I’ve been wanting to cover this issue since I found out about it.  The purpose of witting this is to call attention to the issue and to put pressure on Costco and all businesses to stop this practice of putting profit over life safety.  Let me be clear from the start, I fully support the second amendment, unrestricted.  I have been carrying a self defense firearm since 1982 and have no plans to stop no matter how emotional it may make irrational people.

The shooting that happened in Corona California sometime in June of 2019 is a perfect example of exactly how shopping at a Costco in could get you killed.  I have this opinion based on experience as a firefighter and lessons learned by the deaths of others.  There’s a reason emergency responder’s say “every second counts”.  They do, I’ll use two videos as an example.

 

First I’ll use the video that was hosted by at the time Indiana Boone County Sheriff Ken Campbell.  In the video the sheriff is demonstrating how ridiculous magazine bans are.  We can see how fast an inexperienced individual can accurately put rounds on target.  20 rounds with an AR-15 was 14.79 seconds and with a Mini-14 it took 12.03 seconds.  Both of those fall within the 15 seconds before the door could be opened.  I’d call that life threatening in the event of an active shooter.

Next I’ll use the video from the Station nightclub fire that killed 100 people to demonstrate again how seconds count in an emergency.  Approximately one minute (1:26) into the fire it’s easy to hear the cries for help, people pounding on the glass trying to escape.  Ever wonder why doors open outward?  History has proven time and again that when those doors won’t open and sometimes when they do, people pile up quickly making it difficult or impossible to escape from modern exits.  As is painfully made clear in the video at the 1:56 mark.  All it takes is for one person to trip to start a chain reaction.  They will stack up like cord-wood.  “When I got to the inside doors, which is about 30 feet inside the building, I saw these big double doors, and people were stacked like cord wood. They were clear up to the top. They just kept diving out on each other trying to get out. I looked back over the pile and it wasn’t dead people, there were dead and alive in that pile and I went in and just started to grab them two at the time and pull them off the stack and drag them out.”  That quote from a responding firefighter to the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire and the Station nightclub footage is impossible to deny.

Also at issue is whether the system will function as designed.  We all experience modern product malfunctions when they don’t perform as designed.  In California an earthquake could possibly disable the system and no one would know until an emergency.  Same thing if there was an explosion.

So called experts think delayed exits are okay for you and me.  They justify them in terms of profit for them and the company that purchases them.  In my opinion those companies and those who run them have questionable ethics at best.  They certainly do not have your safety in mind, only profit.  Read the quotes in the photo above for proof.  Shame also falls on fire officials that approve this kind of thing, they do not belong in that job.  Says me!

Is shopping at Costco a gamble with ones life?  Sure seems like it to me based on the evidence.  Will I shop there?  Yes, however, I always go armed and my plan if escape is necessary is to activate the fire alarm before trying to open the exit doors since that is supposed to deactivate the delay.  The real solution is to send a message to Costco that if they don’t stop this practice we will have a customer revolt.  According to Costco’s 2018 annual report their biggest fear is loosing customers in mass.  The report states it would affect the company drastically.  Think you’re not in danger?  Better go back and review the videos.  If you read this I’d like to know what you think.  Post your thoughts in the comments section.  -13