right to bear arms<\/a>, but plans to avoid any grocery store that allows customers to open carry.<\/p>\n\u201cOpen carry in a grocery store or in a mall will frighten people,\u201d Alu told the Sun Sentinel. \u201c(Publix) is not an establishment that I or my family will be patronizing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ana Campos, a private investigator who lives in Fort Lauderdale, has a different take.<\/p>\n
Seeing someone carry a firearm into Publix might shock the average shopper, Campos said. But she says she\u2019d actually feel safer seeing someone with a gun.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s assuming the person is a responsible gun owner,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd if there\u2019s a problem, they will be there (to respond) before the police show up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Readers shared with the Sun Sentinel the emailed response they got from Publix after they contacted the company with their concerns about open carry:<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for taking the time to share your comments with us. We appreciate the trust you have placed in us to address your concern. Treating Publix customers with dignity and respect is a founding belief at Publix, and we follow federal, state and local laws. As is true for many issues which arise every day, Publix leaves it to the discretion of store managers to determine if a customer is creating a threatening, erratic or dangerous shopping experience \u2014 whether they are openly carrying a firearm or not \u2014 and engage local law enforcement to protect our customers and associates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winn-Dixie says it plans to continue to prohibit open carry in Florida stores despite the recent ruling.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur priority is creating a safe and welcoming shopping experience for all customers and associates,\u201d according to the parent company of Winn-Dixie, Southeastern Grocers. \u201cAs a private business, our policy remains unchanged: We do not permit open carry of firearms inside our stores. We respectfully ask customers to secure firearms safely before entering, and we appreciate the continued cooperation that helps us maintain an environment where everyone feels comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walmart, a chain that also sells groceries and produce, is asking customers not to bring firearms into its stores.<\/p>\n
\u201cDriven by our commitment to maintaining a safe environment in our stores and clubs, we ask that customers refrain from openly carrying firearms into Walmart or Sam\u2019s Club locations, except where permitted for authorized law enforcement officers,\u201d a company spokesman said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Walmart on Wednesday afternoon clarified that it\u2019s \u201cnot accurate\u201d to say the company prohibits open carry. \u201cOur statement said we ask customers to refrain from bringing firearms into our stores; we did not say we were prohibiting them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sun Sentinel also sent requests for comment to Whole Foods, Trader Joe\u2019s, Aldi and Target. As of Wednesday, they had not yet replied with a statement about their policies.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/tfl-l-pubix-store1.jpg\")
Florida began allowing open carry on Sept. 25 after an appeals court overturned the state\u2019s ban on openly carrying firearms, deeming it unconstitutional. A Publix store in Tamarac is shown Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (Carline Jean\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n
When the Sun Sentinel contacted Publix stores throughout South Florida to inquire whether they are allowing open carry, several employees replied they weren\u2019t sure and checked with a store manager.<\/p>\n
One customer-service employee at a Publix in Fort Lauderdale said she already knew the answer: \u201cThere\u2019s a law now, so we can\u2019t tell people they can\u2019t bring their guns into the store.\u201d<\/p>\n
A manager at a Publix in Davie said open carry is now allowed as a result of the new ruling.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s OK as long as they are not causing a disturbance,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they are, we will contact the authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
A customer service representative at a Publix in Miramar transferred the call to a store manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cPublix does follow the law and we do allow open carry,\u201d the manager said. \u201cThe only time we would intervene is if someone is acting outside the parameters of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
A manager at a Publix in Hollywood said the store was allowing open carry, but had yet to see anyone walk in openly carrying a gun.<\/p>\n
An employee at a Publix in Boca Raton checked with a store manager, then came back on the line to say: \u201cYes, customers are allowed as it aligns with the new state law.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Delray Beach, a store manager confirmed Publix was allowing open carry. \u201cIn general, I think every store or supermarket is following the new state law,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
A manager at a Publix in Homestead said they, too, are allowing open carry. \u201cAs long as it\u2019s not causing a disturbance in the store, it\u2019s allowed,\u201d he said. \u201cOtherwise we can tell them to leave the premises.\u201d<\/p>\n
A customer service employee at a Publix in Coral Gables said he wasn\u2019t sure of the answer. Twelve minutes later, another employee came on the line to say he had gotten a recent email about open carry from the store manager. \u201cIf a customer openly carries into the store, don\u2019t take action unless you have concerns about the behavior of the person,\u201d he said, reading from the email.<\/p>\n
In Central Florida, eight Publix stores in Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Lake counties were contacted by the Orlando Sentinel.<\/p>\n
Four Central Florida stores confirmed customers are allowed to openly carry firearms, though some noted caveats. A manager at a Publix in Kissimmee said law enforcement would only intervene if that person was suspected of a crime.<\/p>\n
Another in St. Cloud said staff are not allowed to approach customers solely about their weapons. In that store, the manager said customers are allowed to openly carry \u201cas long as the customer is respectful to others and not causing a disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
At two stores in Lake County, the instructions given to workers were not as clear-cut.<\/p>\n
A manager at one Publix in Tavares said the store allows open carry.<\/p>\n
But a customer service representative at a store in Groveland said that as of this week, they are operating under \u201cthe old directive\u201d that bans open carry but permits concealed carry.<\/p>\n
Three Publix stores in Sanford, Lake Mary and Orlando gave a virtually identical response, saying their policy on open carry is \u201cwhatever Florida law is.\u201d\u00a0A manager at a Publix in Ocoee gave a similar answer but said staff would intervene if a customer complains.<\/p>\n
Staff Writer Bill Kearney contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
Clarification: This news article has been updated to clarify Walmart\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan<\/p>\n
Originally Published: October 8, 2025 at 9:14 AM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Publix, one of Florida\u2019s most popular grocery chains, is now allowing customers across the state to openly carry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[558,114,266,139,141,140,109],"class_list":{"0":"post-4446","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-orlando","12":"tag-orlando-headlines","13":"tag-orlando-news","14":"tag-social"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}