You know what the big difference is between the Kroger and the Starbucks cases? It’s only one difference. And it was true with the other businesses that had caved.
No open carry rallies.
Yes the 2A community has been writing and giving encouragement to Kroger, but so far we haven’t had OC activists descending on their stores turning public opinion against them. Starbucks would have never made their statement if their parking lots weren’t turned in open carry rallies in a few – though extensively reported – places.
So please do write, call, blog, etc. in support of Kroger. That’s what they need to stay in the fight. However, let’s not put them in a position where they are forced to do something it appears they don’t want to do.
If you need a bit more incentive to keep a low profile, consider this. MDA cannot let this one pass very easily. Kroger has become too high profile for them to walk away without losing their credibility. From what I’ve seen of their current campaign, I’m sure they’re doing their best to try and incite OC activists to show up. That has been the key to MDA’s success in every case except Panera, and they were already supportive of the MDA position.
Panera’s statement came at the perfect time for MDA. Watts made the mistake of not walking away from Kroger when she had the chance to do so using Panera as cover. I don’t think she will make that mistake a second time if a new target presents itself.
You know what the big difference is between the Kroger and the Starbucks cases? It’s only one difference. And it was true with the other businesses that had caved.
No open carry rallies.
Sorry but BUNK.
There were repeated incidences of Open Carry in Kroger. The difference was not Open Carry but how pro-rights advocates responded to the protests and extortion attempts by the anti-gun groups. In the case of Starbucks, the pro-gun side flooded the stores with messages of support, images of them carrying firearms in the stores, images of firearms and Starbuck products together. Pro-rights advocates flooded the social media sites of Starbucks with thousands of statements and messages — many completely mis-stating Starbucks position.
That is the difference. We learned from the problems we created at Starbucks and didn’t do the same at Kroger. But it wasn’t simply just ‘Open Carry’
Bob S.
Bob,
Thanks for the response. Thanks even more for the challenge.
I wasn’t referring to incidents of open carry, at all, so I agree on that point hands down. As far as your second position? That’s exactly what I meant and is the whole point of the post. Let us NOT forget the lessons we learned. It’s particularly important in this case, because I believe MDA is doing their best to try and incite the kind of response you detailed so well.
I probably could have phrased that better, so I’ll take this opportunity now to clarify my OC position a bit. I have not problem at all with open carry. In some cases concealed may be best, in other cases, open carry. We should have the option to choose what is best for the circumstances.
I’ve posted elsewhere – such as The Truth About Guns – my thoughts on Open Carry activists. There are two kind out there that I’ve seen. There’s one group that is a formal organization that organizes rallies, protests, activism, etc. The public open carry marches, for example, set up by OCT would be in this group. I think such events have done a good job in educating people about the problem in Texas. Some of the informational open carry events, such as how a group in (I believe it was) Ohio was passing out educational flyers in neighborhoods was another positive example. The Florida fishing trips are another clever method of activism that I think has helped. It wouldn’t be hard to come up with plenty of other positive examples of Open Carry activism. As you noted, these groups have made some mistakes in the past and have learned from them. These were not the people to whom I am referring.
There’s a second group out there. These are the “We gonna do sum open carry” people who glob together, treat making a scene the same as holding an event, then post their selfies and YouTube videos from their phones. God love these people! I’m sure most have their hearts in the right place. I don’t think most are simply attention seekers. I *am* concerned that some are simply looking for a fight, or at least payback to Shannon and Bloomberg for the trouble they’ve caused. These are the people to whom I was writing. They are not helping the cause, in my opinion.
Just to give a bit of further clarification, the single incidents of open carry such as have already happened with Kroger I don’t consider “activism.” I don’t even put it in the category of “exercising his/her rights.” For me, it’s simply a matter of someone merely going about their business.
So forgive me for painting with a broad brush. That was the furthest thing from my intent. And thank you for calling me out and giving me the opening to explain. I will probably take this and massage it into a proper blog post, but I did want to include it as a direct reply to you personally first.
Thanks for visiting and I do hope you’ll keep reading.
Raul
Raul,
As far as your second position? That’s exactly what I meant and is the whole point of the post. Let us NOT forget the lessons we learned.
I may be a bit touchy on the subject of people bashing Open Carry 🙂
But with sufficient reason. One of the things that really ticked me off was how much the Open Carry crowd took heat for Starbucks. Yes, people did Open Carry in the stores and yes that did contribute to the problem.
BUT and this is the key, I think it was a scapegoat for all the other people pushing Starbucks into the fight. The people who Concealed Carry there and then posted that fact on Starbucks FB page. The people who wrote letters to the editors about how Starbucks was pro-gun.
Just to give a bit of further clarification, the single incidents of open carry such as have already happened with Kroger I don’t consider “activism.”
I live in Texas – Tarrant County Texas to be exact. In many ways this area has been ground zero for activism. In many cases people carrying into Kroger were part of that activism. Certainly most of the images used by Moms Demanding Attention have came from this area. Open Carry in Texas faces a huge conundrum; how to get publicity for the cause without giving ammunition to the opposition.
What works in other places doesn’t always fit here. Take the Fishing events in Florida for example. Great idea where there is a lot of public out sigh seeing, doing retail activities in addition to recreation. Here in Texas?
That doesn’t happen because we don’t have very many venues on the water front. Heck we don’t have very much in the way of water fronts and what we do have is parkland.
The goal of Open Carry Texas/Tarrant County is two fold; to get Open Carry of handguns allowed and to normalize Open Carry in general. So the political activities MIGHT push for the legalization but it would work against the normalization. And, in my opinion, we can’t get Open Carry of Handguns passed until people see it as a normal part of life. The MDA and other Bloomberg groups are pushing the idea of Open Carry as extremist. It is vital we counter that hence the paradox.
I appreciate your attitude toward this issue; this is what I’m seeking more people to do — look at the bigger picture and not broad brush the Open Carry Movement.
As you noted, these groups have made some mistakes in the past and have learned from them.
It wasn’t the Open Carry groups I was referring to but that is also a valid point. What I tried to point out was the reaction of the pro-gun community in total. My goodness the difference is amazing. No calls for boycotts of Kroger for their message — but how many progun groups called for that at Starbucks when they made the same style of announcement?
How many gun groups organized buycots at Krogers, publicly announced that and posted photos? Very few. Kroger’s, like Starbucks, wants to be left out of the political fray and we’ve learned not to drag them into it and make them commit to a position. We tried and failed with Starbucks. that is the lesson learned.
Bob S.
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