HEB Bans Open Display of Guns Ahead of New Law

DOWNTOWN AUSTIN-UT, TX -- As Texas prepares for a new law allowing gun owners to carry their firearms in plain view—the so-called “open carry” decree taking effect Jan. 1—a growing list of businesses are opting out in allowing patrons to visibly display weapons inside their establishments.

On Christmas Eve, grocery chain HEB became the latest to enact such bans. As Forbes magazine first reported, the company discreetly began posting signs at store entrances outlining their policy, posted underneath the standard notice banning in-store alcohol consumption.

The privately held retailer—commanding more than 55 percent of the Texas market with its 350-plus stores—issued no formal statement on the matter. But the wording of the newly installed notices leaves no question as to its stance.

“Pursuant to Section 30.07, Penal Code (trespass by license holder with an openly carried handgun), a person licensed under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code (handgun licensing law), may not enter this property with a handgun that is carried openly,” the notice reads.

A spokeswoman later told the San Antonio Express-News in an email the new open-carry law is at odds with its alcoholic consumption policy. She added the company would continue to allow customers registered to carry concealed weapons.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in June signed legislation that will allow Texans with gun licenses to openly carry their firearms in hip or shoulder holsters. The Republican governor chose a gun store/shooting range in Pflugerville as a backdrop to the bill signing, calling open-carry as embodying the “genius” of the country’s Founding Fathers.

The grocer is the latest in a growing list of business banning the open display of weapons on their premises, an opting-out safeguard legally allowed under provisions of the open-carry law. Its competitors, Whole Foods and Randall’s, previously posted notices prohibiting open carry in their Texas stores ahead of the new law as well.

HEB’s move has lit up social media. Mixed reactions to HEB’s move run the gamut, with gun rights advocates decrying the move while others applaud it.

For some in the former group, the move seems inconsistent with the Texas-proud image the San Antonio-based grocer has carefully crafted as part of its marketing, ads often harkening to its early 20th century roots in Kerrville where the company—now posting more than $20 billion in revenue—began with a single store.

But HEB isn’t the first iconic Texas enterprise to implement such bans in advance of the new law. In July, San Antonio-based Whataburger—the fast-food concern with some 800 locations in ten states—also implemented a ban.

“We’ve had many customers and employees tell us they’re uncomfortable being around someone with a visible firearm who is not a member of law enforcement,” company president and CEO Preston Atkinson explained in a letter posted on the company website.

In response, Open Carry Texas founder C.J. Grisham called the ban “premature and irresponsible,” all but calling for his members to boycott the establishment as a result.

“I think most gun owners that know this policy are simply not going to go to Whataburger, like me,” Grisham said.

In implementing bans, HEB and Whataburger join the growing ranks of companies with a Texas presence prohibiting the open carry of firearms at their establishments. Chipotle, Panera Bread, Sonic, Chili’s, Starbucks and Target have all previously announced similar bans.

Starbucks’ ban actually predates open law machinations in Texas, originating in 2013 in response to aggressive tactics by gun rights advocates at its coffee shops. But its previous ban effectively bans open displays of firearms at its Texas stores as well.

In an official statement, Chipotle cited reasons for its ban similar to those of Whatburger.

“The display of firearms in our restaurants has now created an environment that is potentially intimidating or uncomfortable for many of our customers,” read Chipotle’s statement.

Panera Bread cited similar concerns, saying the presence of weapons in plain view contradicts an environment promoting “warmth” that the casual restaurant chain has carefully cultivated throughout its 1,800 company-owned and franchised locations.

“This warmth means bakery-cafés where customers and associates feel comfortable and welcome,” the company’s official statement read. “To this end, we ask that guns not be brought into this environment unless carried by an authorized law enforcement officer.”

Despite the growing number of bans, come Jan. 1, open carry will be the law of the land in Texas.

But increasingly—even while poised to unabashedly display their weaponry—open carry proponents are facing a limited number of venues in which to express their fondness for firearms.

»Pictured: Sign banning openly displayed firearms at HEB store, 2400 S. Congress Ave.