# Americans: so, you walk into a store and spot that everyone is armed **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 5, 2014, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856 "2014-08-05T11:26:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/61 "2014-08-05T14:46:08Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I would leave. Range time doesn’t replace life experience or good judgment. One can assume that employees with guns are expected by management to use them, exercising their own judgment as to when it’s necessary. I’ll trust a cop in that situation, but a minimum wage clerk who will likely panic and just start banging away? No fucking way. This. Big time. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/62 "2014-08-05T14:50:21Z")
Those taking your business elsewhere; what if you find out that the only local competitor pays for their employees’ range time and concealed carry permit(they require employees to carry concealed)? Do you take your business to Amazon? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/63 "2014-08-05T14:52:11Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Those taking your business elsewhere; what if you find out that the only local competitor pays for their employees’ range time and concealed carry permit(they require employees to carry concealed)? Do you take your business to Amazon? Speaking for myself, there would be zero functional difference between open carry and concealed carry if I were aware of the concealed carrying. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/64 "2014-08-05T14:52:26Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Those taking your business elsewhere; what if you find out that the only local competitor pays for their employees’ range time and concealed carry permit(they require employees to carry concealed)? Do you take your business to Amazon? Most likely. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/65 "2014-08-05T14:55:23Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Those taking your business elsewhere; what if you find out that the only local competitor pays for their employees’ range time and concealed carry permit(they require employees to carry concealed)? Do you take your business to Amazon? You can only protect yourself with the information you have. If I don’t know that the only competitor in town required concealed carry by their employees, then I’d shop there. Once I acquire the concealed-carry information about the competitor, then yes, Amazon here I come. ETA: Actually, I would seriously consider either moving to a less volatively-inclined town, or shop in a different town. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/66 "2014-08-05T14:55:51Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Why? > > Why? Because the chances have gone up that what could have been a non-injurious tiff will now become a deadly incident. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/67 "2014-08-05T15:04:42Z")
If it’s the store I work in, my first thought would be “Did I not get a memo?” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/68 "2014-08-05T15:04:54Z")
The gun-carrying kid that has been trained to shoot accurately? Is this the same kid that keeps putting the eggs at the bottom of my grocery bag? ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/69 "2014-08-05T15:10:25Z")
I have a friend who is only alive because he was armed when someone tried to rob his store and the robber decided he didn’t want to leave witnesses. He found the situation traumatic but he’s alive, the robber isn’t, and I guarantee his friends prefer that to the alternative. His shop was not in a dangerous part of town at all, but when someone is addicted to drugs and decides to rob a store to pay for his drugs he rarely checks the crime map to decide where it’s appropriate to conduct his crime. Another acquaintance had the pizza store robbed where he was working. He wasn’t armed and now he’s dead. He may have been killed whether he was armed or not; we’ll never know. I don’t carry a weapon, but if I walked into the store in question I wouldn’t feel unsafe. Whether I personally thought it was a logical response by the owners to the threat of robbery would depend on the type of business it was, but it wouldn’t dissuade me from doing business there either way. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/70 "2014-08-05T15:11:09Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The gun-carrying kid that has been trained to shoot accurately? Is this the same kid that keeps putting the eggs at the bottom of my grocery bag? No, he’s the kid who puts the eggs in the bottom of your grocery bag while staring at you, daring you to complain. ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/71 "2014-08-05T15:12:15Z")
I would say about f\*\*king time, and it would not bother me one bit. I know many disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/72 "2014-08-05T15:14:47Z")
I’m guessing an awful lot of you didn’t grow up in the hood. It wouldn’t raise any eyebrows with me, unless the establishment is some posh suburb with very little expectation of robbery attempts. Where I grew up, armed shopkeepers were not particularly unusual. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/73 "2014-08-05T15:17:37Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > I would say about f\*\*king time, and it would not bother me one bit. I know many disagree. So you would just assume that the employees all know how to handle a gun. Why would you place such faith in absolute strangers who have the ability to take your life from across the room, even by accident, or especially by accident? ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/74 "2014-08-05T15:17:55Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Imagine that one day you walk into a random store. It might be a Walmart or a bookshop or a MacDonalds or a coffee shop or an estate agent (realtor), but not a gun store. At first, everything seems normal, but after a bit, you notice that all the staff are discreetly armed. Not just some, but all those legally allowed. There are other customers, conducting business as normal. > > What are your feelings? What are your actions? > > If you inquire: > > The staff get a small bonus for being armed and paid-for range time. Having had a gun shoved in my face when I was 11, I have a pretty bad phobia about guns. If I walked into a store and noticed a lot of people open-carrying, my feelings would be terror. I would be scared to death and suspicious of what the fuck kind of establishment is so dangerous that people just walking around in there have to carry firearms to feel safe. And then I would turn and leave. I might even consider calling the cops because a bunch of people carrying firearms is more dangerous to me than whatever the fuck reason these people think it’s a good idea. Shit happens and I’m not going to be anywhere near that place when it goes down. ETA: I think the sight of a room/store full of people carrying guns would trigger some major PTSD reactions. I might need to call a shrink AND the cops. I have a right to feel safe, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/75 "2014-08-05T15:18:24Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > You can only protect yourself with the information you have. If I don’t know that the only competitor in town required concealed carry by their employees, then I’d shop there. Once I acquire the concealed-carry information about the competitor, then yes, Amazon here I come. > > ETA: Actually, I would seriously consider either moving to a less volatively-inclined town, or shop in a different town. Cool, just wondering if it was the open carry part that was bothering some. I keep a gun at work (not on me; too uncomfortable) and know other business owners who carry concealed. Discretion is typical. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/76 "2014-08-05T15:19:49Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > I would say about f\*\*king time, and it would not bother me one bit. I know many disagree. Say it’s a Chucky Cheeze or Toys 'R" Us. Still good with it? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/77 "2014-08-05T15:24:04Z")
No problem. In fact, I’d be more likely to patronize such an establishment. If they had a lot of fire extinguishers around, would you say to yourself “This place is a fire hazard, they must be expected to use those extinguishers frequently and I don’t trust non-firefighters to use them correctly” and leave? Why then if the establishment prepares for the equally unlikely event of an attack does it seem unsafe? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/78 "2014-08-05T15:25:47Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > No problem. In fact, I’d be more likely to patronize such an establishment. > > If they had a lot of fire extinguishers around, would you say to yourself “This place is a fire hazard, they must be expected to use those extinguishers frequently and I don’t trust non-firefighters to use them correctly” and leave? Why then if the establishment prepares for the equally unlikely event of an attack does it seem unsafe? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/79 "2014-08-05T15:27:22Z")
I would be surprised, but as long as there weren’t “bad vibes” and no shady-looking characters around, I’d be fine with it. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856/80 "2014-08-05T15:29:56Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > So you would just assume that the employees all know how to handle a gun. Why would you place such faith in absolute strangers who have the ability to take your life from across the room, even by accident, or especially by accident? Do you use public roads? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-so-you-walk-into-a-store-and-spot-that-everyone-is-armed/694856.md?page=5)