3p Weekend: 10 Companies With Sensible Gun Policies

With a busy week behind you and the weekend within reach, there’s no shame in taking things a bit easy on Friday afternoon. With this in mind, every Friday TriplePundit will give you a fun, easy read on a topic you care about. So, take a break from those endless email threads and spend five minutes catching up on the latest trends in sustainability and business.

I'll never forget when I, an East Coast girl living in Phoenix, noticed a sign in the window of a local bar reading, "Please no guns." Needless to say, I was aghast. "Bars have to explicitly ban guns here?," I wondered to myself. Yep, they sure do.

Arizona, like more than a dozen U.S. states, allows residents to openly carry firearms without a permit. More than 20 other states allow open-carry with a license, while only five, plus the District of Columbia, ban open-carry outright.

For those like me, who are uncomfortable with firearms, it can be more than a little unnerving to notice a handgun on the belt of the fellow behind you in line at Circle K. And considering the wave of violent gun crimes that have rocked the country in recent years, some companies are beginning to approach gun policies as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) issue. For these firms, allowing customers to openly carry guns inside their establishments can make the company appear complicit with its state's lax gun laws.

With that in mind, this week we tip our hats to companies that are braving the backlash and adopting sensible gun policies.

1. Starbucks

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wrote an open letter to the coffeehouse chain's customers in 2013, asking them to leave their firearms at home.

“We are respectfully requesting that customers no longer bring firearms into our stores or outdoor seating areas — even in states where 'open carry' is permitted — unless they are authorized law enforcement personnel,” Schultz wrote. In the past, Starbucks followed state and local laws when it came to guns in its stores, but a wave of what Schultz called "uncivil" gatherings struck a nerve with company management.

"Pro-gun activists have used our stores as a political stage for media events misleadingly called 'Starbucks Appreciation Days' that disingenuously portray Starbucks as a champion of 'open carry.' To be clear: We do not want these events in our stores," Schultz concluded, recognizing that open carry is a contentious issue but politely stating that it's a debate his company no longer wants to take part in.

2. Chili's

In a 2014 statement coinciding with a similar announcement from Sonic, casual restaurant chain Chili's requested that customers not bring guns into its eateries.

Dallas-based Brinker International Inc., which owns the chain, said in a statement that it was dedicated to providing "a safe environment for our guests and team members," Business Insider reported last year.

3. Sonic

Sonic dropped its no-gun request on the same day as Chili's. The request, which stopped short of an outright ban, came after "members of the gun-rights group Open Carry Texas walked into Texas-area locations of Sonic and Chili's carrying assault rifles," Business Insider reported the day of the announcement.

4. Panera Bread

After a months-long discussion between Panera Bread and activist network Moms Demand Action, the fast-casual restaurant chain decided to speak up about guns in its stores.

Panera Bread CEO Ronald M. Shaich announced last year that the company will proactively ask guests at its 1,800 bakery-cafés to leave their firearms at home.

5. Target

Historically, Target has followed state and local laws when it came to allowing guns in its big-box retail locations. But in 2014, the company said it will no longer allow firearms inside its stores after campaigns by activist networks like Moms Demand Action.

6. Walmart

Walmart, the largest seller of guns and ammunition in the U.S., made waves last week when it announced it would no longer sell high-powered assault rifles that hold multiple rounds of ammunition.

Arkadi Gerney, the senior vice president of the liberal think-tank Center for American Progress, had this to say: “In my experience working with Walmart in 2008, I found them to be extremely concerned about responsible gun sales. They definitely wanted to stay in the market and serve customers who wanted to buy guns, but they were very interested and responsive to ideas about how to make those sales safer and to make it less likely that the guns that they sell were ultimately misused.”

The company follows state and local laws when it comes to carrying guns in its retail locations, but employees are not allowed to bring firearms to work.

7. Chipotle

Sonic wasn't the only restaurant chain to get a visit from Open Carry Texas. In May of last year, members of the gun rights group entered a Dallas-area Chipotle carrying assault rifles, scaring some patrons, the Washington Post reported.

While the group's founder told Forbes the incident was not a political statement, just a meal after an event, it prompted the company to rethink its gun policies. Just a week later, Chipotle released a statement asking customers to leave their guns at home.

"Historically, we felt it enough to simply comply with local laws regarding the open or concealed carrying of firearms, because we believe that it is not fair to put our team members in the uncomfortable position of asking that customers refrain from bringing guns into our restaurants," Chris Arnold, communications director for Chipotle, told CBS News' Dallas-Forth Worth affiliate in a statement. "However, because the display of firearms in our restaurants has now created an environment that is potentially intimidating or uncomfortable for many of our customers, we think it is time to make this request."

8. Jack in the Box

Just 24 hours after activist group Moms Demand Action launched a petition to Jack in the Box asking the fast-food chain to enforce its policy prohibiting firearms in restaurants, the company answered the call.

Brian Luscomb, the company’s vice president of corporate communications, told the group: “The presence of guns inside a restaurant could create an uncomfortable situation for our guests and employees and lead to unintended consequences.”

9. Costco

On its website, Costco states that it "does not believe that it is necessary for firearms to be brought into its warehouse stores," U.S. News reports.

"'If you believe that our policy restricting members from bringing firearms into our warehouse stores is either unfair or excessively burdensome, or you cannot agree to abide by this policy, or you are dissatisfied for any other reason, Costco will promptly refund your annual membership fee in full."

10. New Seasons Market

New Seasons Market, a privately-owned grocery chain operating in the Portland metro area of Oregon and Washington, adopted a gun sense policy in 2014 on the heels of a similar decision by Panera Bread.

“As the friendliest store in town, we work every day to ensure our staff, neighbors and customers feel safe and welcome in our stores. We’ve had a no-weapons policy in place for some time for our staff. We’re now respectfully asking our customers to leave their weapons at home too," New Seasons told activist group Moms Demand Action.

 

Know of a shop near you that has a similar policy? Drop the name in the comments!

Image credit: Flickr/Cory Doctorow