Costco

[Rimfire]

Hi everyone,

Today a friend of mine asked me why I shopped at Costco since they banned weapons. I stopped by Costco and there was no posted sign and I checked my membership and could find nothing. So I sent the following email:

Dear Costco,

I was informed today by a friend that Costco has a no weapons policy. I have a license to carry a firearm. I went to the local Costco today and inspected the entrance and could not find anywhere a sign posted, like the Theatre in Colorado, that specified that law abiding citizens were prohibited from legally carrying concealed firearms into the store. I also looked at a membership application and could not find anything on it relating to firearms. If I missed something, please point it out to me.

1. Do you have a no firearms policy in your store? And if so, what are you doing to guarantee my safety while shopping?

2. If you do have such a policy, why don't you put it in the membership terms and post it at the store entrance, or are you afraid too many citizens will quit their membership?

3. And don't you think it is somewhat hypocritical to sell gun related items while advocating a no-gun policy?

I just received the following reply:

Dear John,

We appreciate you taking the time to email Costco Wholesale.

Costco Wholesale is a membership-only warehouse club. It is not open to the general public. It restricts membership to a limited group of qualified individuals who agree to membership conditions. We have the right and the obligation to our members, to enact and enforce membership rules. The Member Service Employees at the exit doors are obliged to follow these rules. By obtaining a Costco membership card, our members agree to comply with the Membership Rules and the Privileges and Conditions of membership.

Costco does not believe that it is necessary for firearms to be brought into its warehouse stores, except in the case of authorized law enforcement officers. For the protection of all our members and employees, we feel this is a reasonable and prudent precaution to ensure a pleasant shopping experience and safe workplace. Our policy is meant to protect our members and employees in all warehouses around the world. This is not a new policy and we do not customize the policy for each individual city/county/state/country where we do business.

Our primary goal at Costco Wholesale is to keep our members happy. If you believe that our policy restricting members from bringing firearms into our warehouse stores is either unfair or excessively burdensome, or you cannot agree to abide by this policy, or you are dissatisfied for any other reason, Costco will promptly refund your annual membership fee in full.

Thank you,

Guadalupe
Costco Wholesale Corporation

[Metz]

Sam's Club FTW.

[TheWolff]

BJ's doesn't have a policy, but per this post in an old thread, their in-house counsel said as long as it's legal and other customers don't have a problem with it, we should be fine. To me that says CC is fine, OC at your own risk.

Anyone leaving Costco over this would do well to write them a letter stating how much they spend there yearly and why they're leaving.

[Rimfire]

I just got an email from a Costco supervisor basically saying the same thing, CC is ok. They may have a canned response that the first rep sent me, but the supervisor cleared it up. I can live with that.

[unclejumbo]

I just got an email from a Costco supervisor basically saying the same thing, CC is ok. They may have a canned response that the first rep sent me, but the supervisor cleared it up. I can live with that.

Glad I read to the end. I started to read the first post and was going to get the eye bleach.

[son of the revolution]

Maybe its just me, but given the first reply I would have immediately emailed back, referencing specific portions of their reply over "safety concerns" and asked them to clarify if that meant that they were legally assuming responsibility to provide for my safety in the parking lot by supplying armed security patrols and or escorts. I can guarantee what the answer would have been, but it might have made them rethink such a ridiculous answer for the next person.

[Driver400]

You do have a right to contact corporate, but my question is why? If there was no signage and nothing in the membership contract, what is your reasoning to bring it to their attention?

[son of the revolution]

You do have a right to contact corporate, but my question is why? If there was no signage and nothing in the membership contract, what is your reasoning to bring it to their attention?

People bring up the " why bring it to their attention " argument all the time, the obvious concern being that what may have been an oversight will " ruin it for everyone " Much like the endless CC v OC debate.


But the facts bear out, at least in my opinion, that contacting corporate has paid off in far more positive advances for us then there have been negatives. Thats not to say that there havent been negatives, because there clearly have been. But they dont outweigh the instances where contacting corporate has resulted in certain store and regional managers receiving smack downs from their bosses for going " off the reservation" . Wal Mart, Home Depot, and Gander Mountain immediately come to mind, but I am certain there have been several others with smaller companies. One I know for sure about was some smallish "chain" of Aquarium Supply Stores somewhere in York Co that occurred about a year or so ago.

[B.A.]

Because we all know barring law abiding citizens from carrying fire arms always promotes a safe environment. You can just ask the citizens of aurora. Face palm moment.

[donm]

But the facts bear out, at least in my opinion, that contacting corporate has paid off in far more positive advances for us then there have been negatives...

In the case of Costco, I wouldn't expect any other outcome. I'm sure they recall the incident two years ago in which an employee at their Las Vegas store observed a customer carrying a firearm and "acting strangely" and called the police. It resulted in the police evacuating the store an subsequently killing Erik Scott. There were a lot of inconsistent stories (mostly between witnesses and the police officers), and despite numerous surveillance cameras none of the videos ever surfaced. The officers who killed Scott subsequently received commendations for their "heroic" acts and the family dropped their civil suit against the police a few months ago.