The weapon thing depends on your state , and in some states , store policy . So , some states are Open Carry . That means people can walk around with their weapon on their hip , and it ' s legal . Others are Concealed Carry . they can walk around with a weapon you cannot see . Some are both . Some states allow private businesses to prohibit weapons on the property , regardless of the carry laws . Some do not . So you have to look up your own place and laws . But if you are in a state where it is allowed , and your company is not permitted to prohibit it , you could get your company sued . Weapons are always worth a watch , legal or not , even if you don ' t engage the customer . One case similar to your problem happened to me . A shoplifter pulled a knife on me during a stop and I let him go . Lo and behold , this moron was back the next day . And he was getting ready to steal , taking merch out of packages . Knowing that he had the knife , I skipped all the damn steps , called the cops , told them he robbed us the previous dayreport was filed at the time , and was probably armed . Shortest wait for cops I ever had . They came in the store and arrested him on the sales floor , merch in pants , along with the same knife . Believe it or not , I got written up . But it was worth it . and to this day years later as a Regional Mgr I stand by my decision to do that . For one thing , he was already an APB from the prior days incident , for another , I knew he was armed , and lastly , my state law DOES technically allow noexit stops at concealment , although company policy was different . And of course , I didn ' t make the stop , the police did and they had more than reasonable grounds . I think the issue was that it just looked scary to customers .