Molly Moon's Hangs Sign Warning Cops: This Store Is Gun Free

SEATTLE, WA — The Molly Moon's ice cream shop on Capitol Hill has been drawing headlines for a new sign posted in its window warning police officers that the store is a "gun free zone."

Molly Moon's Capitol Hill location can be found directly across E Pine street from Cal Anderson and in the heart of the area formerly known as the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, or CHOP. That zone has been a hotbed for clashes between police and protesters over the past weeks as the city grapples with issues of police violence and racial bias.

As Eater Seattle first reported, the sign was posted in a response to an incident last Friday. The store's owner, Molly Moon-Neitzel, said that a visitor from California came to the store and ordered $500 of ice cream specifically for Seattle police patrolling the CHOP, and told officers to come pick it up at the store. That caused officers to flood the building, and many were heavily armed. It also reportedly led some neighbors to incorrectly believe the store was offering free ice cream to cops.

Afterwards, employees at the store raised concerns that the officers had made them feel unsafe.

“Some of the officers were harassing my employees,” Moon-Neitzel told Eater.

As a response, the store put up the sign. It reads in part: “Police officers, Molly Moon’s is a gun free zone. Please do not come inside if you are wearing a firearm.”

After pushback from officers and conservative outlets, Moon-Neitzel later clarified that police are welcome in the store, but only if they are unarmed.

“I would say finish your shift, go home, take a shower, have dinner with your family, and please come to Molly Moon’s and get some ice cream. Everyone is welcome,” said Moon-Neitzel in an interview with KOMO News.

Moon-Neitzel also noted that the same sign had not been posted at their other locations, and that while the posting may be new, the policy is not. Molly Moon's has been part of the Seattle Gun Free Zone program for years, as have many other Capitol Hill businesses and restaurants including Big Mario's Pizza, Linda's and Eliot Bay Books.

Molly Moon's has been in the news for other social issues in the past. Moon-Neitzel was an outspoken advocate for raising the minimum wage in Seattle, and in early June the ice cream chain shared this letter expressing support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Despite concerns that the new sign may be courting controversy, and could hurt the store's business, Moon-Neitzel says that won't stop her.

“I am going to be a business person and an activist that continues to speak truth to as I see it,” Neitzel told KIRO.