More businesses ban; more reverse course after feeling repercussions

OFCC warned supporters about the next battleground in the concealed carry fight just hours after HB12 was signed into law. In Gun ban extremists' expected ''Business Blitz'' begins, we noted that Ohio's liberal media outlets were all-too willing to help "share the gospel" of business bans.

When Ohio-based Frisch's Inc. ordered its Ohio stores to hang signs, concerned customers began contacting the company, inquiring as to why it would post them in Ohio, when it hasn't posted them in Kentucky or Indiana. Frisch's responded by saying they would post signs in those states as well. This ill-conceived plan succeeded only in angering customers in three states, instead of one.

Ohioans For Concealed Carry can now report that Frisch's management, upon the requests of customers, has decided to take another look at the issue. While Frisch's has not yet made a formal statement about the reversal, the signs ARE coming down at all Big Boy, Frisch's and Golden Corral restaurants! Please make plans to return to your favorite Frisch's/ Big Boy/ Golden Corral when you confirm the signs are down, and bring family or friends to thank them for their decision.

There are other Ohio-based corporations that have posted discriminatory signs. Toledo's Comfort Line Inc., maker of fiberglass windows and doors, has posted signs ordering CHL-holders to shop elsewhere. Comfort Line's products are made with (Toledo-based) Owens-Corning fiberglass, and that bankrupt company has also announced a ban at its corporate facilities.

Two Ohio-based insurance companies have posted signs discriminating against CHL-holders. Columbus-based Nationwide is definitely NOT on your side if you are a CHL-holder, and is enforcing a ban at their corporate offices. Progressive Auto Insurance, of suburban Cleveland, has also announced that it will post signs banning CHL-holders. The founder of Progressive, Peter B. Lewis, is well-known for advocating stronger gun control laws, but weaker drug laws. According to the Associated Press, Lewis was arrested for marijuana possession in January of 2000 in New Zealand.

When we heard about the ban at Ohio-based MTD Products (the company builds Yard Man, Yard Machines, Cub Cadet lawn and garden equipment, along with several other brands), we couldn't help but remember the essay we published here last summer - highlighting the fact that many more people are injured each year by lawnmower accidents than from firearms, both accidental AND intentional.

Akron's Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is floating its own limp blimp - issuing a directive that will order all visitors and employees to Goodyear facilities to do an about-face if they are CHL-holders.

Bob Cordell, the owner of seven Tuffy Auto Service Centers in greater Cincinnati, has recently decided to post signs at his stores, over the objection of some of his store managers. Cordell can be reached by calling Tuffy Service Center at 513-683-5060.

Two rather large grocery chains in Ohio have posted signs, along with a few smaller ones. ACME Fresh Market (& Pharmacy) in NE Ohio says "we believe that carrying weapons into our stores - even for individual licensed by the State - would create an unsafe environment." Missouri-based Save-A-Lot wants you to "compromise-a-lot" (namely, your safety and human right to self-protection) before shopping there. Many groceries may be under the mistaken impression that their Class D liquor license requires them to ban. The law (H.B.12) clearly states that one cannot carry a concealed firearm into an establishment that serves liquor for consumption on the premises AND has a class D license. There are the TWO prerequisites that would enforce an automatic ban. Being a state liquor outlet alone does no qualify under this law. Whatever these grociers' reasons are, there is no cause for fear: Walmart Superstores and Walmart Neighborhood Markets will NOT be discriminating against CHL-holders. Neither will Walgreen's Pharmacies or Discount Drugmart (this NE OH-based chain took down their signs a few weeks ago in response to customer complaints).

While the issue of business bans has been covered extensively by the Ohio media, one major issue that has NOT been covered is why multi-state businesses are posting signs in Ohio, but do not have them posted in our neighboring CCW states.

For an in-depth look at some of these Business Ban Hypocrites, click on the "Read More..." link below.

One of the most interesting (and unreported) subjects within the Ohio business ban story is incidents of national business which are treating their Ohio customers differently than they have customers in other states.

Despite years of experience with NO discriminatory signs in states like Indiana, West Virginia, Michigan, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, the following businesses are making moves to post signs in Ohio! Do these businesses think their Ohio customers are less trustworthy than their customers in other states?

Bartlett's Tree Service - Bartlett's HQ in Connecticut is ordering store managers in Ohio to post signs, even over the objections of a store manager whose business is less than one mile from the scene of last years' Watkins Trucking shooting rampage. Click here to share your thoughts with the company, which has stores (without signs) in the Right-to-Carry states of Indiana and Pennsylvania, among many others.

Boston Market restaurants in Ohio have posted discriminatory signs banning CHL-holders. But customers in the Right-to-Carry state of Michigan and Tennessee (and many others) face no such signs. Click here to share your thoughts with the eatery's corporate HQ.
UPDATE:
Boston Market corporate HQ (located in Colorado) is informing callers that it is ordering Ohio signs to remove signs.

Federated Auto Parts in Cleveland (813 East 185th St. - (216) 481-8682) has posted signs telling CHL-holders they are not welcome. Shoppers in Tennessee (and other Right-to-Carry states), where Federated Auto Parts is a frequent NASCAR race-sponsor, are not met with discriminatory signs. One can only wonder how the NASCAR crowd will react if this ban spreads. Click here to obtain contact information for Federated stores throughout the state.

Giant Eagle grocery stores in Madison, Middlefield and Warren, are posting discriminatory signs. But Giant Eagle customers with CHLs in Pennsylvania and other Right-to-Carry states are not turned away at the door. Click here to tell this chain how you feel about their treatment of Ohioans.
UPDATE: Giant Eagle customer service reps (located in Pennsylvania), are telling callers that it is NOT Giant Eagle policy to ban CHL-holders.

Goodwill Industries in Columbus, Lima and Newark, and a Goodwill Auto Auction in Woodlawn, have posted signs ordering CHL-holders to stay out. Often located in neighborhoods that experience higher rates of muggings, robberies and other violent crimes, Goodwill customers in other Right-to-Carry states are not rendered defenseless. Click here to tell this charity how you feel about their lack of hospitality.

Home Depot stores in Hamilton and Springfield have posted signs discriminating against CHL-holders. The stores at Beavercreek/ Fairborn and Mason had signs up briefly, then removed them. Corporate Home Depot insists the chain does NOT prohibit law-abiding customers, legally permitted to carry firearms, from entering its stores. These local Ohio managers are apparently acting on their own to violate corporate policy. For shoppers in Hamilton, Mason Springfield, there is always Lowes, whose corporate HQ indicates that they will not bar CHL-holders from patronizing their Ohio outlets.
UPDATE: Home Depot Corporate HQ is emailing concerned citizens to confirm that it is NOT Home Depot policy to ban CHL-holders. All signs in Ohio stores are down.

Kroger stores in the Cincinnati-Dayton area have posted signs ordering CHL-holders to stay out. Headquartered in Cincinnati, the Kroger Company has years of experience with doing business in concealed carry states. It is likely that CHL-holders have shopped at Kroger-owned companies while armed on literally millions of occasions. Click here to share comments online.
UPDATE: Kroger digs in for a fight.

Miami Valley Broadcasting, owner of WHIOTV and UPN 44 in Dayton, is itself owned by Cox Communications in Atlanta. The parent company also owns several Ohio newspapers. Miami Valley Broadcasting has announced that it will post discriminatory signs. Click here to ask Cox why their tv stations in Right-to-Carry states like Florida are not required to post such bans.

Micro Center customers shopping for computer supplies in Right-to-Carry states like Georgia and Texas are not subjected to discriminatory bans against those who choose to bear arms for self-defense, yet Micro Center outlets in Ohio have posted "no guns" signs. Before taking your business to Computer Renaissance, Computer Success or any another Ohio computer business that isn't discriminatory, click here to share your thoughts with Micro Center management.
UPDATE:
MicroCenter signs come down!

Original Mattress Factory of Fairfield lost the business of one family recently, after it posted signs and took a position against the right to bear arms for self-defense. Persons in need of a better night's sleep are not greeted so harshly in Right-to-Carry states like Georgia, where the company is headquartered. Click here to tell OMF management how their customers are being treated "up north".
UPDATE: Signs are coming down at Ohio OMF's.

Papa John's has been doing business in Right-to-Carry states for many years, and made a big deal about their move into Ohio not long ago. But unlike customers visiting Papa John's in Right-to-Carry states like Indiana and Pennsylvania, customers at 12 Papa John's in Northeast Ohio, owned by Dave Cotrill - J & J Venture, Inc. - will be told to find a better pizza somewhere else. Same for customers at all central Ohio stores owned by Johncol, Inc. Click here to discuss your opinion with Papa John's corporate management.

Pilot Travel Centers welcomes travelers from many Right-to-Carry states through its doors 24/7. But unlike travelers visiting Pilots in Right-to-Carry states like Michigan, Ohio travelers will be told by Pilot to keep on driving. Click here to discuss your opinion with Pilot's corporate management.

Sofa Express of Columbus is telling customers who choose to bear arms for self-defense to spend their money somewhere else. Visitors to Sofa Express stores in other Right-to-Carry states like Indiana are not asked to go defenseless. Click here to let Sofa Express management know how Ohio shoppers are being greeted.

For a complete listing of Ohio businesses that have posted discriminatory signs against Ohioans (including banks which seem to be convinced criminals bent on violating Federal law to rob a bank will somehow care about their funny little signs), PLEASE VIEW OUR UPDATED Do Not Patronize While Armed database.

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Don't let this list get you down - there are literally thousands upon thousands (upon thousands!) of businesses in Ohio, and only a small fraction of those will ever post discriminatory signs. Some that do, as we've seen with Frisch's, Discount Drug Mart, and Marc's, will take them down soon enough.

There are plenty of GOOD GUYS in the business world too, as highlighted in this recent Cincinnati Enquirer story:

"One workplace that is not going to post signs or notices banning weapons is Madisonville-based Cincinnati Motor Car, which specializes in repairing cars made by BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

"I think the law will reduce the crime rate," said John Brindle, 56, who owns Cincinnati Motor Car.

"Crimes of opportunity may be reduced. The perpetrators might have to think twice. There will be less crime when people have second thoughts."

On a personal note, Brindle said, he will feel safer walking his Alaskan Malamute, Misby, at night in his Hartwell neighborhood. He and his dog were attacked in 2001 by a loose pit bull named Sweet Pea, which he could have shot had he been allowed to carry a gun.

"You talk about feeling defenseless. It almost killed my dog - and I have a very big dog," he said. "I had my hands in the pit bull's mouth that night. That's not a very safe feeling."

Handguns at Cincinnati Motor Car are out of sight but commonplace, said Brindle's wife, Sharon, the company's office manager.

In fact, the Brindles worry about legalities if they decided to ban weapons from workers, customers or visitors.

"If a person had to leave his gun in a car and is harmed because of that, wouldn't he have a great lawsuit?" she said. "I'd think the shop owner would be wide open to litigation."