By Chad D. Baus

When companies prohibit employees who have concealed handgun licenses from bringing their protection on company property, they explain by way of making a lot of promises.

They say without the prohibition, there is a risk of misuse, poor judgment or accident by license-holders.

They say the prohibition will make a safer work environment.

They say the prohibition makes the company "weapons-free".

The Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio was none of those things Wednesday night, January 26.

According to a news report from the Toledo Blade, a Jeep worker armed with a double-barreled 20-gauge shotgun shot two supervisors and a team leader at 8:45 p.m. last night in an office area at DaimlerChrysler’s Jeep assembly plant in Toledo, fatally wounding one and injuring two others.

The gunman is identified by police as 54 year-old Toledoan Myles Meyers, who has an extensive criminal record dating back to the 70's. An employee at the plant, Meyers reportedly had met Tuesday with union and company officials to discuss a problem at work, but a company official said today he was not disciplined.

The paper states the attacker was pronounced dead in the office area of the body shop, having apparently shot himself in the head. One supervisor was taken to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center, where the paper reports he died at 9:20 p.m. The names of the two wounded men, also hospitalized at St. Vincent, were not released last night.

Ohioans For Concealed Carry first notified supporters about Prime Outlets Mall's discriminatory signs on May 3. The Jeffersonville mall holds a dubious distinction on the Do Not Patronize While Armed list, as the only retailer which has had employees victimized by the Tri-State "Retail Rapist".

Soon after employees at the Jeffersonville store were targeted by the Retail Rapist, mall management reacted by posting signs banning law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves, even in the parking lot! This means that when customers travel to Prime Outlets in Jeffersonville or Lodi (a 1 hour or longer drive for most of their customer base), they are confronted with signs that prohibits them from even entering the property with their vehicle if they are concealed handgun license-holders and are carrying a firearm. (Click here to read the memo Prime Outlets delivered to each store owner announcing the ban last April.)

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So how is the ban working to serve the "best interest of the shopping center as a whole"? How is disarming law-abiding citizens working to protect customers from predators like the Retail Rapist?

A new memo is being circulated by Prime Outlets management in Jeffersonville, which tells the tale all too well (click to enlarge image at right).

In the memo, Prime Outlets encourages tenants to instruct their employees to study the composite image of the Retail Rapist, and to "provide as much information as you are able to gather" on suspicious customers.

Columbus' WBNS 10TV reported recently that the dangerous predator is still on the loose. But as this memo shows, the most Prime Outlets can say to nervous tenants is they are "doing everything in our power to make this center a safe place to work and shop."

Posting "no-guns" signs is most certainly a part of their attempt at making Prime Outlets a "safe" place to work and shop. But why do they think a criminal such as the Retail Rapist would honor such a prohibition? And why don't they trust their tenants or customers in Ohio who chose to bear arms for self-defense, even in their cars while traveling to and from the mall, when they have experience from their businesses in other states that proves there is nothing to fear from CHL-holders?

Last summer, an OFCC investigation found that Prime Outlets properties in Pennsylvania and Michigan were not posted with these signs (the company's current portfolio includes 32 outlet centers in 20 states).

When OFCC last communicated with Prime Outlets, it came on the heels of the company being inundated with calls and letters from angry customers. The company's Director of Corporate Security (who is based in the anti-gun state of Maryland) was seeking a "compromise" that would "satisfy" gun-owners:

Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 13:01:45 -0400
From: Gee Cosper g.cosper@worldnet.att.net
Subject: RE: OhioCCW.ORG FAQ for High Risk Businesses

Jeff,

Please give me call (410.542.XXXX) to discuss the option of relocating the signage from the property line to the curb at the common area entrances. Would this compromise satisfy you and your colleagues? If so, I will meet with Prime Retail Senior Management and recommend this modification.

Gee

OFCC President Jeff Garvas replied as follows:

Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 22:10:44 -0400
From: Jeff Garvas
Subject: Re: OhioCCW.ORG FAQ for High Risk Businesses
To: Gee Cosper g.cosper@worldnet.att.net

Gee,

I apologize for not responding sooner.

We're not really in a position
to negotiate a compromise for the entire gun-owner population.

If you move the signs, we'll report that on our website, mailing lists, and to other national distribution lists and websites. We'll let everyone know that while they can drive to Prime locations armed, they'll still be required to shop defenseless.

However, our concern is that the "Retail Rapist", as the news media and
police are calling him, won't be any worse off for having them disarmed
at the curb than disarmed at the lot line.

If Prime makes a decision on this, please let us know. This has become somewhat of a national issue with gun owners now due to Prime's large retail footprint.

Look forward to hearing from you again.

-Jeff Garvas

Cosper never responded, and the signs remain. No doubt the Retail Rapist is pleased with the news.