Is Alltel anti, or just stupid?

[bogie]

Okay.

Action plan:

1) Send a note to corporate. Could be the manager decided to do this all on their own...

What are their e-mail addresses? Your fight, so you look 'em up, but we'll help you.

2) Drop by the place again, and remind the folks that the sign is dangerous, given their locale.

 

[Guntalk]

>>we should start a thread on "Anti companies" so we can keep track of who not to do business with.<<

Gotta be real careful with that one. I've seen lot of such lists over the last 25 years, and it always ends up with some very pro-gun companies getting listed.

Case in point, through the years, just about every beer company has been accused of being anti-gun. I haven't found a case when this was true. I swear, I think sometimes this stuff is started by one of a company's competitors.

Remember the silly "AT&T is anti-gun" noise from 10 years ago. Wasn't true, but we sure had a lot of folks wanting storm the walls over that.

We WERE able to get Blockbuster (the national headquarters) to change its mind about No Guns signs. All it took was thousands of Blockbuster membership cards being cut up and sent to HQ. The signs came down all over the country.

We did the same thing with Lowes, a hardware/lumber store chain.

On a local level, when you see a sign, stand outside the door and call the store on your cell. Ask the mananger, and tell him/her you are a customer, standing at the door, and you want to spend money there, but there is a sign on the door saying you can't come in.

THEN, and this is the important part, when you get nowhere with the manager, shop elsewhere, but mail a copy of your receipt, every time you shop at his competitor, to him. Mail it to the owner. Explain that you would rather spend money with him, and that you will, when the sign comes down.

Times 10 or 100, with all those receipts pouring in, it often results in the signs coming down.

 

[mrb302]

I have a neighbor that once told me "Durham is the armpit of NC".

I avoid Durham whenever I can.

I have a friend that lives in Durham and bought his first handgun last year. Had to get the permit from the Sherrif AND had to fill out a piece of paper that lists the make, model, caliber, and place where purchased. This was a mandatory form and had to be filled out and returned with in so many days.

Technically, the way the local ordinance is written so vaguely, you and I are required to fill out the same paper and turn into the Sheriff if we drive throguh Durham with a firearm.

Point being, Durham is probabely the reason this store has the sign. The franchise owner thinks that the sign will protect his employees.
He / or She has not realized that Durham has the most gun control local laws in the state and oddly enough, the highest crime rate in the state.

[Sarcasm]I wonder how that happened? The samller town where everyone has a shotgun in their truck window has a lot lower crime rate... That's so odd. [/Sarcasm]

 

[pmcolt]

To the OP:

A few months back (I forget exactly when), I passed by an Alltel store in Greensboro, NC. The cheap plastic belt-clip for my phone had broken, and I was looking to buy another one. Parked in the parking lot, walked to the door. Sign on the door said "No Firearms or Weapons". Walked back to the car, grumbling all the way, to disarm.

I went back in, figuring I'd only be there a couple minutes, make my purchase, and complain to the manager, but they had a sign-in sheet where you had to sign your name and wait for a salesperson to get to you. Signed in and waited about fifteen minutes, realized that none of the people waiting ahead of me had yet been called in that entire time, and left.

Maybe it's just the NC stores that are posted. I don't know. One more data point for you.

 

[Green Lantern]

Gotta be real careful with that one. I've seen lot of such lists over the last 25 years, and it always ends up with some very pro-gun companies getting listed.

There's always some "grey area." Like an outfitters in TN I posted about a while back. They have a sign saying that all firearms, including concealed carry, must be unloaded.

I got ticked off, I called the store to complain. Found out that there have been some NDs inside the store! :banghead: So, I sympathised with them a bit more. Didn't recant what I said, after all the sign is still up. But I can live with their reasoning.

Besides, given what they told me, who says they don't MEAN "all guns must be unloaded, including concealed carry guns that you're going to whip out in the gun department and "laser" everyone with as you try it in different holsters!"

 

[bogie]

I went back in, figuring I'd only be there a couple minutes, make my purchase, and complain to the manager, but they had a sign-in sheet where you had to sign your name and wait for a salesperson to get to you. Signed in and waited about fifteen minutes, realized that none of the people waiting ahead of me had yet been called in that entire time, and left.

If you didn't talk to the manager, you did nothing other than grouch on the internet. I don't wanna hear that. I wanna hear about HOW YOU ACTED in a way that benefits us. If you don't talk to the management, then as far as they are concerned, the problem does not exist. They are not psychic.

 

[stevemis]

Unfortunately, I've got to be back in the area again tomorrow. I'll stop by and see the manager.

I'd like to solicit comments on this letter, which I'm planning on sending to Alltel's VP of Public Relations. I have his address, name, email and telephone number.

Thanks,

Steve


Mr. [redacted],

After being the victim of an attempted carjacking several years ago, I tasked myself with becoming proficient in the use of firearms for self-defense. Since that time, my wife and I have taken several gun safety classes, participated in competitive shooting events and have acquired concealed firearm licenses pursuant to Article 54B of the North Carolina Statutes (NCGS §14-415.10 et seq.). I am also a Range Safety Officer at our local sporting club.

My wife recently damaged her Motorola RAZR telephone beyond repair. Instead of purchasing a new telephone at full retail or extending our contract, I decided to purchase a used phone. I met the seller at his local Alltel store on Hillsborough Road in Durham, NC to complete the transaction.

My concealed firearm license and right to possess a firearm becomes null and void when a store owner places a sign disallowing firearms in their establishment. North Carolina General Statute §14-415.11(c) disallows carrying a concealed firearm by a licensee when such prohibition is made “by the posting of a conspicuous notice or statement by the person in legal possession or control of the premises.” The sign in your Durham store qualifies as a prohibition under the aforementioned statute. Violation of this statute is a criminal offense and would also result in the revocation of my concealed firearms license.

As I walked back to my car to disarm, two individuals approached me seeking gas money. After disarming and while returning to your establishment, an individual attempted to stop me for a cigarette. I was then approached by two other individuals requesting money for a hotel room. Please note that my parking spot was no more than twenty (20) feet from the entrance to your establishment. These events occurred in broad daylight.

However well intended your “No firearms” policy may be, the net result is that law-abiding citizens are at the mercy of the criminal element while patronizing your establishment. Worse, violent criminals know your company has made every effort to disarm their potential victims and that law-abiding patrons in your stores and parking lots are defenseless.

Criminals, by definition, do not follow rules of law. Placing a “No firearms” sign in your establishment will not prevent a violent criminal from carrying (and using) a firearm in your store.

North Carolina has extremely stringent requirements for the issuance of concealed firearms licenses. Pursuant to NCGS §14-415.12, licensees must be US citizens, have successfully completed an approved firearms safety and training course which involves the actual firing of handguns and instructions in the laws of the state governing the carrying of a concealed handgun and the use of deadly force. The statute also requires fingerprinting and a rigorous criminal and mental health background check by state and federal authorities prior to the issuance of any permit. We must also not have any alcohol in our bloodstream while carrying and have certified under penalty of perjury that we are not illicit drug users. Concealed firearms permit holders are among the nation’s most responsible and law-abiding citizens. Since the beginning of every state’s concealed firearm programs, permit holders have proven to be among the lowest crime rate groups in the nation.

My wife and I take our responsibility for our safety quite seriously. We also do not patronize establishments that attempt to dilute our right to defend ourselves against violent criminals. Due to your policy, we have decided to find another carrier for our four (4) cellular telephones when our Alltel contract expires.

I urge you to examine your policy of requiring your law-abiding patrons to be defenseless while on your property, while at the same time encouraging and empowering the criminal element just outside your door.

I would appreciate a written response regarding Alltel’s official position on legal concealed carry in its retail establishments.


Sincerely,

 

[Brian Dale]

I'd make a distinction in your letter between panhandlers and "the criminal element." This is not because your description is wrong--I've lived in Durham and I believe that I've been to that shopping center--but because it provides a likely distraction from your main point.

If a reader's focus is captured by the unproven allegation that the panhandlers are the same individuals who might rob you, then his/her attention is drawn away from your valid assertion that there are criminals somewhere nearby. The reason that you're there at all, and carrying, is that customers such as you and your wife cannot know exactly which person hanging around that mall might attack you.

Perhaps you could add a sentence such as the following. After you write in paragraph 4,

Please note that my parking spot was no more than twenty (20) feet from the entrance to your establishment. These events occurred in broad daylight.

you might add, for example,

While panhandling itself is merely a nuisance, those areas that permit agressive, frequent panhandling also provide safe haven for more violent criminals. If your place of business is a comfortable setting in which people can approach your customers and ask for money and cigarettes, then the stage has been set for more violent demands.​

Again, you want them to get your message without being distracted by worrying about whether their company will end up in the newspaper, accused of hating poor people, or black people, or local people, or the like. You haven't mentioned the ethnic group of either you and your wife or the panhandlers who approached you. Leave it out; it's irrelevant. What is relevant is that you're authorized by the State of North Carolina to carry concealed handguns, and the store will profit by honoring your permit. All they have to do is to quit making the effort to prohibit you.

 

[Firethorn]

The alltel in my area used to have a sign, it was a one of a number of plaques including the 'no food&drink' hooked to the window via suction cups, then chained down via hooks.

Then, sometime after the mall itself changed it's wording after I had a discussion with them, including the mention of possible liability if a criminal ignored their unenforced rule and came in and shot a CCW permitee who followed their rule, or even a dependant or stranger around said permitee. Basically that permitees aren't the problem, that portion of the sign disappeared.

 

[sturmruger]

Info from Alltel Employee

There are two kinds of Alltel stores. Corporate locations, and Authorized agents. Agents are seperate companies that sell alltel service and rate plans. While you can sometimes get a better deal from an agent you will probably get better service from the corporate retail locations.