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“Our feeling is that ultimately, the voters direct the laws on gun carry issues, so we defer to the prevailing ordinances in states and communities. Therefore, customers who are legally permitted to carry firearms are allowed to do so when entering our stores, provided the firearms are carried in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.” – Home Depot Corporate Communications Director Steven Holmes in Home Depot Allows Open Carry Gun Rally as Sonic, Chili’s Review Policies [at forbes.com]

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68 COMMENTS

  3. From the article: Update: Holmes called Forbes to say Home Depot is currently determining whether this rally goes against the company’s non-solicitation policy. “We don’t allow any group or any individual to disrupt a store’s business,” he said.

    Unfortunately I won’t be there, but I wish I could say “To thank you for simply abiding by local laws, I will do my level best to ensure that those carrying are doing so responsibly and respectfully.”

    In other words, nobody carrying like the raging douchebag in the Chipotle photo who was carrying at low ready with one hand on the grip and his finger a quarter inch from the trigger. I wish I could have been at that rally to set that stupid bastard straight.

    What most of these idiots don’t seem to realize is that while carrying, whether open or concealed, there is virtually no reason to have your grubby little hands on your gun. If your sling is such a piece of crap that you have to hold your gun the whole time, then get a better sling or leave the heater at home. Under no circumstances is it “reasonable” to be walking around holding your AR like you’re on patrol in J-bad.

    • How in the world is open carrying a rifle in inappropriate places supposed to help the cause of open carrying a handgun?

      • If you don’t know, can’t tell the difference, then perhaps you shouldn’t have access to firearms…just by asking that question, you’ve already proven that you’re incapable of reasonable thought…

        • WI Patriot, you would seem to be the one incapable of reasonable thought. Please enlighten us as to why lizzrd should be denied his rights for asking a legitimate question?

      • What makes Home Depot an inherently inappropriate place to conduct a demonstration? HD isn’t exactly unfamiliar to criminal violence. There’ve been murders inside Home Depot and armed robberies, too. There was that lunatic who attempted to sae his own arms off with the radial power saw. I think he only succeeded with sawing off the first arm, for obvious reasons which he may not have considered, but still. That’s one helluva crazy man whose psycho antics could readily have taken any form. Even the store near my own home had a scare last year when some jackwagon showed up at the store with a grenade. Turned out to be a dud, but the terrified shoppers didn’t know that.

        Now, I’m not saying that a rifle would be the first choice self defense tool there, any more than it might be in any other given scenario. That’s really a separate issue. The fact that Home Depot is not immune to visitation by violent criminals and psychos alike, is established.

        • The point was, it doesn’t seem likely because, like, who cares? When you think of somebody open-carrying into Chipotle, the pants-wetters will wet their pants, but the same guy in a Home Depot just seems more, like, ho-hum. They DO have chainsaws and axes and all other manner of stuff in there too. I guess I was thinking, the Demanding Moms wouldn’t attract much of an audience. Who cares if somebody’s armed in a Home Depot? Ah! It just dawned on me! There are very few children at Home Depot, so nothing to exploit.

  4. This will stand unless we shoot our selves in the foot like we did at Starbucks. Let’s play this one smart, not hurt their business, and keep this one in the “Win” category.

    • I think we’re all crossing our fingers while simultaneously cringing.

      I think Open Carry Texas has an admirable goal, though I’m a little doubtful of the thought process of getting open carry of handguns accepted by open carrying rifles. I believe the organization has recently been encouraging a shift to the open carry of black powder pistols instead of long guns.

      I think the leadership of OCT is gritting their teeth as hard as the rest of us, because while they’re trying to do it right, their cause and rallies are being somewhat hijacked by a bunch of idiots who simply say “Ooh, I can carry my rifle in public? Cool!” but have no idea how to do so responsibly. It’s up to those that know better at these rallies to set the dumbasses straight, calling them out on the antisocial behavior. If they can’t or won’t do that, then the cycle will just continue to be repeated.

      • I was browsing through the Texas Penal Code the other day looking at Texas’ firearms laws…you know, just for fun. By my reading, which is not infallible but is qualified by a law degree, even though black powder handguns are not “firearms” for purposes of federal regulations, they are “firearms” as defined by the Texas Penal Code. Accordingly, the open cary of a black powder handgun in public is just the same as the open carry of a modern centerfire handgun under Texas law: illegal.

        • There is an exception for firearms made before a certain date and copies there of.

      • Texas Open Carry has some pretty serious leadership problems. It also has some pretty serious membership problems. Taken together and, given recent events, its credibility at the moment is in the toilet. It’s going to take a lot of back-filling to regain that respect. And without it, TOC is currently doing more damage than good.

        Here’s an example of things done right. Watching the Cliven Bundy ranch standoff, I was fully expecting random acts of stupidity from the collection of militia groups, Oath Keepers, neighbors, ranchers, and regular ‘ole citizens who came to support Bundy’s resistance to the BLM intimidation. But the exact opposite happened. The people being interviewed, many carrying guns, were well spoken, regular folks, who behaved like adults. If there were low self-image mall-ninjas there, they were kept out of sight. One of the most impressive interviews was with a militia member—a guy who’d traveled some distance to get there—who turned out to be a history teacher who handily defied every prejudicial stereotype of gun crazy. There’s a lesson to be learned here.

        There are loose cannons in every organization and so it’s no surprise that OCT attracts its share of emotionally immature dweebs who think it’s cool to post big-grin photos of themselves posing with their long guns in a fast-food restaurant. That photo alone did huge damage to OCT. When your membership starts becoming the subject of political cartoons and ridicule among your supporters, you know you’re in trouble. If OCT is going to be effective, it is rather quickly going to have to figure out how to keep a tighter rein on its bozos.

  5. Rifle open carry idiots in 3.. 2.. 1..

    Home Depot to announce their change soon after.

    • Sigh. Probably right. They sound like they’re trying to stay out of the politics and run a business, just like the others that went that way…

  6. I have OC’d in Home Depot about a half-dozen times; I’ve never had any issues with anyone there.

    Of course, I OC the way it’s supposed to be (securely holstered, hand never on the gun, everyday normal behavior). I really hope the “political carry” guys don’t screw it up.

  7. I wish every business would make a similar statement.

    I also believe that business should not allow protests from either side on their property

    That will pretty much end the BS right there.

    • Until Home Depot starts running off the day laborers from their parking lots and stops implicitly endorsing illegal immigration and violation of labor laws, then they’ve pretty much ceded the moral high ground of abstaining from public policy debates.

  8. I wonder if Ren and Stimpy from The Chipotle Experience will make a cameo appearance at the new Home Depot show?

  10. Good for HD.

    I know that in a normal world simply saying “We defer to whatever the law is.” wouldn’t even be a story, but in our ridiculously anti-gun world it is.
    Add to that the looming likelihood of OCT showing up ready to rally around the dremels and we should thank the orange boys.
    When choosing a home improvement store, I go to HD or Lowe’s, depending on which is closer. It’ll be Home Depot from now on (even if the activists end up ruining it).

    • Oh my God, the stupid, it burns…

      A comment on Home Depot’s Facebook page, regarding this rally: “Since we can’t know when this fanatical anti-woman, death-celebrating-culture group will snap, we’ll be going to Lowe’s from now on.”

      Another anti-gun person brought his two kids, 6 & 8, to hold up homemade signs. One said “This accomplishes nothing,” and to be honest, he might be onto something. The other sign said, “This sign is not a target,” which just makes no damn sense at all.

      Oh, and more from Holmes, the HD spokesman: Corporate spokesman Stephen Holmes said that while Home Depot allows customers to carry legally permitted weapons into its stores, “we do not allow solicitation or organizing by third parties on our property.” The Open Carry supporters were not asked to move on Saturday. But should they return for another rally, Holmes said, “we’ll remind them of that policy.”

      To me, that sounds an awful lot like “You won’t get to pull this stunt again.”

      • Which actually doesn’t sound like a bad thing. It’s a valid distinction, between not interfering with a customer lawfully toting whatever he or she can lawfully tote, and not permitting “demonstrators” of whatever stripe to disrupt the normal course of business.

      • As a real estate investor, landlord and avid DIY’er, my view is that the world is already divided between Home Depot people and Lowe’s people. This lady, worried that open carry demonstators will snap in murderous rage, is most definitely a Lowe’s type person already.

        Seems moot anyway, as there’s usually a Lowe’s and Home Depot located across the street from each other, if not within the same parking lot. Either way, well within range of any would-be rifle wielding rioters, I’m sure.

  14. If I owned a business and I saw a bunch of open carry demonstrators coming to the door, I wouldn’t let them inside or even stay on my property. Take it to the range you dill-holes.
    I don’t have a problem with the occasional open carry of a handgun however. Long guns though…why?

  15. This may be hard for the people who feel compelled to carry their AR’s and AK’s around town to show off their rights to comprehend —

    We’re in a PR battle as much (if not more) than a legislative battle.

    The opposition is playing three-dimensional chess with the full cooperation of the mass media.

    The rifle carriers are playing checkers — and consistently losing.

    • This made me laugh because it’s sad. OCT is taking ANY advances in gun culture and flushing them down the toilet in one fell swoop (poop?).

  16. Why does a rally have to be at a private business? Why force a company to take any position on this issue, particularly when it can impact their policies on a national level? Just hold the rally in a public area and leave private business out of it.

  17. Cue the open carry activists flooding the store and causing them to change their policy.

  18. Update to the article:

    “Update: Holmes called Forbes to say Home Depot is currently determining whether this rally goes against the company’s non-solicitation policy. “We don’t allow any group or any individual to disrupt a store’s business,” he said.”

    :::headdesk:::

  19. The thing I worry about with this sort of deal is that it is WAY too easy for the anti-rights types to insert an “agent provocateur.”

  20. whooo and hoo I’m gonna be driving down there in my m4A3 Sherman and open carrying my m2 50 cal belt fed… oh I’m also gonna need lumber to build a tank bunker. (sarc. I know shocking but true)

  22. It would be ironic if they were to ban guns in a place that sells hammers, chainsaws, machetes, knives, lighter fluid, saws all and no end of other items that can kill and maim in an old school way. I like Home Depot. I’m glad they took a sensible approach here. Nothing worse than political angst when you’re shopping for rope to hang a porch swing.

      • Don’t forget hardware stores back in the day (before my time) actually did carry guns. Good thing they sold mops and cleaning supplies too to deal with the rivers of blood inevitably followed. /sarc

  23. Well that does it. I’ll be shopping at Home Depot from now on. I have found that they have a much better selection and lower prices than most other stores. Thank you Home Depot.

  24. Home Depot – great store & great policy. Would not expect less from a Georgia based company.

  25. In southern Louisiana I have never had a problem in HD with OC…. A few questions here and there, other customers asking about the legalities, blah blah blah. Never a comment or word from the seemingly hundreds of guys/gals clad on orange aprons walking around asking if they can help.

    One incident, quite humorous actually, while hunting some hardware a fella approached me about how the local boys in blue feel about OC in general (he was up from New Orleans where they tend to be a bit ridiculous). I mentioned there were two cruisers in the parking lot now and yet nobody is chasing me down…..

    ….about that time a see a lady talking to a uniformed Parish SO coming around the corner…next she points at me the cop looks and I hear him say something like “so what?” She begins to continue her tirade and he interrupts point blank and explains to her that she should go about her shopping and “stop harassing me”.

    With a grin I turned to the fella I was talking to and exclaimed “That is how cops around here treat OC when you have a Sheriff that knows the law and is not being driven by a gun control crazed DA like New Orleans”

  26. I want to see a group of CC pistol guys (who somehow mark themselves as carrying. can you do that in TX and not violate the CC laws?) block off the damn OC rifle guys, especially the ones bear-pawing their firearms. We get it… you want to normalize OC. I want it to. But You can’t keep doing stupid sh*t and expect good results. Strutting around bear-pawing your long gun is just plain stupid. Cut it out.

  27. I see people open carry all the time here in Nevada Home Depot stores, totally normal. That’s whats great about this state.

  28. Have to say, I carry, I would like to see not just open, but all-out constitutional, carry in Texas, and I am offended by the idea that you have to pay the state and get their official permission to exercise a fundamental Constitutional right. But I operate a precious-metals trading store, I have had on occasion a few thousand dollars in easily-pocketed gold bullion and scrap sitting in the back room. If a gang of scruffy-looking guys in t-shirts and cargo pants carrying ARs came wandering in and started loitering about and fingering their guns, I would feel more than a little bit nervous, and I could pretty well kiss any real customers goodbye at that point. OC Texas might want to give that kind of thing a little thought.

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