Newtown activists call for all town businesses to ban guns

Matthew Soto, the brother of Sandy Hook massacre victim Victoria Soto, hugs Po Murray, chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance, during a rally outside the National Shooting Sports Foundation's corporate headquarters in Newtown. less Matthew Soto, the brother of Sandy Hook massacre victim Victoria Soto, hugs Po Murray, chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance, during a rally outside the National Shooting Sports Foundation's corporate ... more Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Newtown activists call for all town businesses to ban guns 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

NEWTOWN — What started as a boycott of grocery stores in the region that allow customers to carry guns in the aisles has turned into a local crusade to ban guns in all businesses in a town still recovering from the 2012 Sandy Hook school shootings.

The Newtown Action Alliance, one of the nonprofits formed after the 2012 Sandy Hook shootings, is calling for a townwide ban on weapons in businesses.

“I would think it would be easy for the businesses to side with our community members who are going through challenging times,” said Po Murray, chairwoman of the Newtown Action Alliance. “It has only been three years.”

The town’s merchants have been hearing more talk about openly carrying guns while shopping, a business leader said Thursday. While merchants are willing to hear more about concerns, they are wary of getting mixed up in a controversy that could drive customers away.

“It’s important that our businesses try to remain neutral because we serve a broad constituency of clients, and we have to be careful about the position we take,” said Tim Haas, president of the Newtown Chamber of Commerce.

“In Newtown, we went through a lot with the tragedy that happened,” Haas said. “It affected a lot of businesses. We don’t need another challenge that could impact business.”

After the 2012 killings of 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Starbucks, Whole Foods and a few other big-name companies in Connecticut announced firearms policies to restrict carrying guns in their businesses.

But most businesses continued to follow Connecticut law, which allows anyone with a permit to openly carry a gun in public. That had been enough to keep the peace until January, when a woman noticed a man with a gun on his belt while the two were shopping at Caraluzzi’s Food Market in Bethel.

The online boycott that grew from the woman’s correspondence with Caraluzzi’s owner spread to Big-Y and then reached the statewide Connecticut Food Association. The CFA pledged to craft a policy to help stores avoid the divisive gun debate.

That didn’t stop leading members of Connecticut’s Washington delegation from urging the Connecticut Food Association president to promote a ban on openly carrying guns while shopping.

The Newtown Action Alliance said this week the town was uniquely positioned to make a statement.

“I think Newtown can send a message to the county we don’t need guns in stores,” Murray said. “It is proven that more guns equal more gun deaths.”

A leading gun-rights advocate disagreed.

“People are safer where law-abiding people carry firearms,” said Scott Wilson, president of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League. “My question is if guns are banned from stores will the Newtown Action Alliance personally guarantee the safety of individuals who are shopping?”

Wilson suggested while the two sides were far apart philosophically, a compromise for stores was still possible. He said the wording of any policy to reduce in-store confrontations about openly carrying guns needed to be polite, reasonable and respectful of permit holder’s right to carry.

“If the store had a policy requiring patrons to please keep their arms concealed, that is certainly a lot more palatable to gun owners,” Wilson said.

rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342