Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Anti-gun activists, including Shannon Watts of Moms Demand Action, are targeting the Jersey Mike’s chain of sandwich shops after the brand’s Twitter account failed to treat tweets calling for the group to ban firearms from their stores with the deference gun control advocates believe they deserve.
The whole thing started over the weekend, when a Twitter user posted a picture of a pretty awful display of open carrying at his local Jersey Mike’s.
Dude. It’s @jerseymikes, not Fallujah. You think you need a 1911 and an M&P to get a sub, but the thing that’s gonna kill you is cholesterol. Also, zero retention on that M&P. If I could walk up behind you in line and take your gun, you shouldn’t have it. pic.twitter.com/lnv2Hiv1ou
— Cav the Impaler (@CombatCavScout) October 26, 2019
Somewhere along the line the Twitter responses went from “Dude, what are you doing?” to “wHy WoN’t JeRsEy MiKe’S bAn GuNs??!” As Business Insider notes, the Jersey Mike’s Twitter account responded to several comments demanding a gun ban in stores with the statement, “If the laws were up to us, we’d make it so everyone had to eat Jersey Mike’s Subs on Sundays.” I suppose they could have tweeted out some bit of benign corporate speech like “We appreciate your concerns and endeavor to treat our customer’s safety with the utmost importance. Your opinions are important to us as we are constantly evaluating how best to serve the most important part of the Jersey Mike’s family; you the customer.”
Instead, they went with the lighthearted response, and as you can imagine, gun control activists were not pleased by the audacity of responding to calls to ban guns with a semi-snarky comment. Shannon Watts was among those who seized on the joking tweet to demand action.
This is @jerseymikes response to this photo of a negligent gun owner inside their store. Jersey Mikes has every right to regulate whether or how guns are brought into their stores. Shop at their competitors. #subsnotguns https://t.co/4VxN7paTZM pic.twitter.com/4zL9UVTDp4
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) October 28, 2019
Apparently the pressure got to them, because Monday evening Jersey Mike’s took down its earlier tweets and said simply “Thank you. We apologize. We want to always do better.” As you can imagine, that wasn’t enough for gun control activists, who began stating that the sandwich chain had been “making light of gun deaths.”
This was a standard reponse from @jerseymikes based on their previous reponses, and is completely unmeaningful.
They obviously do not value their customer’s concerns, safety, or experience.
Until they make an effort to actually “do better” I will continue to #BoycottJerseyMikes
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) October 29, 2019
Keep in mind, this was originally about a dude open carrying a pistol that looked like it was about to fall out of his pants. Now, after gun control activists have grabbed ahold of the narrative, it’s suddenly about Jersey Mike’s supposedly not caring about gun deaths. Of course, if the chain decided to ask customers not to carry in their stories, the company would suddenly a be caring and concerned corporate partner, even if the request didn’t amount to a legal prohibition and changed absolutely nothing.
Jersey Mike’s seems to be laying low at the moment, and this will likely blow over. Gun control advocates will soon find another company to try to pressure in hopes of a public relations victory, and Jersey Mike’s may issue some sort of statement, but I doubt they’ll be formally posting signs to turn their locations into gun-free zones.
As for the guy who was open carrying in the first place; while I’m not a certified firearms instructor, I’d suggest keeping your gun on the hip, strapping it to your thigh, wearing a shoulder rig, or basically doing anything besides tucking your holster in the waistband of your sagging jeans. As a fellow Fluffy-American, there are just some methods of carrying that don’t work as well for us. If you’re legally carrying a gun, you should be doing so responsibly, and that looks ready to fall out of your jeans as soon as you take a seat or bend over to tie your shoes. If you want to be a good advocate for the Second Amendment, try not to give the gun control activists rhetorical ammunition for their anti-carry crusades.
Cam Edwards has covered the 2nd Amendment for more than 15 years as a broadcast and online journalist, as well as the co-author of "Heavy Lifting: Grow Up, Get a Job, Start a Family, and Other Manly Advice" with Jim Geraghty. He lives outside of Farmville, Virginia with his family. https://bearingarms.com/author/camedwards/
https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2019/10/29/gun-control-activists-target-jersey-mikes-open-carry/