Tonight several of my friends/co-workers went to see the premiere of Aliens vs Predator.  I have eagerly awaited the making and release of this movie for over a decade as I have been a fan of both franchises since I was a kid.

We pre-ordered tickets on moviefone.com for the midnight showing at the Mesa Grand 24, our usual theatre we have attended for years.

As some of you may know, Arizona is an open carry state, meaning one can openly carry a sidearm anywhere in public excluding government buildings/property, establishments serving open alcohol, businesses with signs posted, and private property if asked to leave by the owner or their representative.

We have previously open carried in this theatre without any incident or trouble.

Tonight we entered the theatre through the front entrance, retrieved our tickets from the vending machine, went to the refreshment stand for snacks, then entered the theatre.  During this time we passed over a dozen employees none of whom said anything to us regarding our side arms.  We also passed two Mesa Police Officers (no doubt being paid by the theatre itself to do security…standard practice in AZ) neither of them said anything to us regarding out side arms.

We were enjoying watching the movie until about 40-50 minutes into the showing, when we noticed theatre staff accompanied by a Mesa PD officer approaching our seats.  They stared at us for about 5 minutes…left for a few minutes, came back walked around the theatre, then returned to our seats about 5 minutes later.  After staring in our direction for approximately 2 minutes, the theatre staff approached us and asked to talk to us outside.

We went outside the theatre accompanied by two theatre staff and the two Mesa Police Officers.  The theatre staff told us that Vestar, the property management company that leases the property to the theatre has a NO WEAPONS policy (open, concealed, or otherwise) and that we would have to place our side arms in our vehicles and then we could return to view the rest of the movie (which we were missing big portions of during this debacle).

I told the theatre staff that I would like a refund and I would take my business elsewhere.  They tried again to explain that it is not AMC’s policy but the property management company’s policy and they would give us free tickets to see the movie.  I refused the free tickets saying I did not care for them, and I would just like a refund.  My associate Brad, also inquired where the “NO WEAPONS” signs were posted…and the theatre staff replied it is private property and not required.

We were then escorted down stairs by the Mesa PD officers, while we waited for our refunds, and the theatre staff insisted on trying to give us free tickets.  We again refused them.  The Mesa PD officers at this point enquired about our Cavalry Arms shirts, asking what it was….I informed them we are a local rifle company that specializes in AR15  style rifles and polymer components.  They were incredulous at the fact that such a company existed in their backyard and they didn’t know about it.  I told both the theatre staff and the police officers that it would be nice if NO WEAPONS signs could be posted to avoid such situations, and that it would be better for everyone concerned.  The police officers agreed with me and insisted that if they had seen us (we’re pretty hard to miss) they would have told us about the policy of the theatre before we entered.  Obviously their situational awareness is severely lacking if we have been able to carry into that theatre for the past 3 years unquestioned and unnoticed.  The theatre staff again reiterated that it was the property management’s policy, not theirs….clearly they are afraid of losing business over this.

I go to several restaurants and stores  in the same complex every week and not once in the 3 years I have gone to this property have I been asked to leave at any other location.

We could not go back into the theatre to inform our two other friends of the situation, and get them to leave as well.  Unfortunately they were the ones that drove us, and we were told we had to leave the property forcing us to walk 2 miles back to our shop at 1:00 AM.

This is completely unacceptable.  I will not do business with any companies that deny me my civil rights as a citizen of the state of Arizona and the United States of America.  I would not have been so infuriated had I been told before I entered the theatre by posted sign or an employee, or informed of the policy after the movie was over and told not to do it again.  I recognize their rights as a business and private property holder, however they should inform people of these policies up front so we can make informed purchases, and not have our evenings ruined by being told to leave in the middle of a film.

Here is what I would like my fellow gun owners in the state of Arizona and around the country to do.

1) Contact the theatre and Vestar and let them know that you do no support their denial of their customer’s basic rights to self defense and the lawful carry of arms.  Let them know it is inappropriate for them not to have signs posted for consumers to make an informed decision on their purchases based upon the policies of the company.

Theatre contact info:
www.moviewatcher.com/theatres/theatre_information.jsp?unit=103

Vestar contact info:
www.vestar.com/newsite/PropPages/MesaGMS.html

2) I would like all local AZ residents to write letters to all the businesses located in this complex, telling them that you can no longer do business with them because of their property management’s policy on denying citizens their civil rights.
3) I would like any Phoenix metro area people to go to this theatre, ask to speak to a manager about their weapon’s policy, and then tell them you will not spend your money there as a result.   The more people we can get to go there at once, the better.  We must hurt them in their pocket books!  Be respectful and polite…but let them know this is hurting them financially and you will inform all your friends of this policy so they know not to spend their money there either.  There are 500,000 CCW holders in the state of Arizona that are also prohibited by this policy from carrying in there.

I know many of you will say that we simply should conceal carry, and this issue would not have happened.  I will say in response to that, that when we do not exercise our rights out of fear, or conceal the exercise of these rights, we may as well not have them at all!  Open carry is as much a political tool to me as it is a self-defense tool.  I know tonight these businesses stand against us!  A corporation denying us our rights on their property is just as tyrannical if not more so than the government doing it.  If we continue to spend our money with these businesses they can just as effectively eliminate our rights by expanding, and soon enough there will be no businesses left where we can exercise our right to self-defense.  This achieves the same end goal of the government outlawing carry altogether, without any laws being passed.

Make our voices as free citizens heard, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.!

Quoted: what a bummer. I live right around the corner (gilbert/houston) I frequent that area alot, so I'll be doing a bit of creative writing :)  Does vestar manage the entire lot including the wally world section? Try the Gilbert theaters on Gilbert/Warner... maybe their policies are different.

Yes it does manage the Walmart, which makes me think it is bullshit....Walmart is one of the largest firearms retailers in the country...so how does this no Weapons policy work?

Quoted: Dang and such! I must give you credit for being an open carrier.  I used to do it more back when I was younger.  But frankly I find myself pulling my shirt over my pistol if I see anyone around.  I've grown tired of the Stupidity of the General Public.

I'm sure I'll be old and jaded some day too

I am tired of the stupidity of the general public too, which is why I try to avoid the public as often as I can

Quoted: Quoted: I posted this on the AZRKBA list........alot of Az gun rights "heavy hitters"  read that,  mayhaps they can help out. Biggame223 Out Good idea-- Sinistral, may I have your permission to copy and paste your complete post to an Arizona CCW listserve I'm on? Thanks, Mike

certainly.

what they aren't understanding in GD is that the policy applies to CCW too...

Quoted: The fact that you are just exercising your rights is not a valid argument because you are doing so on private property. Do not try to fight the fact that an individual has the right to make rules on property they own. If you don't like their rules, don't play on their property.

The previous incident involved some idiot kids angry about us carrying our "real guns" in there when they weren't allowed carry their wooden light sabers in there....they made some smart ass comments to us, and I made some in return.  That was about 2 years ago....no problems with the staff or police there

If this business has a "NO WEAPONS" policy CCW is irrelevant because you can't do it there then either.  The only problem here is possibly irrational people being afraid of their fellow citizens....it is no different than someone being afraid of you because you're 2 feet taller than them.  We're always going to disagree on this, I'll continue to exercise my right to open carry where ever I lawfully can.

The theatre obiviously doesn't want my open carrying, and they don't want your business either if you are carrying concealed.

Quoted: Respect their rights as property owners.

I did respect their rights as property owners and left without incident after they gave me a refund.

If they had signs posted, it would not have been an issue.  If they had told me upon entering the theatre it would not have been an issue.

I also have the right as a consumer to choose not to pay for their services.  I also have the right to tell all my friends not to go there either.  Which is what I am doing here.

The question I ask you is would you still spend your money at AMC theatres in light of their policy?

Quoted: I-B as I read it he does support their right to make those policies.  He just wants them to own up to it and suffer the consequences.  Am I right SR? Chris

Exactly.  As someone posted in another thread, I think they have these unwritten unpublished policies to use only when they feel like it....if they published them they know it would cost them business, especially here in AZ.  Gun owners need to inflict financial pain on these companies by taking their business elsewhere.

There are many businesses that welcome me open carrying, and I am a regular customer there because of it.

Open carrying is a real easy way to find out which businesses support your rights, which ones tolerate them, and which ones do not support them.  AMC does not support our rights for either open or concealed carry, and that was a valuable lesson that was learned here.

I open carry just as much for Civil Demonstration (Civil Disobedience isn't a good term here, as the act is legal) as for self defense.