IMO there is a considerable difference between someone's house, a business where one might be employed, and a business where one is a patron that just walked in off the street. IMO businesses open to the public should be held to a different standard, at least slightly so. These businesses can still kick people out for things they don't like, but generally speaking there appear to be legal, or at least, market dictated limits on what they can and cannot get away with. For instance, if the local home despot had metal detectors and x ray belts, how many people would shop there? In order for home despot to enforce a no gun policy, they essentially would have to violate my personal space to do so.
In reality, if the sign isn't legally binding (as they aren't in MA and most of the rest of new england) I'll just ignore
the damned thing, at least in the case of where the business is open to the public. The "mall" owner or whoever is free to tell me to leave, if they want, right after they, somehow find my concealed firearm.
. If they actually bother to check people (eg, by using metal detectors, etc) then I'll either make a decision to go unarmed, or make the (better) decision to not go in at all, and express my displeasure towards the owner or management.
Edit: As what was mentioned in the WorstBuy thread, legally speaking, the stores or whatnot still have the
upper hand.... however, it might come back to bite them later when patrons are routinely shopping online or
elsewhere simply because interacting with the store in a direct manner is getting closer and closer to that of
visiting someone in prison, or being accused of a crime that they have no probable cause to believe you
committed. (those people stuck in a queue as they're leaving the store, are essentially guilty until proven
otherwise, more or less... otherwise they wouldn't chase a guy with a best buy bag out into the parking lot... )
I suppose, it's their right to do such BS, but I think in the long run they're not doing themselves any
favors by being less customer friendly.
-Mike