Today my wife and I went to Costco at Christiana Mall for Thanksgiving shopping.
I was carrying and when we entered the store I noticed some employees were eyeballing my firearm. We usually go through all isles just in case we see something of interest. Half way through the store we were approached by two employees. One of them identified himself as the store manager, his name was Kevin (I didn’t catch his last name).
First question was as always, “Sir, are you law enforcement officer?”
I said, No, I’m not. He was polite and mentioned that he appreciates that we are members of the club and do our shopping business there but he said that the club policy allows only LEO to carry firearms in the store and he will appreciate if I will leave my firearm in the car or wait outside until my wife finish shopping. Then he said that there are no signs at the store but recent OC encounters at the Costco stores prompted corporate to send a letter to store locations suggesting that there is “No firearm” policy exists and managers have to enforce it.
I said that I will not leave my firearm in the car unattended or have my wife do it alone as she has back problem and won’t be able to do it by herself. He understood that we are going to leave.
I told him that a few weeks ago their customer were robbed in their own parking lot and I carry firearm for my own and my family protection. He said that he understands the reason for me being armed and he doesn’t want in any way to violate my 2nd amendment rights (actually he said 1st amendment
but I understood what he meant), but he said that Costco warehouse is not public property and corporate made the decision to enforce “No firearms” policy and he has to enforce so he wouldn’t get into a trouble with his employer.
I asked him if it’s possible for me to take a look at the letter from corporate and he said that he will find it and print it out for me and will meet me at the register (at least he let us finish our shopping). A few minutes later he showed up and handed me the letter and said that this was a letter from corporate to a member (fellow OCer) who wrote to the corporate. The names were removed for privacy reason. Looking at the letter it seems to me that it is just a template, but existence of such template tells you that some sort of policy exists. Otherwise why go through a trouble of creating one. Did Costco go ANTI? See letter below:
I was carrying and when we entered the store I noticed some employees were eyeballing my firearm. We usually go through all isles just in case we see something of interest. Half way through the store we were approached by two employees. One of them identified himself as the store manager, his name was Kevin (I didn’t catch his last name).
First question was as always, “Sir, are you law enforcement officer?”
I said, No, I’m not. He was polite and mentioned that he appreciates that we are members of the club and do our shopping business there but he said that the club policy allows only LEO to carry firearms in the store and he will appreciate if I will leave my firearm in the car or wait outside until my wife finish shopping. Then he said that there are no signs at the store but recent OC encounters at the Costco stores prompted corporate to send a letter to store locations suggesting that there is “No firearm” policy exists and managers have to enforce it.
I said that I will not leave my firearm in the car unattended or have my wife do it alone as she has back problem and won’t be able to do it by herself. He understood that we are going to leave.
I told him that a few weeks ago their customer were robbed in their own parking lot and I carry firearm for my own and my family protection. He said that he understands the reason for me being armed and he doesn’t want in any way to violate my 2nd amendment rights (actually he said 1st amendment
but I understood what he meant), but he said that Costco warehouse is not public property and corporate made the decision to enforce “No firearms” policy and he has to enforce so he wouldn’t get into a trouble with his employer.I asked him if it’s possible for me to take a look at the letter from corporate and he said that he will find it and print it out for me and will meet me at the register (at least he let us finish our shopping). A few minutes later he showed up and handed me the letter and said that this was a letter from corporate to a member (fellow OCer) who wrote to the corporate. The names were removed for privacy reason. Looking at the letter it seems to me that it is just a template, but existence of such template tells you that some sort of policy exists. Otherwise why go through a trouble of creating one. Did Costco go ANTI? See letter below:
"An armed society is a polite society" - Robert A. Heinlein
I wonder who destroyed the video of that. 
