There’s a Wrinkle in Stores’ Mask Policies: Enforcement

Many shoppers and workers say the retailers’ reluctance to police their customers’ mask wearing ultimately renders the new rules toothless and will perpetuate the spread of the coronavirus. And workers find themselves thrust onto the front line of a cultural and political war over masks that can lead to ugly confrontations and, at times, violence. Last weekend, two episodes stood out: In one, a video of an altercation involving two shoppers in Walmart wearing masks with a Nazi swastika went viral, while a man was arrested after an incident in a Walmart in Palm Beach County, Fla., in which he pulled a gun on another shopper who had asked him to put on his mask.

Adding to the tension at his store, Mr. Vanderpool said that he’s noticed more customers coming in with guns, including Glocks and other handguns, sometimes tucked into their waistbands. North Carolina is among states that allow people to carry firearms openly.

Walmart enacted a rule last year asking customers not to bring firearms into its stores, after nearly two dozen people were shot and killed in one of its locations in El Paso. In a stance echoed by its mask policy, the company said managers of stores in states that have open-carry laws are instructed to ask customers to leave their gun in their car. But they do not obstruct the person from shopping in the store, even if they bring their gun. Walmart said there had not been a recent increase in shoppers bringing guns into stores across the country during the pandemic.

Mr. Vanderpool said Walmart should hire security guards to enforce the mask rule and protect employees from contracting the virus. “They should be able to say if you don’t have a mask you cannot come into our store,’’ said Mr. Vanderpool, who is enrolled at Brown University in the fall.

In a statement, Walmart said, “we are pleased that the vast majority of the 150 million customers who visit us each week are wearing masks.”