Dispatch: Banning guns may be bad for business

Aside from the fact that this organization has NEVER used the word boycott to describe our efforts to inform CHL-holders that they are not welcome in stores listed on our Do Not Patronize While Armed database, and aside from the fact that this reporter was so informed, we are pleased to see this issue getting the attention it deserves.

A shorter version of this story has been picked up by the Associated Press and is being widely reported across the state today.
The purpose of the Do Not Patronize While Armed list is to assist these stores. We wish to help CHL-holders know to stay away while armed, which is exactly what the stores are communicating on their signs.

Only 300 businesses out of thousands and thousands and thousands in Ohio have posted these discriminatory signs...

Conceal-carry faction promises boycotts

May 11, 2004
by Robert Vitale
Columbus Dispatch

Backers of Ohio’s new law allowing people to carry concealed handguns are fighting back against businesses that bar them.

Their weapon of choice: a boycott.

Ohioans for Concealed Carry, the group that pushed for the law in effect since April 8, says it has had some success in getting businesses to reconsider their bans, particularly if they are part of multistate chains that posted no-gun signs in Ohio but not in neighboring states that grant concealed-weapons permits.

But representatives of some businesses say they’re not alarmed to be among more than 300 businesses on a statewide "do not patronize while armed" list the group is publicizing through its Internet site, www.ofcc.net.

"We’re OK if they choose to boycott our stores," said Karen Maier, vice president of marketing for Cincinnati-based Frisch’s Inc., which has posted signs banning weapons at all corporate-owned Big Boy restaurants in Ohio. "We don’t want firearms in our stores."

Businesses on the list range from a hair salon in Bucyrus to shopping malls in Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. Others are multiple locations of chain stores and restaurants.

Also included: the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

"It’s not that we’re calling it a boycott," said Jim Irvine, spokesman for Ohioans for Concealed Carry. "It’s that they don’t want us there."

Irvine said he thinks businesses across Ohio were tricked into posting no-gun signs by local governments, law-enforcement agencies and chambers of commerce that offered them.

Under the law, the only businesses required to ban concealed weapons are child-care centers and places serving alcohol. Guns also are banned in government buildings, airports and schools.

All other private businesses can choose whether to bar employees and customers from carrying concealed handguns.

Irvine’s group is selling business-card-size handouts to conceal-carry permit-holders that they can give to businesses posting no-gun policies.

The handout reads: "We have noticed your sign and are going to respect your wishes by shopping elsewhere. You lost my business now and in the future."

Gerard Valentino of Pickerington, the regional representative for Ohioans for Concealed Carry, said he receives three or four e-mails a day from people with new businesses to list.

"We have very strong convictions," he said.
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Some businesses on the list have equally strong feelings against guns on their premises.

"We don’t want anybody . . . carrying any weapons whatsoever," said Bridgette Stewart, marketing and leasing manager for Westland Mall in Columbus.

Other businesses are considering companywide policies.

Kroger stores in Cincinnati originally posted no-gun signs, while stores in Columbus did not, said Gary Rhodes, a spokesman for the Cincinnati-based grocery chain. But six Krogers in the Columbus area that host wine-tasting events now display signs banning weapons, he said. The company is waiting to hear whether stores with children’s play areas must follow suit.

Related Story:
Dear Kroger...