Fear & Loading: New Place to Shop

by
posted on April 7, 2016
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
gsagi2015_fs.jpg

Last week Fresh Market announced it doesn’t want customers to bring their guns into its stores. Although the grocery store chain admits it has been in discussions with members of the anti-self-defense organization Mom’s Demand Action, the statement claims the decision was not the product of special-interest-group pressure.

I won’t be going back unless the policy changes. There’s a Harris Teeter down the street from the Southern Pines, N.C., location I frequent, so it’ll get my business unless that company also sides with the bunch of coupon-clipping granola-munchers with weekly political action committee meetings at the unemployment office.

Rather than taking my money elsewhere without notice, though, I dropped a note to corporate customer service. I suggest you do the same here. Keep it polite, businesslike enough to share with staff and brief.  

I went one step further. I’ve sent a note to Harris Teeter letting it know I’m shopping there because their policy so far reflects a genuine concern for its patrons and safety—and that’s the most basic principal of customer service, something its nearby competitor recklessly abandoned.   

The response from Harris Teeter’s customer service was better than I expected. “Good Morning Guy, thank you for your e-mail and support. Harris Teeter has and will continue to adhere to the firearms and concealed handgun laws as outlined by states in which we do business. We believe this issue is best handled by our lawmakers, not retailers.” 

If that doesn’t make you nod with an approving smile, check your pulse.

 

Latest

Stoeger STR-9 Thinline+ pistol
Stoeger STR-9 Thinline+ pistol

New for 2026: Stoeger STR-9 Thinline+ Pistol

Stoeger refines its STR-9 Thinline pistol to be even easier to carry.

Finding The Natural Point Of Aim

Nearly every shooter understands the basic principles of marksmanship: position, grip, sight alignment, breathing, trigger control and follow-through.

Firearm Ownership Reaches New Record

The NSSF estimates there are more than 32 million modern sporting rifles in circulation.

Preview: Hornady 12th Edition Reloading Manual

While the internet offers quick access to information, trusting unvetted recipes for cooking up ammunition is less than ideal, which is why makers of reloading products like Hornady publish thorough books for such tasks.

Review: Bushmaster V-Radicator

The business of dispatching unwanted critters requires a platform capable of a high degree of accuracy. Nuisance animals such as prairie dogs are both small and skittish in nature, meaning that they tend to keep their distance and scurry away upon the arrival of incoming fire.

New for 2026: Smith & Wesson FPC in 5.7x28 mm

The folding carbine line expands to include the 5.7 mm chambering.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.