I attended the seminar that didn't happen at the Lansing Gander Mountain today. Only the presenters, freak, myself, and my fiancee` (5 of us total) showed up. We've all seen the spiel before.
So we went to Fire Mountain to eat; the place was packed so we went across the road to the mall.
We walked in through Barnes and Noble at the Lansing Mall, through the mall and ended up at the food court. We passed two mall security right before we reached the food court. Warchild noticed the security double backing towards us in a pair. The encounter went as follows:
Security Guy: You guys aren't going to like this, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. There's no weapons of any kind allowed in the mall.
Me: Since when? He and a friend (Venator) have been here while carrying several times and never asked to leave.
SG: Since the mall opened. There are signed posted on each of the end doors that says "no weapons of any kind."
Others in the group had commentary mixed in as well.
We all (5) said -- okay, thanks -- and left. I double checked the door we came in at Barnes and Noble -- no sign on THAT door.
At this point Jerry went home for a home cooked meal.
The remaining 4 proceeded across the street again and went into the Fazollis. We noted a Lansing Township PD car in the lot after we had parked. We went in, ordered, got a seat. LEOs said nothing to us. I don't even think they noticed. All of us got a funny look from one family of 5 (kids and parents). While we were eating another guy approached us and said:
Guy: Excuse me, but are you open carrying?
All Around: Yes
Guy: So you're not cops or anything?
All around: Nope
Guy: I think that's great (shaking hands with those at the end of the booth -- then lifting up his shirt to reveal his Springfield XD in a SERPA style holster that was concealed.
freak handed the guy a MOC tri-fold.
He asked if we get hassled much. We told him that it generally isn't a problem, but we just got kicked out of the mall. He asked if the cops bother us, he noticed the two LEOs that were there. We said it generally isn't a problem.
After eating and talking, we all wrapped up and went our separate ways.
About the Mall -- I guess they don't like people with pocket utility knives either? How about people who had just purchased baseball bats in the mall? I've never seen them pat anyone down or have metal detectors to see if anyone is concealing.
Here is the
contact page for those who wish to start a mail bombing campaign.
Here is my letter:
Dear Sir or Ma'am,
I am a resident of the city of Lansing. I was recently at the Lansing Mall with 4 of my fellows, all of us were LEGALLY* openly carrying handguns, in holsters, on our hips. We stopped in to get some food at the food court.
Two of your security guards approached us and informed us the mall has a policy that doesn't allow any weapons. He also informed us this fact is posted on each of the "end" doors. We came in and left through the Barnes and Noble. We saw no such sign.
Michigan has over 250,000 concealed carry permit holders. I'd think, with a population like that, you'd hate to eliminate these potential customers -- especially in an economy like this AND where your own mall is struggling. I'm sure you know as well as I do, many of the store slots are vacant.
Also, I was curious, do you screen every customer for concealed weapons? How exactly do you enforce such a policy as, "No weapons allowed"? Do you prohibit customers who purchase baseball bats in the mall from carrying them unescorted out to their vehicles? Do you check people for pocket utility knives?
I often came to your mall as a place to have lunch during work. Now that I know your policy about "weapons", I will not be visiting anymore. I would think your mall would need every customer it could get to prevent deteriorating further into a ghost village. I will be spreading the news about your store amongst my friends and fellows. We'll be sure to stay clear of your mall and the stores in it. I'll write a few of your tenants also. I'm sure they'll be happy to know they are losing several valued customers.
I'd like to close by sharing a few example of businesses nation wide and locally that are friendly to customers open carrying in their stores:
* Walmart
* Starbucks
* IHOP
* McDonald's
I look forward to hearing back from you.
* See http://www.michiganopencarry.org for more information.
It seems the webpage for submitting your letter is currently broken. NO wonder the mall is struggling...
