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Hi folks,
My family and I are long time TJ shoppers. We live in Santa Fe, NM, and are in the store at least a couple times a week, week after week, month after month, year after year.
I recently noticed a sign by your front door that says something like "firearms, loaded or unloaded are not allowed in the store."
Of course gun policy is an emotion-filled issue, but no matter which side of the gun argument a person is on, we can all agree that we all want less crime, and in particular, less violent crime.
Guns are a fact of life. We all wish they weren't, but they are. In a perfect world, there would be no guns or violence. But we don't live in a perfect world, and we need to deal with that fact head on, as it's the only sane thing we can do.
We can also all agree that there are only a couple things that will make a criminal think twice about committing a crime:
1) that he will get caught, or
2) that he will get badly hurt, or killed, while attempting to commit the crime.
That being the case, we may ask what affect will the TJ's "no firearms" signs have on crime and the safety of store employees and TJ's customers?
1) For the law-abiding citizens who carry a firearm legally, they will now need to leave their firearm in their car, where, now being out of their possession, could be stolen, making folks both inside and outside TJ's LESS SAFE.
2) For the criminals who carry a firearm illegally, they will continue to do so, as, if it isn't already 100% obvious, they don't abide by laws, or obey signs. They will just walk right into the store, like they always have, WITH their firearm, meaning, the only folks in the store with firearms WILL BE CRIMINALS, making the store. again, if it isn't 100% obvious, LESS SAFE.
But it gets worse...
3) These same criminals, will now know, that they are almost CERTAINLY the ONLY person in the store with a gun, and can therefore rob the store, or fire their gun at will, as much as they please, as they now they know, because of the "no firearm" sign, that they will not meet ANY lethal resistance. (Please remember here, police ALWAYS show up AFTER a store is robbed, or people are already dead...ALWAYS).
So the end result of your sign? (And this is a fact, as any safety expert will tell you...)
Your employees and customers are FAR LESS SAFE than they used to be when it was at least possible, that law abiding, firearm-carrying citizens, could have been in the store.
So, Trader Joe's...for the welfare and safety of your employees and your customers, and even the public at large, please, tear down your "no firearms" signs.
Look...
You wouldn't put a sign in a window on the front of your home that says "gun free home", right? And why? Because you know that sign would say to a criminal "come on in, commit your crime, have your way with us, you won't get hurt".
And...you wouldn't vote to have our U.S. military abolished, right? And why? Because, tragically, there are too many entities in this world who might very well want to do us harm, and WOULD, if it weren't for the the threat of our military striking back.
Listen...guns ARE EVERYWHERE. No putting-up-of-signs is going to change that. This means we all have to deal with the lethal threat of guns in the best, MOST EFFECTIVE ways we can:
1) We need to be able to defend ourselves with equal or greater force (or at least give the criminal the idea that we can), and
2) We need to make a criminal think twice before he commits a gun crime. This, again, is accomplished by letting him know that other people around him just might be carrying a firearm, and that those people might very well use that lethal force against him.
Trader Joe's...
By by putting up your "no firearms" sign, (and therefore, by direct result, creating "free fire" zones in your stores), you have eliminated both #1 and #2 above, making everyone in the store defenseless sitting ducks, and FAR LESS SAFE than they otherwise would be.
Trader Joe's...
Tear down those signs and allow your customers a fighting chance to defend themselves, and much better, DETER a criminal from wielding his gun in the first place.
Please don't reply to me with an email written by a corporate lawyer, copied-and-pasted to make it sound like "no firearms" is a well thought and and great idea, because, PLAINLY AND SIMPLY, and by matter of fact and common sense, it is NOT. An email like that is degrading to both of us.
However, if you choose to write a truly thoughtful email, I would like to hear why you chose to post "no firearms" signs at your stores, (as well as if this is a nationwide policy), as truly, this is very serious, as you are threatening people's lives by your actions.
My family and I are long time TJ shoppers. We live in Santa Fe, NM, and are in the store at least a couple times a week, week after week, month after month, year after year.
I recently noticed a sign by your front door that says something like "firearms, loaded or unloaded are not allowed in the store."
Of course gun policy is an emotion-filled issue, but no matter which side of the gun argument a person is on, we can all agree that we all want less crime, and in particular, less violent crime.
Guns are a fact of life. We all wish they weren't, but they are. In a perfect world, there would be no guns or violence. But we don't live in a perfect world, and we need to deal with that fact head on, as it's the only sane thing we can do.
We can also all agree that there are only a couple things that will make a criminal think twice about committing a crime:
1) that he will get caught, or
2) that he will get badly hurt, or killed, while attempting to commit the crime.
That being the case, we may ask what affect will the TJ's "no firearms" signs have on crime and the safety of store employees and TJ's customers?
1) For the law-abiding citizens who carry a firearm legally, they will now need to leave their firearm in their car, where, now being out of their possession, could be stolen, making folks both inside and outside TJ's LESS SAFE.
2) For the criminals who carry a firearm illegally, they will continue to do so, as, if it isn't already 100% obvious, they don't abide by laws, or obey signs. They will just walk right into the store, like they always have, WITH their firearm, meaning, the only folks in the store with firearms WILL BE CRIMINALS, making the store. again, if it isn't 100% obvious, LESS SAFE.
But it gets worse...
3) These same criminals, will now know, that they are almost CERTAINLY the ONLY person in the store with a gun, and can therefore rob the store, or fire their gun at will, as much as they please, as they now they know, because of the "no firearm" sign, that they will not meet ANY lethal resistance. (Please remember here, police ALWAYS show up AFTER a store is robbed, or people are already dead...ALWAYS).
So the end result of your sign? (And this is a fact, as any safety expert will tell you...)
Your employees and customers are FAR LESS SAFE than they used to be when it was at least possible, that law abiding, firearm-carrying citizens, could have been in the store.
So, Trader Joe's...for the welfare and safety of your employees and your customers, and even the public at large, please, tear down your "no firearms" signs.
Look...
You wouldn't put a sign in a window on the front of your home that says "gun free home", right? And why? Because you know that sign would say to a criminal "come on in, commit your crime, have your way with us, you won't get hurt".
And...you wouldn't vote to have our U.S. military abolished, right? And why? Because, tragically, there are too many entities in this world who might very well want to do us harm, and WOULD, if it weren't for the the threat of our military striking back.
Listen...guns ARE EVERYWHERE. No putting-up-of-signs is going to change that. This means we all have to deal with the lethal threat of guns in the best, MOST EFFECTIVE ways we can:
1) We need to be able to defend ourselves with equal or greater force (or at least give the criminal the idea that we can), and
2) We need to make a criminal think twice before he commits a gun crime. This, again, is accomplished by letting him know that other people around him just might be carrying a firearm, and that those people might very well use that lethal force against him.
Trader Joe's...
By by putting up your "no firearms" sign, (and therefore, by direct result, creating "free fire" zones in your stores), you have eliminated both #1 and #2 above, making everyone in the store defenseless sitting ducks, and FAR LESS SAFE than they otherwise would be.
Trader Joe's...
Tear down those signs and allow your customers a fighting chance to defend themselves, and much better, DETER a criminal from wielding his gun in the first place.
Please don't reply to me with an email written by a corporate lawyer, copied-and-pasted to make it sound like "no firearms" is a well thought and and great idea, because, PLAINLY AND SIMPLY, and by matter of fact and common sense, it is NOT. An email like that is degrading to both of us.
However, if you choose to write a truly thoughtful email, I would like to hear why you chose to post "no firearms" signs at your stores, (as well as if this is a nationwide policy), as truly, this is very serious, as you are threatening people's lives by your actions.
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