Unfiltered Story #196553

(I work in a retail location which is owned and operated by the state government. The governor recently signed into law a bill which bans the carry of firearms in government buildings unless you are military or police. Our store falls under the purview of this law. We have signs posted letting customers know this new policy, however many don’t notice and it is fairly new, as well as being in a conservative state, so we are used to having to explain the policy.)

A man and woman enter the store. The man has a gun holstered at his hip.

My co-worker, who is on the register closest to the door ringing up a customer: (very friendly and polite) I’m very sorry sir, but we do not permit the carry of firearms in the store. State law.

The man looks confused for a moment.

Man: Oh I didn’t realize.

Co-worker helpfully points out one of the signs detailing the policy. The man apologizes and leaves the store. The woman remains in the store, wandering around, not far from the counters. I make eye contact and smile, but she turns away, somewhat angrily, so I decide not to bother her.

Meanwhile, the customer my co-worker was helping is curious about the policy, so said co-worker begins explaining it to him.

Co-worker: It’s a state law that you can’t carry a firearm in the store unless you’re active duty military or police.

Then he says: I don’t really agree with the policy, because I’d rather have someone responsible here with a gun if some lunatic comes in to shoot us up or rob us. You never know what might happen.

Customer: Yeah it is strange they’d do that in this state. (because it’s conservative state with a lot of guns)

I jump in with: Really, it was meant to keep guns out of actual government buildings, like courthouses and stuff, but this is technically a government-owned building, so it covers us too even though we’re a retail location.

The customer nods his head, thanks us for our help and the information, then leaves. Meanwhile all this is going on, I see the woman still kind of loitering near the counter, I assume waiting to speak to my co-worker once his customer leaves. However, she doesn’t come up when the customer leaves. My coworker goes outside to speak to the man with the gun, and I see them speaking pleasantly. The man does not seem at all upset, and our other customer is speaking to him as well.

Me: (to the woman, pleasantly, thinking there’s no issue) Did you need help finding anything?

The woman: No, actually, I’m not going to buy anything, in fact, I’m going to leave now, for you talking about my husband that way.

I say nothing, because, frankly, I’m stunned. The woman walks out. My coworker comes back in.

Me: Was that guy upset at all?

Co-worker: No, he apologized, I explained the law and he shook my hand.

I tell him what the woman said. He is shocked as well. Our conversation was not particularly quiet, and she was not far from where we were standing. Can someone please tell me what part of our conversation upset her so much? In all honesty, I’m glad it was her husband with the gun, and not her with a hair-trigger temper like that.