Honolulu law firm and gun control group distributing ‘Guns Not Allowed’ signs to businesses
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A court ruling has left Hawaii business owners with the choice of whether to ban firearms on their property. As advocacy groups encourage businesses to post “No Guns” signs, some owners said they are being placed in the middle of a contentious debate over gun rights and public safety.
HONOLULU (Island News) — The debate over whether or not to allow firearms in private businesses open to the public is heating up. And some businesses feel like they’re being made to choose sides.
Businesses are now caught in the middle of a gun fight.
“I feel like it’s unfair to the business owners,” said Tai Tolbert, general manager at Village Bottle Shop and Tasting Room in Kakaako.
The issue: whether or not to allow gun owners to carry firearms on private property, putting retailers, restaurants and other establishments in a difficult position on an extremely divisive issue.
“It definitely is a fine line to walk between respecting people’s rights and also the respect of the business and the space at hand,” he said. “They’re making the business have to have a say in it. But when it boils down to it, it’s really the individual.”
A gun control advocacy group and Honolulu law firm Davis Levin Livingston are distributing free signs like this to any local business not wanting guns on their property.
“There are thousands and thousands of businesses to which this applies,” said attorney Mark Davis. “It’s a kind of a Herculean job, but you know we hope that the consciousness of our community is raised to the extent that they realize that they have it within their control and their power to prohibit guns.”
The U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the Hawaii law banning firearms on private properties without the express consent of property owners. It then shifted the burden to businesses to decide whether or not to put up signs prohibiting guns on their properties.
“Almost every other day there’s a shooting and that didn’t used to be that way and this is Hawaii, you know, historically guns have not been part of our culture,” said Debroah Nehmad, Hawaii chair of nonprofit advocacy group Brady United Against Gun Violence.
“The fact of the matter is, if there aren’t guns, people don’t get shot,” Davis added.
But gun advocates argue putting up signs could discourage gun owners from supporting certain businesses, now under pressure to make a decision.
“It’s weird times we’re living in,” Tolbert said. “It’s very weird times that we’re living in and topics like this are only going to be more and more frequent.”
If you are interested in obtaining one of the signs, email [email protected].
