Connecticut Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal wrote a letter to the CEO of Subway and demanded that the company stop allowing the open carry of weapons in its stores.
The two Democratic senators told Subway CEO John Chidsey that the company’s policy on guns puts the safety of his employees at risk. They referenced a viral photograph of armed stay-at-home order protesters eating in a North Carolina restaurant with rocket launchers, pistols, and shotguns, as an example of why the policy should be abandoned.
“No person should have to fear gun violence while visiting or working in Subway restaurants. Photographs of these demonstrators published by the News & Observer are as striking as they are intimidating, and, regrettably, reflect more than this one incident,” the senators wrote.
“Since 2014, Subway experienced at least 65 incidents of gun violence in or near its restaurants, culminating in more than 20 deaths and almost 30 injuries. As the CEO of Subway, you have both the means and the opportunity to take action to protect your employees and customers by instituting a ban on the open carry of firearms in your restaurants,” they added.
A group of about 11 mostly-armed demonstrators protesting the stay at home order marched around downtown Raleigh and ordered sandwiches at a Subway. #Covid_19 #ncpol #MealTeamSix pic.twitter.com/XA1BIU7JHH
— Travis Long (@vizjourno) May 9, 2020
Subway is headquartered in Milford, Connecticut. The senators said that a policy prohibiting the open carry of weapons should be implemented nationwide, following the actions of companies such as Walmart, Chipotle, and Starbucks. The senators also noted that gun sales have been up since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and argued that could lead to more gun violence.
“Action is more critical now than ever as COVID-19 has spurred a deeply disturbing surge in gun sales. The public health challenges that we face, as a nation, due to this global pandemic are great, but neither excuse nor absolve us of our obligation to respond to the related and mounting public safety crisis—posed by the tremendous proliferation of firearms sales—in the making,” they wrote.
“To that end, we strongly urge you to do your part to meet this moment, to prohibit the open carry of firearms in your restaurants, and to send a strong message that Subway, headquartered in Connecticut, stands proud in helping to stem the gun violence epidemic plaguing this country before it is too late,” they added.
