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Publix adds its name to the growing list of retailers who ask customers to leave their firearms when shopping. The supermarket chain follows CVS, Kroger, Walgreens, Walmart and other major chains by asking customers to refrain from openly transporting firearms to their stores, even if they reside in states that allow this practice.
Publix, based in Lakeland, Florida, "respectfully requests that only law enforcement officials openly carry firearms in our stores," a spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch in an email. The grocer operates in seven states, including Alabama and North Carolina, where it is legal to openly display weapons.
In another sign, US companies could change their position on firearms, CEOs of 145 companies sent Thursday a letter to Senate leaders urging them to: tighten gun control laws.
After the mass shootings at a Florida high school in 2018, some surviving students called for a "boycott of Publix" After the revelation, the regional channel made political donations to Adam Putnam, a candidate for governorship and a strong supporter of the National Rifle Association.
The latest wave of changes in "open transfer" policies began with Walmart and Kroger. Walmart, the world's largest retailer in terms of revenue, has been under intense pressure following shootings that recently killed 24 people in two of its stores in a week.
In announcing the new Open Carriage Policy, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon described several incidents of "trying to make a statement" by enter a Walmart brandishing firearms, scare workers and customers. Walmart has also ceased to carry certain types of ammunition used in mass shooting.
Despite these changes, retailers seem to be tinkering with the recent wave of mass shootings without irritating customers who defend gun rights, experts said, pointing out that the new policies did not contain any absolute prohibition of firearms in stores. .
"Most stores are worried about this – gun carriers are not afraid that they are told" not to bring their weapons, said Timothy Lytton, law professor at the Georgia State University and expert in the firearms industry. Given the national customer base of Walmart, the retailer "worries about offending almost everyone," he added.
Rules mishmash
Most Americans allow residents to openly carry guns in public spaces, but the rules vary. On the other hand, firearms may be prohibited on private property.
Texas, like many open-port states, states that retailers and other private owners who wish to ban guns can do so. The trap: "They must display this big ugly sign saying it," said Houston lawyer Patrick Luff, whose firm represents a family in which both parents were shot and wounded in last month's mass shoot at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas. This signaling requirement generally deters companies from adopting total bans because "then you must openly announce to your Texas customers that you can not stand the open report," he said.
In the meantime, despite retailers' recent decision to change their firearms policy, they are not preparing new ground. In 2013, Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks at the time, had made a "respectful request" asking customers not to carry firearms in the chain's restaurants. One year later, Target was following while the company's interim CEO said that "bringing firearms to Target creates an environment inconsistent with the shopping and work experience that we strive to create for the family ".
Although none of the major chains of retailers, supermarkets and pharmacies that advertised this week's Open Carrying Announcements specifies exactly how they will deal with firearms owners who ignore their requests, Walmart said that it would require "a very non-confrontational approach".
Luff expressed doubts that the new policy would have a big impact at Walmart. "The simplest question is:" What is different yesterday and that was not true on August 2, the day before what happened? "the lawyer asked, referring to the August shoot in El Paso.
In addition to facing the conflicting desires of their customers, retailers are also likely to be increasingly exposed to the law because of mass shootings. Walmart has concluded at least two legal settlements with families who lost loved ones during a shootout in 2014 in Overland Park, Kansas, outside of a Jewish community center. And Kroger was sued last month by the daughter of a man shot dead in one of his grocery stores. The prosecution has asked the chain to prohibit customers from carrying firearms in its stores.
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