List of Pro-Gun & Anti-Gun Stores (Northwest Indiana)

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  • rambone

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    We often discuss our encounters at various stores and report back to the forum, whether they be good or bad encounters, regarding their official stance on carrying guns. The goal of this thread is to create a consolidated list of pro-gun & anti-gun stores in Northwest Indiana. If this goes well other people may want to create a thread listing stores in your neck of the woods.

    This thread will entail "District 1," defined as:

    • Lake County
    • Porter County
    • LaPorte County
    • Newton County
    • Jasper County

    Indiana%20DHS%20District%20Map.bmp



    ANTI-GUN BUSINESSES
    The Anti-Gun list will entail stores that have an official policy for restricting carry in their stores. This might have been determined by a visibly posted sign, an encounter with a manager, reading the employee handbook, etc. If at some point the store vindicates themselves we will make a note of it.

    GARY
    US Steel Mill (Industrial) -- GARY, IN - Confiscate Weapons at Gate - INGO link

    HAMMOND
    EZ Pawn -- 6752 Indianapolis Blvd, Hammond, IN - Posted Sign - INGO link

    MERRILLVILLE
    Costco (Retail/Grocery)-- US Hwy 30, MERRILLVILLE, IN - Posted Sign - INGO link
    Portillo's (Restaurant) -- US Hwy 30, MERRILLVILLE, IN - Posted Sign - INGO link
    Value City (Retail)-- US Hwy 30, MERRILLVILLE, IN -- Posted Sign -- INGO link

    VALPARAISO
    Porter County Fair
    -- VALPARAISO, IN - Posted Sign - INGO link


    GUN-NEUTRAL BUSINESSES
    The Gun-Neutral list contains a list of businesses that have no rules on the books about carrying, have no signs posted prohibiting it, and the management do not acknowledge one way or another your decision to carry. Unless you tell me otherwise!

    DYER
    Pet's Supply Plus (Retail) --INGO link
    Texas Roadhouse (Restaurant?) -- INGO link

    HAMMOND
    Cabela's
    (Retail, Sporting Goods) -- Indianapolis Blvd, HAMMOND, IN -- INGO link
    Credit Union Service Center (Bank) --INGO link
    Deb's Gun (Gun Shop) -- INGO link
    Food-4-Less (Grocery) -- INGO link
    Home Depot (Retail) --INGO link
    Menard's (Retail) -- INGO link
    Wal-Mart (Retail) -- INGO link

    HIGHLAND
    Langel's (Restaurant) -- INGO link
    Liquor Stop (Liquor) -- INGO link
    Pepperjack's (Restaurant) -- INGO link
    Meijer (Retail) -- INGO link
    Target (Retail) -- INGO link
    Ultra (Grocery) -- INGO link
    Walgreens (Pharmacy) -- Hwy 41 & Ridge Rd -- INGO link

    MUNSTER
    Commander, The (Restaurant) -- INGO link
    Fortune House Chinese (Restaurant) -- INGO link
    Game Stop (Retail Electronics) -- INGO link
    Long John Silver's (Restaurant) -- INGO link
    Target (Retail) -- INGO link

    SCHERERVILLE
    Hooter's (Restaurant) -- INGO link
    Wal-Mart (Retail) -- INGO link


    PRO-GUN BUSINESSES
    The Pro-Gun list will be a shorter list of stores that have proved themselves to be true friends of gun-owners. I don't think it will be necessary to list every gun shop as a pro-gun store. And this mostly pertains to carry policies, but other aspects should be considered as well.


    CEDAR LAKE
    Pit Stop Cigar Lounge & Smoke Shop
    -- Wicker Ave @ 132nd Street, CEDAR LAKE - INGO Link

    MERRILLVILLE
    Pit Stop Smoke Shop
    -- N.E. Corner US30 and RT55, MERRILLVILLE - INGO Link

    PORTAGE

    Bass Pro Shop
    (Retail Sporting Goods)-- Portage, IN - INGO link
    SCHERERVILLE
    Pit Stop Cigar Lounge & Smoke Shop
    -- US30 in Pine Island Plaza, SCHERERVILLE - INGO Link




    NOTES
    Please think hard and contribute so we can get a respectable list going here. I will continue to edit the Original Post as we go. When adding a suggestion let us know the following;


    • The name of the store.
    • The type of store (restaurant, clothing store, furniture, etc)
    • The address (at least what street the store is on).
    • The town.
    • Summarized comments on what happened in the store.
    • Include a thread link where applicable, if it has been discussed elsewhere.
    • Is the comment regarding official policy or a mere encounter with an employee?
     
    Last edited:

    Bill B

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    This might be too obvious, buuuuut Cabelas in Hammond is gun freindly, the only restriction that I have seen is keep it holstered unless it's been checked and cleared.
     

    Bill B

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    The service desk right inside the front doors.
    The sign at the door says something along the lines of all firemarms must be cased and checked at the service desk, this doesn't apply to holders of concealed carry permits.
    In the gun department upstairs there are many signs saying do unholster your weapon to check fit of new holsters. If you want to check a new holster with your weapon it has to cased and checked/cleared at the service desk first.
     

    Jubbie

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    Oct 17, 2008
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    Northwest Indiana (slacker)
    Just wondering what makes a store pro-gun? Is it any store we've gone to multiple times and not been asked to leave? Seems like only OC'ers will know which stores are gun friendly unless there is a sign saying firearms allowed. I could rattle off a crap load of stores & restaurants that I've OC'd in and not been bothered in any way.
     

    rambone

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    Just wondering what makes a store pro-gun? Is it any store we've gone to multiple times and not been asked to leave? Seems like only OC'ers will know which stores are gun friendly unless there is a sign saying firearms allowed. I could rattle off a crap load of stores & restaurants that I've OC'd in and not been bothered in any way.

    Well.... I initially was thinking this Pro-Gun list would be honorable mentions of stores who have specifically done something positive in reaction to your gun-carrying. Like a positive experience talking to a manager, or a store who encourages its workers to be armed, like this one:

    https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...e/54152-local_workers_come_to_work_armed.html

    But maybe we should also include a "Neutral Stores" list who have no rules on the books and don't bug you about it. Go ahead, lay em on me. I'm revising the OP to include Gun-Neutral Businesses.
     
    Last edited:

    walt o

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    Hammond
    I would like to propose that the state legislature pass a law that any business that restricts the lawfully carrying of a firearm in their place of business must supply a secure lockable place to store your firearm in while in their place of business. Such as the hospital emergency area and the casino have . Pointing out how removing and locking your weapon in your locked car -truck when you enter their business is an invitation to have them broken into and stolen. If they don't want weapons to be carried lawfully they should bear some responsibility. Can this be done.
     

    walt o

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    Hammond
    None of the steel mills will allow firearms to be brought inside. NIpsco- Nisorse is probably another place.
     
    Last edited:

    linkinpark9812

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    Lake County, Town of Munster
    Value City in Merrillville has a sign that states something like this.

    "We like to provide a safe environment for our customers, no firearms allowed on the premises" (with a semi auto handgun with a big O with / in it.)

    Now, IMO, this means only illegal guns (since they said SAFE environment :rockwoot:)

    But it did just state "GUNS" so I assume all. In the future (hopefully near), when I get a gun and such, I'll test it out there (maybe), or at least ask management.
     

    melensdad

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    GUN FRIENDLY SHOPS:

    Pit Stop Cigar Lounge & Smoke Shop -- Wicker Ave @ 132nd Street, CEDAR LAKE
    Pit Stop Smoke Shop -- N.E. Corner US30 and RT55, MERRILLVILLE
    Pit Stop Cigar Lounge & Smoke Shop -- US30 in Pine Island Plaza, SCHERERVILLE
    These are my shops, I carry daily and have had conversations with many gun owners. The cigar lounges often have copies of PREDATOR EXTREME and AMERICAN RIFLEMAN magazines along with Cigar Magazine for customers to read while smoking their cigars. Just tell the girls at the counter that Bob sent you into the store if one of them gives you grief.
     

    aclark

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    I have carried in Bass Pro Shop in Portage. It was a fairly uneventful thing, but I did have a couple of the people in the gun section ask me what I had while I was looking at scopes. We had some good conversations about carry guns, and all guns in general. I would add that to the Pro-Gun List.
     

    Jubbie

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    Ok, since it's Friday and I don't feel like working, I'll compile the list of places I've been to at least twice in the region and have never been bothered.

    Hammond
    Food-4-Less
    Wal-Mart
    Home Depot
    Credit Union Service Center
    Menard's
    Deb's Gun

    Highland
    Ultra
    Walgreens (41 & Ridge)
    Liquor Stop
    Pepperjack's
    Meijer
    Target
    Langel's

    Munster
    Fortune House Chinese Restaurant
    Target
    Game Stop
    The Commander
    Long John Silver's

    Schererville
    Wal-Mart
    Hooter's

    Dyer
    Pet's Supply Plus
    Texas Roadhouse
     

    jedi

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    Hammond
    The pawn shop 1 block from woodmar mall (where it use to be) going SOUTH has a "NO GUNS ALLOWED" sign on it's store door.
     

    rambone

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    not all gun shops allow you to carry, which doesnt make sense to me and then again it does.

    doesnt blythes sport shop in Griffith say "no loaded weapons"?

    If someone confirms this for a fact, they will earn a spot on the anti-gun list. It seems peculiar for any gun shop to have such a policy. But as we know, not everyone who owns guns defends the right to keep and bear arms.



    Hammond
    The pawn shop 1 block from woodmar mall (where it use to be) going SOUTH has a "NO GUNS ALLOWED" sign on it's store door.

    Find out he name and I will add it to the anti-gun list.



    Good thinking guys. Keep the suggestions coming. OP has been updated.
     

    dburkhead

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    If someone confirms this for a fact, they will earn a spot on the anti-gun list. It seems peculiar for any gun shop to have such a policy. But as we know, not everyone who owns guns defends the right to keep and bear arms.

    There are policies and there are policies. In some cases the "policy" is for folk they don't know or for insurance purposes.

    Part of it is that if an accident ("negligent discharge") happens when someone is at home or otherwise on their own, that's bad enough, but when it happens at a gun shop/gun show/gun range the result is far worse from a PR perspective. Even with those kinds of policies in place, accidents do happen from time to time. Yes, they are caused almost entirely by idiots, but since it's kind of hard to completely ban idiots, we've got to deal with the existence of same.

    Somebody at his home screws up and has a negligent discharge. Best case (from a "gun rights" perspective), nobody ever learns it happened. Not too bad case, the guy's buddies know about it and he takes a ribbing. Bad case, injury or property damage to a third party. Worst case someone gets killed. Everything above the "guy's buddies know about it" does damage to the idea of preserving gun rights in the court of public opinion.

    Somebody at a gun store has a negligent discharge. In this case, best case is the "bad case" above (starting with property damage to a third party since that bullet is almost sure to break something or put a hole in the shop's walls) going right up to the same worst case. And in every one of those cases, the association with the event at a gun shop or gun show leads to more damage in the court of public opinion. The story is more likely to have "legs" on the news, reaching more people and people are likely to think "even in a gun store, with experts around" making the event seem worse.

    Michael Z. Williamson* (I dare anyone to call him anti-gun) had an article on this subject at keepandbeararms.com

    I've spoken with the folk at several gun stores with such policies. In every case (among those I've spoken to) the "rule" is not aimed at people who carry and who leave the gun holstered while inside (unless they actually need it), or who only take it out at the range line to shoot. What they don't want is people taking out guns to show each other or to brag about since that's when people make mistakes and are likely to screw up.

    YMMV, of course, but having such a rule posted may not be as "anti gun" as one might assume.

    *When last I spoke with him on the subject, Mike said that he had military supremacy over Barbados and was now in an arms race with Bermuda. Having seen part of his collection, I believe it.
     
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