Just when Target was getting the egg off its face from last winter’s massive data breach, it had another problem on its hands. Word got out that Target allowed its customers–or “guests,” as it calls them–to carry firearms in its stores where permitted by law. This was a textbook case of something that may have been 100 percent legal depending on the jurisdiction, but was 1,000 percent wrong. Well, in response to overwhelming public pressure, earlier today Target asked that its customers no longer carry guns on its property.
In a post on Target’s corporate blog, A Bullseye View, interim CEO John Mulligan said that after much debate, he and his colleagues had concluded that allowing guns in Target stores “creates an environment that is at odds with the family-friendly shopping and work experience we strive to create.” Mulligan said this decision came after much debate of what he called “a complex issue,” and tried to consider “the nuances of the debate and respect the protected rights of everyone involved.”
It’s hard to see how complex or nuanced this issue could possibly be. After all, it would have only taken one person injured or killed by a loaded gun going off to create a public-relations nightmare that would have dwarfed the data breach. The pressure only increased when a Target loss prevention associate in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina found a loaded gun in the toy aisle. A Target spokeswoman told the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune that the statement is only a request, not a ban, and clarified that no signs will be posted asking customers not to bring guns inside. It may be only a request, but it’s a pretty strongly-worded one.
The decision didn’t come without some prodding. Earlier this spring, Moms Demand Action discovered pictures of several members of Open Carry Texas carrying their rifles through Texas Target stores in late 2013 and early 2014. Soon afterward, Moms Demand Action’s parent organization, Everytown for Gun Safety, launched a petition calling for Target to ban guns in its stores. By Everytown’s estimate, 400,000 people signed the petition, and 10,000 people called Target headquarters in Minneapolis to demand that the company keep guns out. Naturally, Everytown applauded today’s decision, calling it “a stand for the safety of our families.”
For its part, Open Carry Texas wrote on its Facebook page that it regrets the decision, but will respect it nonetheless. It had only stopped carrying guns through Target after being told that Texas law doesn’t allow guns in places that sell alcohol. All you need to know about Open Carry Texas’ nature is that the group is actively trying to get that ban repealed.
Target is the largest American company to ask that its customers not carry firearms on its premises. However, Ted Marzilli, CEO of YouGov BrandIndex, thinks Target is taking a considerable risk with such a hard and fast stand. He told The Huffington Post that Target probably should have taken “a more nuanced approach” to the matter. Again, I ask–where’s the nuance? Apparently Marzilli thinks Target should have followed what amounts to a tombstone mentality. Even if it is only a request, this is the right call.
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Darrell Lucus is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
