Gun Photos are “Offensive” at Walgreens

[Matt]

Gun Photos are “Offensive” at Walgreens

AmmoLand.com
Sunday 24th Jan, 2010

Belleville, NJ -- One of our members wrote to us recently about trying to get firearms photos printed at a Walgreens Pharmacy in Belleville, NJ.

The NJCSD member and his brother are both gun collectors and active members of the community as a whole.

The brother recently took photos of his collection for insurance purposes, and emailed them to Walgreens to have them printed.



Gun Photos are “Offensive” at Walgreens

When the brother’s wife went to pick up the prints, she was told by the cashier that Walgreens did not print them because they were deemed “offensive”.

Our member’s brother returned to the store and spoke to the manager, who told him that he personally found the pictures offensive, and so did his staff. When the brother asked if it was Walgreens’ policy not to print pictures of guns, he refused to give a straight answer.

The member’s brother contacted Walgreens Main Office on Tuesday December 29th regarding the issue. We’ll be following the story.

About:
NJCSD – Defending Your Right to Defend Yourself Visit: www.njcsd.org

AmmoLand Comments: Please write Walgreens Corporation and tell them how offensive this is. Sample letter provided.

Sample Letter ——————–

Re: Wallgreens Anti-Gun Photo Policy

Dear Sirs:

I find your policy of refusing to print photos of firearms offensive and insulting.

As a believer in the Bill Of Rights I find your censorship of  a persons photos, by employees, to be discrimination against gun owners is an attack on my first amendment right to free speech.

I demand that you change your policy and educate your employees of our right to keep and bear arms and issue a public apology or I will be forced to take my business somewhere else.

Sincerely;

Name
Address

——————–

You can contact Walgreens Coprorate here at: http://www.walgreens.com/marketing/contactus/forms.jsp?storenumber=2121

[ironglow]

  Cars kill more people in the US each year than guns do..can I get pictures of my car developed at Walgreen's ?

  Many people are killed by drunk drivers in those cars...Will Walgreen's refuse to print photos with beer bottles or cans in the frame ?

       ....Liberals never cared for logic...

[slim rem 7]

stay on top of things matt.. we all knew it was coming..just could not convince many [outa my cold dead hands] advocates to get out the easy chair an into the act of protecting the 2nd at any cost..
 in a way i don t sympathise one bit with this type gunowner..he thinks guns are about his getting to hunt.. he will reluctantly turn his gun in when the powers that be ,,tell him to..
 make no mistake,,i put myself right in the middle ofum ..i shoulda done more to try an convince these spoiled hunters who are ignorant an only motivated by what they like to do..shoot..
 they got no clue apparently of the far reaching ramifications of that attitude..ignorance is bliss i guess..
 i guess they will blissfully,, be slaves..
 if i offended you .. i meant to..mabe you will at least slam me with gusto.. you sure arn t fighting the fight that needs fighting now about the inalienable right to bear arms..
  they may come a time you will go to the grocery store an be turned away ,,because you ve been known to own hunting guns..
 the only way you can get permission to buy food is if you turn in guns or even better snitch on your neighbor
or friend who commits the unpardenable crime of owning guns..you will eat.. he will be pumped for info on other criminals and will sing like a crow,, so he  also can eat..
 sounds unrealistic huh.. if it does ..mabe if you looked up from the hunting magazine or your favorite tv show..
 you may see where im coming from..slim
 ps this is not meant to make you think well of me.. i wish you would just think..my grand kids freedom depends on it..

[nomosendero]

Matt, thanks for the info. I will contact these stooges

[Swampman]

email sent to Walgreens.  Not shopping there anymore.

[Questor]

That's good to know. They have lots of competition here.

[ironglowjr]

Just sent email as well to walgreens using sample letter. i am tempted to send pics there as well........this is terreble..thanks for educating us about this..

[Redtail1949]

they will never see me in their stores from this day forth and yes i sent them an email

[Foxxtrot]

Start with the location of said event....NJ which is full of libtard fail.

[Brett]

Anyone know what CVS's or Revco's policies are on firearms? 

[Cabin4]

Just sent Walgreens an email.

[Doug B.]

Another e-mail sent from me as well.

[Graybeard]

Unless and until you know what Corporate policy is if there is one then any such action as folks are recommending is stupid and ill advised. First you find out if you have an enemy and then if so you attack. Hell as it is you might be attacking a friend just cuz some dumbass liberal at one store exercised a personal decision that might prove in violation of company policy.

Jumping on their ass and being a real hardass nut as so many think all gun owners are anyway merely proves them right while alienating folks who might actually be on our side to begin with.

I guess some of you don't believe in innocent until proven guilty huh?

[Oldshooter]

On a similar note, be careful of what you send these places in the way of photos to be processed. A picture of a son/daughter/grandson/grandaughter in the tub or running around buck naked can get you arrested for kiddie porn. Seems that was in the news lately.


It may be just an isolated thing with the gun pics but ya never know these days.

One thing we need to remember is that the only thing we can know for sure about something posted on the internet is that the author had access to a computer and an internet connection!

[williamlayton]

I have pictures of my guns done at Walgreens fairly regularly, without problems.
Blessings

[Savage .250]

This ...offensive thing is getting way out of hand!   

[gypsyman]

Sounds like the manager of this particular location is an idiot. Very well could be an isolated incident. gypsyman

[Questor]

Then be sure that the store is identified. Somebody will get a nasty-gram if you do that.

[MGMorden]

I gotta agree with Graybeard on this one.  Until you know if it's corporate policy a straight up boycott makes no sense yet.  The reality is the manager may have been acting out of line and if corporate is notified then he may pay the price.

My personal guess is that he was acting out of line with corporate policies.  Some pretty off the wall and explicit stuff comes through most photo-processing departments.  Unless it's obviously illegal (ie, child porn), most places are supposed to just ignore it and process your pictures.

[Cabin4]

I gotta agree with Graybeard on this one.  Until you know if it's corporate policy a straight up boycott makes no sense yet.  The reality is the manager may have been acting out of line and if corporate is notified then he may pay the price.

My personal guess is that he was acting out of line with corporate policies.  Some pretty off the wall and explicit stuff comes through most photo-processing departments.  Unless it's obviously illegal (ie, child porn), most places are supposed to just ignore it and process your pictures.

I see no issue with botcotting in the interim. We do know that one store has at minimum an unwritten policy. If people respond to this with force, it should force Walgreems to release a real policy country wide. Wal Mart tried something like this at a store in KY a few years back. They put up signs on the front door "no firearms allowed". Well the problem with this is KY is a carry state and Wal Mart has no right to take that right away from anyone. There propoerty is not an exempt location. Thousands wrote and complained and Wal Mart removed the sign.

Policy or no policy or just rouge store manager, make an example out them and letting their corp HQ know about it sends a message.

[gstewart44]

Unless and until you know what Corporate policy is if there is one then any such action as folks are recommending is stupid and ill advised. First you find out if you have an enemy and then if so you attack. Hell as it is you might be attacking a friend just cuz some dumbass liberal at one store exercised a personal decision that might prove in violation of company policy.

Jumping on their ass and being a real hardass nut as so many think all gun owners are anyway merely proves them right while alienating folks who might actually be on our side to begin with.

I guess some of you don't believe in innocent until proven guilty huh?

I think you are right on the mark GB.    Until anyone can shed some light on the Corporate policy we should not get worked up in a frenzy.

[Cabin4]

Unless and until you know what Corporate policy is if there is one then any such action as folks are recommending is stupid and ill advised. First you find out if you have an enemy and then if so you attack. Hell as it is you might be attacking a friend just cuz some dumbass liberal at one store exercised a personal decision that might prove in violation of company policy.

Jumping on their ass and being a real hardass nut as so many think all gun owners are anyway merely proves them right while alienating folks who might actually be on our side to begin with.

I guess some of you don't believe in innocent until proven guilty huh?

I think you are right on the mark GB.    Until anyone can shed some light on the Corporate policy we should not get worked up in a frenzy.

I don't understand why you guys are hung up on what Walgreens corporate policy is or is not. Who cares what their policy is, it has nothing to do with the outward issue being faced nor does it have any impact on making it an issue. If Walgreen's policy is that stores are not allowed to print gun photos, then they can address that internal issue. If their policy does not state gun photos are prohibited, then they can deal with thier internal issue of either the ambiguity in thier internal policy or the rouge store manager.

I think waiting for Walgreens to share thier internal corporate policy with the public on this is letting them off the hook. They are a private sector corporation and they are not required to share confidential policy with the public and again, I manitain it means nothing anyway to the public faced by the discrimination. Its strictly an internal Walgreens matter when it comes to policy and or enforcement of policy.

[MGMorden]

Cabin: The point is that until we find out, Walgreens could very well be an NRA donator (doubtful, but possible - I think it far more likely that they really just don't care what your photos contain).  ANY company can have this situation occur because in reality, if the manager says no, do you honestly expect the other employees to rise up in armed revolt over the matter?  No, you go higher in the chain to someone who has some power.  

The point is though, that until you find out just what the policy is higher up in the chain, you very well could make an enemy out of a possible friend.  If you letter is worded along the lines of "Hey, I was refused service by a manager at one of your stores over this issue.  Is this your corporate policy and if not, could you please let me know and look into the matter?" then you can get your results.

If your letter is instead "I'll never shop at yer store agin you kommie bastards!!!!" when it may have not even been within their control to prevent, then they may just say "Screw it, it's not worth working with these crazy people.".  Without tact and reason you're just going to end up leaving a wake of fed up people and companies behind you, and will only serve to further bolster the public's image of gun owners not as responsible, level headed citizens, but as "gun nuts", which too many people view us as already.  

[nw_hunter]

Unless and until you know what Corporate policy is if there is one then any such action as folks are recommending is stupid and ill advised. First you find out if you have an enemy and then if so you attack. Hell as it is you might be attacking a friend just cuz some dumbass liberal at one store exercised a personal decision that might prove in violation of company policy.

Jumping on their ass and being a real hardass nut as so many think all gun owners are anyway merely proves them right while alienating folks who might actually be on our side to begin with.

I guess some of you don't believe in innocent until proven guilty huh?

I agree! I'll wait until the jury is in, before writing a letter, that I might regret later.
The WWW is a great information highway, but that information is not always going the right direction.

[gstewart44]

Cabin: The point is that until we find out, Walgreens could very well be an NRA donator (doubtful, but possible - I think it far more likely that they really just don't care what your photos contain).  ANY company can have this situation occur because in reality, if the manager says no, do you honestly expect the other employees to rise up in armed revolt over the matter?  No, you go higher in the chain to someone who has some power.  

The point is though, that until you find out just what the policy is higher up in the chain, you very well could make an enemy out of a possible friend.  If you letter is worded along the lines of "Hey, I was refused service by a manager at one of your stores over this issue.  Is this your corporate policy and if not, could you please let me know and look into the matter?" then you can get your results.

If your letter is instead "I'll never shop at yer store agin you kommie bastards!!!!" when it may have not even been within their control to prevent, then they may just say "Screw it, it's not worth working with these crazy people.".  Without tact and reason you're just going to end up leaving a wake of fed up people and companies behind you, and will only serve to further bolster the public's image of gun owners not as responsible, level headed citizens, but as "gun nuts", which too many people view us as already.  

+1 - well said MGM

[Cabin4]

No, I don't expect any employees at the store to rise up against thier manager. Not sure where you lifted that one from. Who's doing all this research on thier company policy? Who saying we should call them bastards? I never called for that. All I said was it's a good idea to send them an email on thier corporate web page and log in a valid complaint againt the store. Its the only way to get the message to thier corporate location to investigate this! So your position is we should not send the emails and we should all sit with our hands folded and wait and see......exactly what are you waiting for and who do you expect to here it from?

[MGMorden]

No, I don't expect any employees at the store to rise up against thier manager. Not sure where you lifted that one from. Who's doing all this research on thier company policy? Who saying we should call them bastards? I never called for that. All I said was it's a good idea to send them an email on thier corporate web page and log in a valid complaint againt the store. Its the only way to get the message to thier corporate location to investigate this! So your position is we should not send the emails and we should all sit with our hands folded and wait and see......exactly what are you waiting for and who do you expect to here it from?

I'd kinda expect an update from the same person that brought up the issue in the first place (apparently a user at the Ammoland.com forums).  They've already stated that they're writing Walgreens - I'm sure there's a thread there that you can subscribe to.  Alternatively, you may wish to write Walgreens yourself for clarification on their policy, but I'd advise you write with a question (and give the stated situation as an example of the reason for the question) rather than in a threatening tone. 

[MGMorden]

Example letter:

To whom it may concern:

It has recently come to my attention that a customer at your Belleville, NJ location was refused photo processing service due to photos in his batch containing images firearms. Naturally such an action is of great concern to myself and to millions of other firearms owners in this country (many of whom are likely Walgreens customers).  Owning these arms is not a violation of law and having photos most certainly is not, and is a prudent step in owners documenting ownership of various weapons for insurance purposes, cataloging, and other such activities.

In order to assure our continued business together, I believe it to be important that it is clarified as to whether or not it is your corporate policy to refuse to process such photos (either mandated or if individual stores have at will discretion on such matters).  If it is not policy, an explanation as to your steps to prevent this incident from repeating itself would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Signed,


<your name here>

PS - you can email it too, but one thing that is learned quick in the business world is that a printed an stamped letter is worth a lot more than an email.  It takes 2 seconds to fire off an email (particularly if it's a cut and paste job), but if someone sends a printed and stamped letter they know that there is some level of determination behind it.  I'd recommend sending both.

[Graybeard]

As it stands we don't even know that the incident happened. You guys know how internet rumor BS goes. Someone comes up with a real whopper of an idea and posts it as fact and in a few days the whole world accepts it as fact and runs with it often making themselves look like fools in the process. Just cuz some one posted on some forum on some site that it happened does not make it fact.

I've seen it here at least a thousand times where some of our members will post some BS like this and swear it was them it happened to when in fact it was just an e-mail they got from someone passed thru million computers before it got to them. I've confronted many here on this very thing when it was clear it was an old internet rumor being brought back up and had them finally admit that yeah it was just an e-mail they got but it sounded better to say it happened to them.

Most times these things prove to be pure BS and nothing more.

To write them and say that you've read on the internet of this happening and that it concerns you if it's true and asking them to look into it which I'm sure they already have done and let you know if it's true and what their corporate policy is fine. To go off half cocked jumping on them about an event you have no clue even happened or to do as some have said they are gonna do based purely on internet rumor and boycott them is idiotic. Most who said it likely have never been inside a Walgreen's anyway so boycotting them is easy in such a case.

If we don't get our facts straight and act in a professional manner we merely look like fools when such issues prove to be nothing but a made up story floating the internet.

[Cabin4]

MG,
Thanks, but I don't need to wait for anyone to provide an update. Especially since we have no indication an update is forthcoming. This issue has been exposed in the public domain and fair game for criticism based on the merits reported. If it turns out its not true, no harm done anyway. Appreciate the recommendation on letter writing. I've obtained plenty of letter writing skills in this arena and others over the years and I feel well equipped to deal with this in the correct manner.
C4