We hear a lot of stories in the legacy media about large corporations either formally banning firearms from their properties (or for moral cowards like the leadership of Starbucks or Target, “asking” that law-abiding citizens not carry firearms at their establishments, even those that have a history of being patronized by violent customers.) Some of the folks in the central Michigan city of Saginaw, however, appear to have a different approach . . .

A number of their businesses have been posting signs — welcoming legal firearms carriers into their establishments. MLive.com:

“Firearms welcome.”

That’s the message on a sign posted in the window at House of Leaf, a cigar and billiards lounge in Saginaw’s Old Town district.

Kory Veitengruber owns the lounge located at 108 N. Michigan. He said he got the idea to post the sign, which he found online, after browsing the conversations and posts within a Michigan open carry group on Facebook.

“A lot of the big-box businesses are not allowing it, and I, personally, disagree with that. So I decided to make it known that I’m pro-gun,” Veitengruber said.

The sign posted at House of Leaf reads:

“Firearms welcome Please keep all weapons holstered unless need arises. In such a case, judicious marksmanship is appreciated.”

Veitengruber is not alone. A longtime business owner on the city’s East Side has a similar sign posted at his shop.

“It’s the (United States) Constitution. It’s law. They’re legal,” said Larry Shapland, owner of Larry’s Auto Supply, located at 1020 Walnut and in business since 1974….

His sign reads:

“Notice Lawful concealed carry permitted on these premises

Management recognizes the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as an unalienable right of all citizens. We therefore support and encourage the carrying of concealed weapons….”

[B]oth Shapland and Veitengruber said welcoming and encouraging their customers to carry guns makes their businesses more secure.

When asked whether he thinks his sign might help deter crime, Shapland replied, “Without a doubt.”

Not every business in Saginaw is down with the firearms carry thing, of course. Saginaw Township’s Fashion Square Mall and the Midland Mall, both owned and managed by CBL & Associates Properties Inc., have a “code of conduct” that “ask[s] all visitors to refrain from…[c]arrying or displaying weapons of any kind except those carried by certified law enforcement officers in the performance of their duties.”

As Mlive.com points out, certain national chains such as Panera Bread, Sonic, Chili’s, Starbucks, Target and Chipotle, have “asked customers not to openly carry firearms in their stores or that have banned guns entirely.”

There’s food safety related reasons beyond to avoid some of the places on that list, but it also never hurts to patronize businesses that proudly support the right to keep and bear arms…and to avoid those that don’t.

Are there any places in your neck of the woods that you make a point of patronizing…or avoiding…because of the positions that the owners have taken on firearms?

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48 COMMENTS

  1. I make it a point to patronize businesses that welcome my personal security choices.

    Similarly, I make it a point to NOT patronize businesses which oppose my personal security choices.

  2. We must do things differently here in AZ, cause I have oc’d at every one of the ‘no oc’ businesses in this article without so much as a sideways glance.

    • I open carry a lot but I vote with my $ and avoid anti-places. So I have not open carried into Target, etc.

      • That’s the thing.. they DON’T hate me! If they did I wouldn’t go in there. I never said I went to those places often but occasionally you have to go behind enemy lines and do some business. If any of those businesses had given me problems I would not go back, but so far they have not. Chipotle even sells alcohol at most of it’s establishments so they could legally ban me from carrying if they wanted but unlike most other places that serve alcohol they haven’t put up the signs, which actually makes them better than average.

        On the flip side I know of at least 2 gun stores (yes actual gun stores not department stores that sell guns) that ban all forms of loaded carry and enforce their rules. So who is more gun friendly, the Target that lets me OC without a problem or the gun store that kicks me out for OC?

        • The local folks might not hate you, but the owner of the store or the brand–some corporate anti-gun puke in another state–does. He’s making money off you, possibly more than the local folks are.

      • He gives them money for the same reason ‘boycotts’ always fail: no one wants to be inconvenienced or change their routine. Much easier to just talk about it.

        • Wow, I didn’t know you could read anonymous peoples’ thoughts over the internet. That is quite an amazing gift. Hey quick, what am I thinking about now?

    • I live in Arizona too. Corporate bosses sitting in New York, Seattle, or LA surrounded by armed corporate security guards may hate the 2nd amendment, but their employees in Arizona are not exactly loyal to their employers anti-2nd amendment dribble.

      • Agreed, the local folks aren’t a problem.

        But if you spend money there because the local folks are OK, that jackwad in another state makes money, quite possibly more than the locals do.

        We should be trying to make gratuitous anti-gun bullshit HURT the person who pushes it, instead of handing him money (even if through a friendly local employee).

  3. Mil surplus store, Custom chopper place, Gun shops, Craft store. A couple places have this sign. That same code of conduct is in the Lakeside Circle Mall, but they just recently put a MC Sports that sells guns inside the mall. How does that work???

  4. What’s up with I support the 2A, concealed carry. The 2A would more logically support open carry.

    • I’ve been reading for 60-odd years, and I read the 2A as supporting any carry, all carry, and no carry.

      • You never got clued in on the invisible ink addendum. The full text reads “…shall not be infringed, except when we feel like it.”

  5. My current employer just posted 30.06 and 30.07 signs. No firearms on the premises has always been in place for employees, but it now applies to customers. SMH

    • Our movie theater just threw them up, thanks to a new manager from CA (I’m in TX). Because, you know, no theater with anti signs has ever been attacked…

      The old manager put up the corporate stickers (that have no legal heft), but purposefully did not put up 30.0x signs.

      On another note, the new open carry law has been a non-event here. We’re a largely rural, and very pro-gun community, but I’ve yet to see anyone other than LEO open carrying. Seems most here support the “element of surprise” concealed offers.

    • I prefer it that way. Neither a sign nor policy will stop the determined carrier (my guess is 10% of our employees still carry). At least by posting a the 30.06/7 they are making things “fairer” for all involved. Otherwise, you end up with absurdity.

      The policies are in place to reduce workplace violence – usually from disgruntled terminations. Assuming that the policy and sign protect you, pre-sign an employee can be fired and then return to the building with a gun. Post-sign, they are stopped. It is kind of silly, but it is what it is.

  6. Two of my favorite restaurants are on opposite ends of this spectrum… sort of. One, a rib joint in a “Sketchy Adjacent” neighborhood, has non-binding “Gunbuster” signs, which I ignore as I CC and savor their heavenly ribs. The other, a diner on my side of town, has a similar “Guns Welcome” sign but as of Jan 1 put up non-binding “Your guns are welcome but please don’t open carry” signs. I choose to take this as “Until the ‘Muggles’ are comfortable with it everywhere else…”

  7. Open and concealed carry customers welcomed at where I work. The owner does require a LTC (formally CHL) for employees to carry and the choice to open or conceal is left to the employee. I carry openly at work and have done so for 35 years. Way before there was such thing as a CHL in Texas. It has never been a problem and I do react with customers every day.

  8. Sonic? Almost all the customers stay in their vehicles. Why does Sonic care if someone carries in their own car?

  9. Most businesses out here in NM don’t have the homicidal maniacs empowerment signs, except for malls and bars, which I don’t frequent.

    I can CC but not OC in a restaurant that serves wine or beer, or stores that sell package liquor. (The lack of rational thought of politicians is a given now).

    Another reason I say that NM is a Desert Paradise.

    • Funny thing about the malls. At least at coronado, the sign says “No illegal weapons or firearms.” I think a lawyer could tear that apart as it could be interpreted many ways.

      The signs are also only posted at the main entrances, not any store entrances. Therefore, they shouldn’t actually be enforceable based on the local laws requiring all entrances to have the signs.

      Our signage laws are not horribly clear though. I also don’t frequent the mall. And yes, our lawmakers are not very rational.

    • “The lack of rational thought of politicians is a given now.”

      I’m still shaking my head over the revolver-vs-semi and maximum-caliber parts of the NM CCW law.

      Then again, my CCW instructor was active in working to get the law passed; he points out that dealing with opposition that has no real clue about how firearms really work, is occasionally a blessing.

      I think I’ve asked you this before, but memory is the second thing to go … what part of NM are you in?

      • It’s that SA/NSA and caliber divide that has me wary of NM.

        I do find it funny that I qualified in TX using a .9cm Glock, and can carry anything I want in NM, but an NM citizen doing the same can’t.

        • .9cm Glock

          That looks so much like the straight line for a caliber cluelessness joke (.223mm, .22mm LR, you know the type), until you look at it more closely. Nice double-take.

  10. “We prefer that you don’t carry in our establishment.”
    (wink, wink)
    ((But if you decide to do so anyway, our customers will be safer and we won’t scare them away this way.))

  11. I would patronize these folks if I lived in Saginaw. I don’t. I live in Illinois which has “no Berettas(or Taurus)” signs aplenty. Pretty rare in nearby Indiana. Guess who has more shootings/violent crime? And where I buy as much as I can…

  12. One unfortunate trend in TX I’ve noticed since the passage of OC: Many businesses that were not posted 30.06 (no CC) before 1/1/2016, have decided to post that, along with 30.07 (no OC). Don’t know if they were just ignorant of the law previously, or if they’re getting a “2-fer” deal on the signs. If they post the correct sign (correct font size, verbiage, bilingual, etc.), that’s a lot of real estate on the front of their buildings. There have been a few cases of businesses posting both signs, and, after customer feedback, removing the 30.06 signs.

  13. Add Buffalo Wild Wings to the list of gun-unfriendly establishments. Kids love their food ($2 kids meals Wed) but I can buy crappy wings other places.

    • My girlfriend works at the BWW near our apartment. I carry every time I am in there since they do not have 30.06 or 30.07 sign, though it is always concealed. All the managers know I carry and none of them care. The female managers actually prefer it, often asking if I have my gun on me, especially if I am up there at night after closing before the few remaining employees leave. I guess they don’t like the idea of being defenseless at 3 am when they count up all the money. Go figure.

    • “So what likelihood is there that this revival will fade any time soon? Assuming that no alternative to oil is found, what will turn back the current tide of jihad except a massive violent reaction on the part of the infidels?””When more Muslim countries acquire nuclear weapons, which may be inevitable, that is also bound to shock European opinion.”– Some Muslims countries are running out of WATER and are consequently running out of WHEAT. Alternative energies were found already. —

  15. I’d say a large portion of commenters claim to never support business that post no gun signage. I call bullshit. So tell me, when was the last time you went to a movie theater?

    • I honestly don’t remember seeing any signs the last time I went to one (which had been the first time in a year or more), aside from asking cosplayers not to have realistic imitations.

    • The movie theater I go to is not a national chain and has no policy, that i can find, against carrying firearms.

      It also has awesome reclining seats.

    • Bull? Nah I just choose the smaller chain that doesn’t have a gun-free sign or gun free policy posted on the website.

    • I don’t go to movies. The last time I remember going to a movie theatre I think was 2012. Don’t miss it.

      If I want movies then I got Netflix.

  16. I carried at Target when I worked there. There were no signs prohibiting guns, but there was a “no guns” policy in the employee manual. So, the worst that could have happened to me was being fired, and I didn’t care about that at all. I was working there because I was bored, not because I needed a job. And it was fun — I liked it a lot — but it wasn’t worth my life.

    Now, I just stay away from places where I am not welcome. Fortunately, there aren’t a lot of “no guns” signs in MA, and that includes most state office buildings. Alas, there aren’t any “guns welcome” signs either.

  17. The only places here that have any signs at all that I frequent are usually “the display of firearms is prohibited”. Specifically the library up the street. My bank only has a sign as to not wear sun glasses, or a hood over your head. I’m not aware of any specific places that have “no guns” signs, except the courthouse. I’m sure there are some, I just must not get out too much.

    • Many have not figured out that that sign allows for concealed carry.

      Be careful, when renewing your driver’s license, to NOT rely on your jacket for concealment–they will insist you take it off for the picture, at which point you’d be violating the ordinance. (Ask me how I know this.)

  18. Sturgis Coffee Co. in Sturgis, South Dakota has had a sign welcoming concealed carry since they opened. During the Bike Rally, it’s the safest place in town.

  19. “Fashion Square Mall and the Midland Mall… “ask[s] all visitors to refrain from…[c]arrying or displaying weapons of any kind except those carried by certified law enforcement officers in the performance of their duties.”

    So then, if my weapon is of a kind carried by law enforcement officers on duty, then it’s OK, right?

    More evidence that people who can’t think properly often also can’t write properly.

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