Wow. So let's all be clear about one thing, that we all seem to be in agreement about... in general it is bad form to alert anyone to the fact you are carrying. The OP broke that rule, and it was generally unwise. I also completely agree that one of the best ways to avoid trouble is to mind your own d*** business. I, personally, would never tell anyone I carry and there are many, many reasons for that. That said, for breaking a carrying rule I view the OP as having broken a minor one. I see why he decided to make a sarcastic comment to the security guard, and it was one of those "enlightening" experiences where we realize how little some fellow gun owners really know about guns. We leave these guys out there to be sitting ducks for groups like VPC or the Brady Campaign. It's a fine line--the responsibility we have as a gun COMMUNITY--of when to be isolated and when to try and educate each other. I admit that I am generally very isolationist... I don't want people to know I carry, so I show a lot of discretion in this portion of my private affairs. But taking time to try and (albeit by using sarcasm) trying to educate an armed security guard who was clearly needing corrective info is not the biggest sin we can make. Afterall, the stronger and more educated of a COMMUNITY we are as a whole, the quicker we will see our rights expanded and backstopped in this country. The OP didn't provide a perfect example of this kind of catch 22--though real life rarely does-- but it does illustrate it a little.
I'm just glad everyone made it out of the grocery store without their "elbows" being touched over and over.
if they had a "no guns" policy, it wasn't mentioned. I would think the guard would have told the OCer that guns were not allowed. I also don't think the OP would have volunteered that he was violating the business' policy. but what does that have to do with 3 firearms carriers behaving in a childish manner?