There's a disturbing story by Linda Milazzo at AlterNet relating her near-fatal encounter with an armed Brinks guard at her local Albertson's store in California. She nearly bumped into the guard as she was on her way into the store as he was coming out with his gun in his hand, pointing approximately stomach-height at whatever and whoever happened to be in its line of sight.
California law allows licensed security guards to carry their weapons unholstered only in high-risk situations, and even then the gun must be pointed at the ground in the absence of immediate armed threat.
The comments section is at least as unsettling as the story itself. I had no idea there were so many libertarian assholes out there. Yes, the majority of the commenters were as outraged as the author by the behavior of the guard and the indifference of the Albertson's manager to her complaint. But there were also plenty like this:
I'd never thought about this issue until Menard's (a midwest based version of Lowes or Home Depot) opened its first store in my town.
They had two armed guards in the store and another on the exit gate from their lumber yard. I didn't think a whole lot about it until I purchased some stuff that I had to drive into the lumber yard to load into my back seat.
When I got to the gate to exit, the guard stepped out of his booth, checked my receipt and looked at the merchandise in the back seat. Fine so far. Then, he asked me to open my trunk. I refused, and the SOB put his hand on the butt of his gun! I told him that if he removed the gun from the holster I was going to call 911 (cellphone in hand).
He backed down on the gun, but he refused to open the gate until I opened the trunk, and I refused to open the trunk. We sat there for about 10 minutes with cars and trucks lined up behind me honking their horns.
Eventually a minor manager came out, and I explained Illinois law to him. The gate was opened (but not the trunk) and I drove to the front of the store, parked, and went inside where I explained to the general manager that I would never shop there again and why.
I'd like to say that I've never been back, but it's not true. Since friends have told me that the armed guards were removed, I've popped in for the occasional sale item or when there was something I couldn't find elsewhere.* On the other hand, I made my point with the manager, and who knows? Maybe my bitching about it contributed to Menard's deciding to remove the armed guards from their stupid "home" store.
Since that experience, when I see an armed guard in a store, I find the manager, explain that I don't do business with companies that believe their money is more important than my life, and leave.
Call me a crank, but the odds on there being random flying bullets in a place where there's already an armed guard is one hell of a lot greater than when there isn't, and it's not a risk I care to take for myself or my family.
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*My little town, Champaign, Illinois, has got to be one of the most frustrating mid-sized towns in the world to buy building supplies. Our Home Depot is too small to be useful, and our Lowe's is so badly managed that half the time they're not only out of the item I'm looking for, but it can take as long as three or four months for it to come back into stock. (We also have the world's worst Target store -- for the same reason).
California law allows licensed security guards to carry their weapons unholstered only in high-risk situations, and even then the gun must be pointed at the ground in the absence of immediate armed threat.
The comments section is at least as unsettling as the story itself. I had no idea there were so many libertarian assholes out there. Yes, the majority of the commenters were as outraged as the author by the behavior of the guard and the indifference of the Albertson's manager to her complaint. But there were also plenty like this:
You obviously weren't looking where you were going. Just because you live in some tony suburb of L.A. doesn't mean you're immune to danger, in fact I wonder when the truly poor will start amassing in the neighborhoods of the truly wealthy instead of slaughtering each other. It's L.A., for crying out loud.or this gem titled "Come On"
Oh gosh, someone pointed a gun at you! Oh heavens! Not that! You must have PTSD! How awful! Sue them! Sue! Sue! Sue!I don't patronize businesses that employ armed guards. And I make a point of telling the manager why: Any business that believes that its money is more important than my life is not for me.
I'd never thought about this issue until Menard's (a midwest based version of Lowes or Home Depot) opened its first store in my town.
They had two armed guards in the store and another on the exit gate from their lumber yard. I didn't think a whole lot about it until I purchased some stuff that I had to drive into the lumber yard to load into my back seat.
When I got to the gate to exit, the guard stepped out of his booth, checked my receipt and looked at the merchandise in the back seat. Fine so far. Then, he asked me to open my trunk. I refused, and the SOB put his hand on the butt of his gun! I told him that if he removed the gun from the holster I was going to call 911 (cellphone in hand).
He backed down on the gun, but he refused to open the gate until I opened the trunk, and I refused to open the trunk. We sat there for about 10 minutes with cars and trucks lined up behind me honking their horns.
Eventually a minor manager came out, and I explained Illinois law to him. The gate was opened (but not the trunk) and I drove to the front of the store, parked, and went inside where I explained to the general manager that I would never shop there again and why.
I'd like to say that I've never been back, but it's not true. Since friends have told me that the armed guards were removed, I've popped in for the occasional sale item or when there was something I couldn't find elsewhere.* On the other hand, I made my point with the manager, and who knows? Maybe my bitching about it contributed to Menard's deciding to remove the armed guards from their stupid "home" store.
Since that experience, when I see an armed guard in a store, I find the manager, explain that I don't do business with companies that believe their money is more important than my life, and leave.
Call me a crank, but the odds on there being random flying bullets in a place where there's already an armed guard is one hell of a lot greater than when there isn't, and it's not a risk I care to take for myself or my family.
- - - - - - -
*My little town, Champaign, Illinois, has got to be one of the most frustrating mid-sized towns in the world to buy building supplies. Our Home Depot is too small to be useful, and our Lowe's is so badly managed that half the time they're not only out of the item I'm looking for, but it can take as long as three or four months for it to come back into stock. (We also have the world's worst Target store -- for the same reason).
I love Menards despite the copious amounts of cheap Chinese shit they carry. It is a left-over from growing up in Wisconsin with regular trips there for house remodeling supplies.
How is it to be back in the states? Are you going to keep the moniker? Being back kinda eliminates the ex-pat part unless you view it more as a philosophy...
Elliottness
3/1/09 14:04