Flap Erupts over Carry at New AZ Cabela’s
by Dave Workman
Senior Editor
Legally-armed private citizens are allowed to carry concealed handguns inside Cabela’s retail stores, but Arizona customers who openly carry their guns will have to check them, and that’s a situation that has some gun rights activists upset.
For a couple of days earlier this month following the new store’s opening, some Arizona activists became alarmed because the store was posted against allowing loaded firearms, and customers were being asked to clear (unload) their guns when they entered. This raised the hackles of several people who consider this very unsafe gun handling.
There were a couple of unconfirmed reports from people who were there that this practice might allow careless armed citizens to sweep the crowd with the muzzles of their loaded firearms. Gun Week received one report of this actually happening.
According to Joe Arterburn, Cabela’s corporate communications manager at the company’s headquarters in Sidney, NE, concealed carry is really not an issue.
“We’re certainly not going to make (customers) reveal whether they have a firearm, and then check it,” he said. “This is certainly not Dodge City.”
He told Gun Week that the company is actually taking a very close look at its policies because Nebraska this year passed a concealed carry statute, and it takes effect Jan. 1, 2007.
Arterburn said Cabela’s is cognizant of the rights of armed citizens and the company “wants to respect those rights.”
“We feel pretty comfortable with where we’re at,” he stated.
The flap in Arizona involving open carry may not be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, but Arterburn gave high marks to armed citizens there who spotted the signs at the store and paid attention.
“It shows how conscientious Arizona gunowners are,” he said. “They saw the sign and figured they ought to respect it. They didn’t like it (but) that . . . brought us to where we are.”
One Scottsdale resident received an e-mail from Cabela’s spokeswoman Louise Leisy, which explained the Cabela’s policy on open carry. Arterburn confirmed the contents of the note.
The note read, in part:
“We do request that when bringing in a firearm, other than legally concealed or by law enforcement, that the firearm be checked at the Greeter’s Desk.
“1. Open carry firearms are permitted only for law enforcement.
“2. Legally carried concealed weapons are permitted into our store locations.
“3. Firearms being brought into the retail location for repairs, appraisals, trade-ins require being checked at the Greeter’s Desk before entering the retail area.
“The store will sell ammunition to the purchaser of a firearm. We do ‘accompany’ the buyer of a firearm from the store for the protection of you and our customers.”
Genie Williams, a resident of Princeton, TX, offered this reaction: “Accompany? Escort? Give me a break. I don’t need a nanny.”
However, another Texas resident, Israel Rosemberg, noted, “This matches my experience at the Ft. Worth, TX, store. Last time I was there I noticed the sign to check guns at the desk. I asked the lady at the front if that applied to CH licensees and their CHL handguns. I was told that it did not apply and please enjoy my visit. Glad to see it set as a policy. I don’t see anything inconsistent with it.”
Charles Heller, an Arizona-based gun rights activist with the Arizona Citizens Defense League, told Gun Week that unloading firearms at or near the store entrance is of great concern to members of his organization. Signs regarding the carrying of firearms in the store have been removed, he noted.
One customer sent an e-mail to the store, promising to never shop there again, after having to “check” his gun at the front counter and learning later that the firearm had not been put in a safe, but instead had been simply put on a shelf behind the counter.
“I feel that is very unsafe,” that individual wrote, “for your store (and) if it was stolen by someone Cabela’s opened their Arizona store July 24. The signs were apparently hastily posted after customers showed up openly carrying their sidearms, but just as quickly removed. The concern expressed to Heller by a store staffer was about a “gun grab.”
One gunowner posting on an Internet forum said that he is “looking forward to going back, as I know I did not see everything in just one visit.”
Earlier this month, Cabela’s Inc. posted a 32% net profit increase during the second quarter, with a net income of $8.4 million, or 13 cents per share. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, that was better than Wall Street had expected.
Total revenue for the company, which is one of the largest mail-order and outdoor retail outlet companies in the world, was up 12.6% to $387.3 million.
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