At least 8,000 customers don’t think it makes shopping a pleasure.
By Lynn Aragon
Original Air Date: November 5, 2025
Host: Legal uncertainty is the name of the game after the First District Court of Appeals overturned Florida’s ban on Open Carry. But one thing seems certain: According to guidance from the Florida Sheriffs’ Association, private property owners have the right to ban firearms on their premises. Publix, where shopping supposedly is a pleasure, chose to allow customers to roam their stores with guns or rifles on full display. WSLR News reporter Lynn Aragon reached out to a local Publix manager, a gun rights defense attorney, a concerned customer, and a gun control advocate.
New Publix store at The Landings in Sarasota. Photo courtesy Publix
Lynn Aragon: Publix now allows customers to openly carry firearms. Florida’s largest grocery chain took that decision after an appeals court found the state’s ban on “open carry” is unconstitutional.
Public reactions have been mixed, from people saying they will stop shopping at Publix, to being concerned, to others having no worry at all.
An area Publix store manager who declined to speak on the record said that the announcement by the Lakeland-based company has not changed anything at his store. Neither has there been any training, nor has the company added any security measures or made changes to the security protocol. He referred us to Hannah Herring, Publix Regional Media Relations Manager.
Photo by Lucio Eastman/Wikimedia
Herring did not return our phone call. But she did respond by email saying, “Publix follows all federal, state and local laws. Treating customers with dignity and respect is a founding belief at Publix. In any instance where a customer creates a threatening, erratic or dangerous shopping experience—whether they are openly carrying a firearm or not—we will engage local law enforcement to protect our customers and associates.”
Derek Byrd, a solo practitioner in Sarasota, provides criminal defense legal services for gun violations, including for domestic violence, assault/battery, murder and manslaughter. This is what he had to say about Publix open carry.
Derek Byrd
Deryk Byrd: I’ll say this: Every private business legally has the right to allow someone to open carry, just like every private business—likey own—I could put a sign up in my office that says, “No guns allowed.” That’s up to the private business. My personal opinion: I don’t want to be shopping for milk and eggs and fruits and vegetables seeing people next to you with open carry. I think it’s not the wild, wild west, but that’s the law that we live in.
Shannon Keever is a 45 year-old Bradenton mother of two. She lives across the street from a Publix store and has shopped there for years. She wrote about her decision to boycott Publix on Nextdoor.com’s Blue Wave Supporter forum. Here’s what Keever said about hearing about the new Publix open carry policy and their founding belief mission of treating customers with dignity and respect.
Shannon Keever
Shannon Keever: I was quite surprised that Publix in Florida jumped right on it and announced that they would allow it. They made a point to announce it. I personally don’t believe how letting someone walk in with a gun slung around their back is “treating people with dignity and respect.”
LA: We asked Keever about further actions she might take.
SK: I do intend to write Publix—the corporation—and tell them that we do live right across the street and we do use their store—or, we did use their store—a lot—and to let them know that, because they are now allowing open carry, it makes me uncomfortable. I don’t want to see it, I don’t want my children to see it, and I don’t think it makes me any safer in their store. For that reason, my family and I are no longer going to be shopping there.
LA: We also reached out to Sarasota’s arm of Brady: United Against Gun Violence, the non-profit organization advocating for gun control. Instead of a call from the local chapter president, we did get to talk to Kris Brown, president of the nationwide organization.
Brown has helped shape the conversation on gun violence as a national healthcare crisis, launched the organization’s safe storage campaign and formed a youth-led initiative after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, Florida.
She said Open Carry increases the likelihood of violence .
Kris Brown
Kris Brown: There’s a lot of data on this. Of course, as the leader of a gun violence prevention organization, what we know is the states that do allow open carry in public places don’t experience less gun violence. They typically experience more gun violence. In fact, there’s a 2019 study that found that right-to-carry laws are associated with a 13 to 15 percent higher aggregate violent crime rate.
Law enforcement leaders, as I understand it, have come out in opposition to open carry laws across the country because it’s not like people at birth are stamped on their forehead “good guy” or “bad guy.” You can’t tell.
LA: Brown, like Keever, said that Publix’s founding belief of dignity and respect does not align with people’s fears of open carry.
Photo courtesy of Publix
KB: I suspect a lot of Floridians feel the same, and they have a choice that they can make in terms of where their dollars go. Do they continue to shop at an establishment like Publix, whose public statements about this really seem to be seeking to alienate a portion of their customer base?
LA: Brown said all companies are impacted by consumer behavior, and there are a lot of ways Floridians can show Publix management how they feel.
KB: All companies respond to consumer behavior. That’s just the bottom line, regardless of the politics. I do think Floridians have an opportunity to vote with their feet. If they’re concerned about Publix’s policy here, show Publix how they feel with their pocketbooks and with their voices online and in person to Publix management.
LA: There are scattered calls online for a Publix boycott. There’s also a Change.org petition demanding the company reverse its policy with more than 8,000 signatures as of last week.
Reporting for WSLR News, this has been Lynn Aragon.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.