Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is claiming victory in Texas because H-E-B Grocery stores have made it clear they will only allow hidden handguns in their stores.
Moms Demand used the same tactic after Starbucks refused to ban guns in its stores, choosing instead to dissuade open carry while placing no restrictions on concealed–or hidden–carry. It is the same tactic they used after Jack in the Box said it would “prefer” guests not carry guns into its stores, but stopped short of an actual ban on firearms.
H-E-B is putting up signs to bar the open carry of handguns ahead of the effective date of Texas open carry handgun law, which is January 1.
The signs posted by H-E-B say, “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.”
H-E-B spokeswoman Dya Campos told the San Antonio Express-News that the ban on openly carrying handguns does not bar concealed carry license holders from legally carrying concealed–or hidden–handguns into H-E-B stores. In fact, Campos said, “Only concealed, licensed handguns are allowed on our property.”
Yet Mom’s Demand is cheering like their team just won the Super Bowl and posting Facebook memes that claim their assault on citizens’ right to carry a gun for self-defense is “working.” But there is no gun ban here, there is only a ban on way guns in the store can be carried. It’s just Starbucks and Jack in the Box all over again.
It is like the time Moms Demand claimed a pro-gun billboard in Chicago was taken down because of the group’s opposition to it. In reality, The Washington Times reported that the pro-gun advertisement came down because the company paying for it had only rented the billboard for two months.
