Rifle In J.C. Penney: Utah Man Takes Gun In Department Store, Raises Some Eyebrows

A Utah man raised some eyebrows after taking his rifle with him in a J.C. Penney store in Riverdale.

Rifle In J.C. Penney (Photos courtesy of Cindy Yorgason)

Cindy Yorgason was shopping at the department store on Wednesday when she saw the man with the rifle slung across his back.

Finding it out of the ordinary, Yorgason snapped some photos of the man and posted them to her Facebook page, where images quickly went viral and received quite a number of comments and shares.

The Salt Lake Tribune identified the man as 22-year-old Joseph Kelley, who says he brought the gun to show that the weapons aren't dangerous when handled by law-abiding people.

Kelley says the AR-15 he was carrying was unloaded, which is legal. He also had a handgun with him that time. He told the Tribune that he has a permit to carry the guns, that he is an ex-military, and that he informed police dispatch about his plans before he left his home.