The incident resulted in his termination. Hovan has a concealed weapons permit, but did not inform Walgreens that he was in possession of a gun at work — a weapon he purchased, he said, after the store was robbed in 2007. Walgreens fired him, now he’s suing them.
Full story – HERE
That’s strike 2 (that I know of) for Walgreens when it comes to not acknowledging some “good” that came from a firearm in one of their stores. If you remember back in May of last year in Omaha NE some punks tried to rob a Walgreens and one of them got ventilated. Walgreens didn’t give a shit and couldn’t even thank the guy.
If I owned Walgreens I would have at least bought the pharmacist a new concealed carry weapon as a thanks, not to mention a “sorry” for having to go through such an ordeal. I wish the pharmacist much luck with his lawsuit.
Hat tip: Jon Y, Steve P
Comments
30 responses to “Walgreens Hates Firearms”
Hey Gun Blog…it’s Walgreens…with one L.
Ooops… thanks I corrected the mistakes!
No prob bud…appreciate the site!
Even if he had, “informed them,” I’m certain with their stance they would then just, “let him go for performance reasons,” as a cover.
My thoughts exactly. Anyhow Rule #1 of concealing a firearm: conceal it. A revealed weapon by definition is not a concealed weapon.
Inform them???? its called Concealed for a reason and as usual here is another example where we have to PAY the Government to do something we should have the right to do anyway. But if the states are allowing us to carry Concealed upon paying and class of course the common thinking is that the employee should not have to notify anyone he or she is carrying a weapon. Walgreedys could simply put up a no firearms allowed like other Business (i don’t patronize ) do. i just hope he sews the hell out of them and gets a conservative judge that knows we still have leaders out here that can make the right decisions in a circumstance that 70% of people cant make. i would like for him to take some target training so next time he can actually stop the bad guys so we don’t have to pay there incarceration if they actually got caught.
Your right,Was he working nights.Where the evil people coming to that store a lot.And Walgreens saying sorry about them in the parking lot. Telling you they thinking of robbing you.
But we still will not put a officer at the store at night for you all. So we know are people are safe.
But we have CVS STORES. Thanks CVS.
Sounds to me like we need to take up a collection for people to donate so we can buy ad space advertising Walgreens as a safe place to rob.
“Store employees receive comprehensive training on how to react and respond to a potential robbery situation.”
Wow, there was no ‘potential’ there, they were getting robbed. And the guy was as good as dead if that gun hadn’t misfired/jammed/outright failed.
From my slightly jaded perspective this just reads as, we accept loss of employee life at the hands of scumbags because we don’t want to deal with the legal ramifications of our employees rightfully defending their own lives by the most efficient means possible.
I’m with Mike, he should be celebrated for defending not only his own life but that of his colleague. The guy should be getting all the support available to him to deal with what I can only imagine is a massive trauma. I mean someone did just pull a trigger on him in anger.
“From my slightly jaded perspective this just reads as, we accept loss of employee life at the hands of scumbags because we don’t want to deal with the legal ramifications of our employees rightfully defending their own lives by the most efficient means possible.”
– This.
I know I say it alot, but +1.
Considering he’s a pharmacist I’m fairly sure he could get another job without too much hassle. The best part is he could legitimately put ‘defending my life’ under ‘reason for termination’. That oughta make for some interesting interviews.
Breaking into my house. Threaten my life. Threaten someone else.* If I see any of such with a deadly weapon, I’m going to return the favor (with equal or greater force)**. I can’t assume that someone breaking the law is going to immediately have compassion.
It’s never okay to threaten someone with death if they refuse to cooperate. I think the pharmacist did the right and moral thing. He had no idea what these guys were capable of doing, as a result I believe he did the right thing. I may have done the same thing.
*i.e. Equal to or greater than “I’ll kill you.”
** It’s a shame sub-machine guns are expensive.
Bullshit ideas from our friends at the DoJ: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/ric/Publications/e0407972.pdf
“Employees can, in turn, employ certain behavior to keep themselves safe. This
includes following the offender’s instructions, staying calm
and quiet, avoiding eye contact, not making any sudden
movements, remaining inside the workplace, not attacking
the offender, while making mental notes to provide to the
police regarding the offender’s physical description.”
I can’t find the specific link I’m looking for, but there was a convenience store that was robbed, everyone who was taken hostage (I think 2 people) cooperated with the 3 robbers. They were executed in the backroom. I think one of them had an AK47 variant.
I know pharmacist that carry because they have been robbed . If that robber would have had time to clear and chamber a round that Pharmacist might be dead . I applaud this man, Thank you for protecting your self , you coworkers and the innocent people. Sometimes we have to do the right thing no matter the consequence .
A person walks up to you and demands you give them money, jewelery, etc. That is attempted robbery. A person walks up to you with a gun & pulls the trigger 3 times on you…. Thats attempted murder. This guy have every right to fire back. What is Walgreens “company policy” on that?
I don’t care if they like it or not. I carry every time I go there. Too many addicts and homeless hang out there. In New Mexico, they have to post a sign if they want to disallow firearms but then they make themselves look like a dangerous place to go (they are). I may save their asses along with mine someday.
I also live in NM and I also carry everywhere I go regardless of whether there is a ‘no guns’ sign or not (unless it’s a government facility cause that’s hard time). The worst thing they can do if they find out you’re packing (which should NEVER happen anyway) is throw you out. They can’t call the cops unless you refuse to leave (In NM anyway, might want to check your local laws first). So if they freak it’s no big deal just leave and take care of business some other day or go to a different store.
Most of NM is pretty gun friendly anyway. I remember there was a guy open carrying outside the big 5 (sporting goods store) and a random guy came up to me and said “Hes got a gun! What if he plans to rob the store or shoot everyone?!” to which I calmly replied “Well if that happens I’ll just have to shoot him…” Then I lifted my knee up and tapped the bulge in my pocket. I’ll never forget the look on his face.
This is the case in Iowa as well. Businesses can put up a sign, but it has no force of law. They can ask you to leave and call the police. If you refuse to leave and are still there when the police arrive, you can be charged with tresspass. That’s it.
its actually still against the law its only a petty misdemeanor and this really depends and where that no gun sign is posted. since if you go into any place that sells hard liquor for consumption. so any bar or restaurant that sells hard liquor. , beer and wine only are ok with ccw.
“B. Whoever commits unlawful carrying of a firearm in an establishment licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages is guilty of a fourth degree felony.”
I support what the pharmacist did 100%. I also support Walgreens right to fire him for what he did. It’s the wrong decision to make, but it’s their decision to make.
Let’s not abandon the concept of property rights simply because it swings in one direction or another. In this case we disagree with the property owners. What if it went the other way?
It’s like the 1st amendment. Whether you like what someone’s saying or not doesn’t factor into their right to say it.
So then what can we do? I’ll be writing a letter to Walgreens corporate and telling them how I feel about their reaction to the incident. Then I might switch from Walgreens to CVS as my pharmacy of choice for my family’s meds.
I got fired 2 years ago for pulling a gun on some robbers. http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-news-mentor-donatos-robbery-arrest-warrant,0,7603904.story
Wow that’s intense. Glad you’re alright!
What I imagine will happen is, they will settle out of court so they don’t lose too much face, while still maintaining their anti-firearms agenda. Then they will make sure new hires let Walgreens know if they have a CHL or not. Ill bet you those that put down “yes” during the application process get turned away for ” qualification reasons”.
His termination, though a crappy outcome, was justified and while Walgreens has poor policies regarding weapons onsite, they are justified in firing him. I carry at work and have for a few jobs. One at a school I actually left the gun in the car because i made the choice that it would be safe inside the school where I live. I carried at a different job and kept quiet about it and made the choice that I could be fired if I ended up needing to use it and that was acceptible to me. I carry at my current job in a computer shop because it’s embraced. If I work in a place that prohibits it, then I need to choose to defend myself and possibly get canned..or not carry and run the risk of dying. If I didn’t know if it was lawful to carry, then that’s my own fault for not finding out. This dude, though a hero, could have done more to prevent or prepare for this bad outcome. Walgreens will win in court.
‘No Weapons’ and ‘Do whatever they want’ is SOP for working at a corporate store. He should have expected to lose his job. I don’t agree with it and in that situation I’d do the same, but that’s the way it is.
I think the thing that bothers me the most is that I am all but certain this guy would be dead if he was not packing that day. ‘Do what they want’ is all fine and good, if all they want is the cash in the register; If his story is in fact accurate the only thing that kept him alive that day was the poor quality of the perp’s gun and/or firearms maintenance schedule, and I’m fairly sure if he had not fired back that thug would have eventually racked the slide and shot him dead. The biggest flaw in passive compliance is that there is no end to it. Okay, we give the perps the money. Next month, they take some booze with them. Then they steal the manager’s car on the way out. The time after that, they take the cashier to the back and rape her. Maybe after that they just decide they’re gonna shoot everyone anyway, since the cops obviously can’t stop them and aren’t going to make it in time.
Hey Walgreens, here’s an idea: how bout you hire 1 or 2 chls at every store, and post a sign at the front of the store that says ‘NOTICE: Employees may be armed.’ I’d love to see your robbery statistics after that.
HELL YEA!
Vhyrus you are totally correct in my opinion. Passive compliance is like saying, “I can trust you with my life.” When in reality it is the last thing you would want to do to some drugstore robber, or even convenience.
Source: http://www.toxicjunction.com/get.asp?i=V3147
I also like your CHL idea, except Walgreens should also pay for defensive/practical shooting classes for those who are senior employees.
“Hovan has a concealed weapons permit, but did not inform Walgreens that he was in possession of a gun at work”
Well, if that’s their policy, he was in violation and got fired. Sucks but what can you do? Besides suing them? Either way, i hope he wins just to stick it to their narrow asses, and possibly buy a big revolver to replace whatever he had.
Also, the guy who hopped the counter is a ninja.
Your right for having a ccw on you.You never know when evil will be at your door.You love your life,And some people do see like most of us do.They will get killed,When evil come to their door.Or Raped or their kids.And so on with the bad things they do to people.
Good for you,Win Win for us all bro.