate our policy with the members of management of this store.

Travis Olson
Co-Manager 1543

My response:

Dear Mr. Olson,
Your apology is gladly accepted, but you have not clarified the policy very well.

Reading your letter, I get two messages. The first is that open carry is allowed. The second seems to be that it can't be loaded.

An unloaded gun does not represent any increase in safety to me or to your employees/customers - but it could spell the difference between life and death in a lethal encounter with a criminal.

I am a responsible, well trained adult. I fail to see any difference between the ammunition in the cart and what is already in my sidearm. There are probably a dozen or more people in your store at any given time carrying concealed. I assume they don't announce their status when they buy ammunition.

Anyone who, in any way, becomes aggressive or physically endangers others should be promptly removed from the store. Those who are peaceful and non-aggressive should be left alone. The mere presence of a tool on one's belt does not constitute a danger to innocent bystanders, whether it is a gun or a hammer. That seems simple enough.

Unfortunately, you seem to be laboring under at least some of the same disinformation so dear to all those who would create vast seas of disarmed victims. Somehow, the gun or the ammunition is the evil problem, regardless of who is using them.

So, I am still at a loss to understand just what to expect if I return to your store.

Since it had been almost a month with no response to my second letter, I decided to return to the Spearfish WalMart on the strength of the letter I did get.

Thursday, March 29, I went shopping. No hassle and only one comment from a checker the whole time. The young lady at the check out asked if I had to "show my permit." I let her know that open carry does not require any permit in that state, and gave her my card. She said her boyfriend had been stopped and told he couldn't carry his rifle in a rack in his truck. I explained that the rules for rifles in a vehicle might be different, and that I was from Wyoming, not South Dakota. I urged her to find out what laws applied to them where they lived.

So, I'm comfortable again as an ambassador for open carry, both at home and away. I don't think we'll ever see this sign at the door of WalMart:

But at least in this part of the country we're not apt to see the signs prohibiting self defense either. I call that a real victory, and I'm grateful to WalMart for doing the right thing. I'm going to shop there again, as before, and I hope all of my readers will do the same.

And, I hope many of you will join me carrying there, and everywhere else.

Please help spread the word.

Links from the previous articles:

Self ownership essay: http://www.mises.org/rothbard/ethics/eight.asp

The Ludwig von Mises Institute: http://www.mises.org/

What about the "poor?" - Reinventing America: http://www.mises.org/freemarket_detail.asp?control=289

Advocates for Self-government: http://www.self-gov.org/home.shtml

Second Amendment Sisters -- Self defense is a basic human right.

Jews For The Preservation Of Firearms Ownership -- Learn more about the real meaning of the Bill of Rights and the people who have fought to preserve it.

Keep And Bear Arms -- a grassroots movement of the people, by the people, and for the people. It is a call to action, a call for self-education, and a 21 gun salute to the many good men and women who fought and died to bring America into being.

Gun Owners of America -- "Gun Owners of America was instrumental in mobilizing the grassroots to fight the crime bill."
-Sen. Rod Grams (R-MN

Opencarry.org - Great forum for those who open carry.

These will lead you to many others.

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Who Owns Your Life?

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Limited Government Vs Utopia?

Open Carry - Mama's Got A (BIG) Gun!

The Price of Liberty is Three Years Old

Why Do You Carry A Gun?

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Open Carry - For Better or Worse

Is WalMart The Next Disarmed Victim Zone?

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