OC crowd "thrown out" at Bass Pro in Harrisburg (Update Page 13)

[Pro2A]

I'm not the best at writing stories as I often forget major details, so if you were there today please feel free to chime in with what you remember. I plan on contacting the corporate office to rectify this issue. Anyway... as the title says, 8 of us got "thrown out" of the Bass Pro Shop today in Harrisburg. We just had my B-day lunch in Harrisburg at the Fuddruckers right outside of the Bass Pro on Paxton St.

Long story short, after lunch we decided as a group that we were all going to head over to Bass Pro and look around. We all drove over, met up and went in. There are no signs on the door regarding the prohibition of open carry. We walked in and the greeter was apparently not paying attention because 6 of us walked in open carrying our pistols. The two ladies were not carrying.

We walked around for a bit then made our way up to the gun department. No issue so far... we were browsing the gun cabinets and a few of us had the guy take some guns out so we could look handle them. The gentlemen behind the counter was rather pleasant and didn't even notice we we're carrying until it was pointed out to him. I happened to notice another man walking back and forth behind the counter eying our guns, but he wasn't saying anything. I did notice a walkie talkie or phone of some sort.

After about 5 minutes of talking to the gentlemen behind the counter I looked back and noticed 2 men walk up behind us and a few others waiting in the wings and I automatically knew what was about to happen. I don't remember it word for word, but the conversation went something like this:

Store Employee: "Excuse me gentlemen may I talk to you for a moment"
Us: *All turn around*
Store Employee: "Are you law enforcement"?
Pennsyplinker: "No, are you"
Store Employee: "No loaded or unlocked firearms are permitted in Bass Pro, you need to have a trigger lock put on them"

The employee basically resorted to saying that he wasn't getting into a pissing contest, that he carries himself blah blah blah... at which point Pennsyplinker asked if we were being kicked out, the employee said no. Again Pennsy asked if they were going to call the police, again the employee answered no.

So after all that was said and done we finished up talking with the clerk behind the counter then headed down stairs to leave. We happened to notice many employees watching us as we left.

I believe renegadephoenix said he left a No gun = No $$$ card in the comment box, as did Pennsyplinker. As we left Pennsy and I went to go find the manager.

A little later a younger kid (the manager on duty) came down and basically reiterated store policy that only CC is allowed and not OC. He became a little flustered as he was going around spinning his wheels about store policy. He said something about how Bass Pro is more for "outdoorsy sportsmen type". He also said how if you have a permit, you must conceal. You can imagine our reaction to that. We went back and forth with him about carry, store policy and private property rights etc.. He did become a little flustered when 1911Shooter (I think that was his user name) asked about the lack of a sign on the door. After all was said and done Pennsyplinker gave him a No Gun = No $$$ card and his business card requesting a copy of the policy and stating that we will take our pistols and our business elsewhere.

On a side note to all those there today, I did find this about Bass Pro policy:

http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum66/28171.html

Chris was the manager on duty, so I may follow up with a letter and a phone call to the store manager. If anyone got the name of the man up in the firearms department please let me know so I can include his name. Thanks.

[Curmudgeon]

Looks pretty good to me, I usually have a tough time recreating conversations perfectly, but I think you certainly got the jist of it.

The guy upstairs (not the guy at the counter, but the one who came up behind us) had the name "Butch" on his tag.

Oh and Happy Birthday... your going to ruin it for all of us.


ETA: The "OC Crowd" as closely as I can remember it: Mr and Mrs Pro2A, PennsyPlinker, Fingers80002, SIG-Girl1911 and 1911Shooter, RenegadePhoenix, and me. I really hope I haven't forgotten anybody!

[gnbrotz]

Harrisburg East Mall (home of Bass Pro) has a No Firearms policy posted at mall entrances, though BPS may not have their own entrances posted. As a tenant of the Mall, they are bound by the posted policy whether management agrees with us or not.

This location has been long known (at least to me) as not OC friendly because of both the mall policy at this location and BPS record of catering to the "fudd crowd" rather the being a general 2A supporter (no sales of EBRs, etc because it might scare someone).

[PGHxdguy]

After reading this and other stories about BPS I can pretty much say for certain that I will not be spending my money there. Not a wise choice on their part considering the state of the economy, they should be fighting for every dollar they can get. The way they only cater to one facet of the gun owning population is disheartening at best.

It is sad that a business that sells guns is more restrictive of our rights than Starbucks is, considering how "liberal" Starbucks is viewed. BPS should be ashamed of themselves.

The next time I feel like I need more ammo and fishing gear, I think I will have a cup of coffee instead.

[jcabin]

You guys handled it like pros!

[PennsyPlinker]

I will strive to recreate as much of the conversation as I can. We were all standing at the counter. The man behind the counter was friendly, and sympathetic to boot. He apparently noticed something that none of us had noticed - we were all carrying some sort of .45 ACP.

So some guy appeared behind us, and spoke in a loud voice:

"Excuse me gentlemen! Are we law enforcement?"

I turned around. There was one very nervous looking employee, with a small army of green shirted employees behind him, some taking cover behind racks of merchandise.

"Are you law enforcement?"

"Look, I don't want any trouble or anything, I just need to know if you are law enforcement. I'm not law enforcement."

"Well, you said "we", so I assumed you meant yourself as well. No, we are not law enforcement, we are just regular people."

"Bass Pro has a policy that you cannot carry a gun openly in the store."

"Are you telling us to leave?"

"Oh no! No no no! I'm just telling you what the policy is!"

"Are you going to call the police?"

"No! No, I am not going to call the police! I'm just telling you what the policy is!"

"Are you going to get the store manager and come back?"

No! I'm just telling you what the policy is!"

Okay, thank you.

Curmudgeon interjected at this point, "Have a nice day!"

We turned to consult among ourselves. After talking briefly with one another, and the man behind the counter, we decided to leave the store before trouble came looking for us. On the way out, I placed a no guns, no dollars card in the suggestion box. I also went to the front of the store with everyone else, and summoned the manager. He was about half my age and one third my size. I gave him a nice firm handshake, a big smile, and thanked him for coming to speak with us. I had five other men beside me with guns. The ladies were not carrying. There was something about Sig girl's Sig needing a pedicure or something like that.

The manager didn't really look like he wanted to talk to us. He explained that PA state law required us to have a permit, and that permit required us to carry concealed. There was a chorus in unison of, "No it doesn't!" I produced my LTCF and asked him to find the word concealed on it. At that point he told me that he did not want to get into an argument with me. I replied that we did not want to argue. I went on to state that he had every right to throw us out of the store, and we had every right to go to Cabela's. There were several voices in the background stating the policy from Cabela's while we were talking.

He went on and on about it being an outdoorsy type store, and that we should conceal so we didn't frighten other people. I reiterated that he had the right to throw us out for carrying openly, but that we were not going to conceal. I went on to observe that I was already sweating, and that one more shirt or coat would cause me to pass out from the heat, whereupon he would be forced to administer mouth to mouth resuscitation, and that would be lots worse for everyone than just seeing a gun on a hip. That got a laugh from him as well as everyone else, but it didn't get us any slack with his determination to throw us out. I gave him the no guns no dollars card, and informed him that we would shop at Cabela's from now on. I also gave him my business card so that he could forward the company policy to me. I will follow up in a few days if I do not hear back.

We stood in the parking lot and talked for another 30 minutes or so. No cops appeared, so I guess we were labeled as harmless. Happy Birthday Brendan.

[PennsyPlinker]

ETA: The "OC Crowd" as closely as I can remember it: Mr and Mrs Pro2A, PennsyPlinker, Fingers80002, SIG-Girl1911 and 1911Shooter, RenegadePhoenix, and me. I really hope I haven't forgotten anybody!

Don't forget Howard, and his permit possessing daughter, although they did not make it to Bass Pro. We all had a great time at Fuddruckers, with no complaints about guns.

[renegadephoenix]

Looks pretty good to me, I usually have a tough time recreating conversations perfectly, but I think you certainly got the jist of it.

The guy upstairs (not the guy at the counter, but the one who came up behind us) had the name "Butch" on his tag.

Oh and Happy Birthday... your going to ruin it for all of us.


ETA: The "OC Crowd" as closely as I can remember it: Mr and Mrs Pro2A, PennsyPlinker, Fingers80002, SIG-Girl1911 and 1911Shooter, RenegadePhoenix, and me. I really hope I haven't forgotten anybody!

We had most of the heavy hitters there. i'm currently contacting Bass Pro Corp office/Legal Dept. and getting them to do like Gander Mountain.

[Pro2A]

We had most of the heavy hitters there. i'm currently contacting Bass Pro Corp office/Legal Dept. and getting them to do like Gander Mountain.

Ditto on that. I'm gonna send a certified letter to the GM of that store as well as to corporate. It appears as if OC is ok based on company policy. Those employees are misinformed.

[Howard Bullock]

Wow, I missed the adventure.

I had OC'ed in that store twice without issue after reading the opencary.org release that was referenced earlier in the thread. Granted I was only there 10 minutes each time and neither time did they have what I needed so I was not dealing with any employees.

It was good to see all of you again.

The two old ladies that entered Fuddruckers right after us, for which I held the door, were very nice and appreciated having someone hold the door and let them enter. It did not seem to matter that the person holding the door was armed or that everyone in line in front of them was armed. But apparently because we all were armed, one told the other to let me pass so that I could rejoin my group.