RSS
Home
Dick's Sporting Goods permits carry in Georgia stores
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Dick's Sporting Goods informed GeorgiaCarry.Org that it permits lawfully carried handguns in its stores in Georgia, so long as the person carrying the handgun is abiding by state law.
This issue arose when the President of GeorgiaCarry.Org, more precisely, me, was kicked out of the Fayetteville, Georgia store because of a lawfully carried H&K USP 45 pistol.
I was carrying a holstered pistol, as is my daily habit, and wearing a GeorgiaCarry.Org T-shirt when I brought my eight year old son to the store to look at the Davey Crickett rifles that I knew to be in stock. My eager son has been pestering me for the last three years to get one, after he fired a friend's borrowed rifle under my close supervision. This year, he has started asking if Santa might overrule a an anxious mother . . .
We were stopped halfway into the store, however, by a young man who asked me to put my pistol back in my truck, as it was "policy" that the store did not permit the lawful carry of firearms. Disappointed, I informed him that I would not leave my pistol in my automobile. Privately, I had a very good reason, as the last time I had left my handguns behind, they had both been stolen by a dangerous felon with a history of aggravated assault. The guns were recovered, but after this theft, I resolved never to leave them behind in the truck again. I decided that if a location did not allow me to carry, I would not go there, making exception only for court and for the Georgia General Assembly, where I would relentlessly lobby for the elimination of "gun free zone" locations that require the risk of gun thefts from vehicles.
The young manager offered me the opportunity to lock the pistol in the store safe. After hesitating to consider handling a loaded firearm in the store and then shopping unarmed, I declined. I did not want to set an example for my son showing that guns are somehow "bad" or unacceptable in society. I thought this option was dangerous and taught my son the wrong lesson, so I declined. I firmly believe in the right of private property, so I informed the young store employee that obviously Dick's Sporting Goods did not want my money, and I turned and left.
I was wrong, however. Dick's Sporting Goods does want my money, and they want yours, too. I contacted the corporate headquarters in Pennsylvania, and they wrote me back the same day, stating that Dick's Sporting Goods simply follows state law on the subject. Jean Taggart, Manager of Customer Engagement, wrote:
Mr. Stone,
Thank you for contacting Dick's Sporting Goods.
Our stores comply with state laws and, in some cases, where we are a
tenant as an anchor store, those mall restrictions if any exists.
Ms. Taggart then followed up to make sure that no landlord restrictions existed at the location in Fayetteville, which I already knew because of the Home Depot and other locations where I regularly shop. She also informed me that the corporate headquarters had notified both the manager of the Fayetteville location and the regional manager not to interfere with customers lawfully carrying holstered handguns. The employee in question had been misinformed, and did not know where he had learned his impression that the corporation had an anti-gun policy.
I was prepared to write a very different sort of article, but as it turned out, I was quite glad to write an article in which I was wrong. Dick's does want my money.
