The fight over face masks has taken a stunning reversal after the initial pandemic mandates, with many shops opting to ban them altogether. 

Businesses have been forced to contend with massive spikes in retail theft in recent years, and some thieves are wearing face coverings – which have largely been socially acceptable to wear in public since COVID-19 broke out – to purposely obscure their faces during robberies.

Diamond Collect, a jewelry store in Queens, was robbed in February 2023 by two men wearing face masks upon entering.

One was disguised as an Amazon delivery driver, and after pistol whipping the elderly owner, Yuchi Lin, the men made off with roughly $500,000 in merchandise.

Following this frightening incident, the victim’s daughter Eva Chen won’t allow anyone into the store that’s wearing a mask.

‘That is a must,’ Chen told The Wall Street Journal. ‘We don’t want that to happen again.’ 

In response to brutal robberies like the one Chen and her mother had to endure, business leaders along with state and local governments are moving to enforce bans on face masks.

As early as March 2023, New York City Mayor Eric Adams was on the record supporting a ban on masks inside stores. 

Following the Diamond Collect robbery, the New York Police Department also instructed businesses to tell their customers to lower their masks and show their faces before they’re allowed to enter.

And just last month, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she was in favor of a mask ban on the subway, where she deployed hundreds of National Guard and state police troopers earlier this year to reduce crime.

Jabari Jones, president of a business association in Philadelphia, said his city’s ban on just ski masks doesn’t go far enough since it doesn’t account for medical masks.

Now some stores are taking matters into their own hands, he said, and denying entry to anyone choosing to obscure their face. 

‘It’s unfortunate because I’m sure there’s some people who bring a surgical mask who might have had a legitimate reason to wear it, but this is the anxiety behind the unchecked retail theft,’ Jones told the Journal. 

On the west coast in Colton, California, a novelty shop owner is dealing with the same set of issues east coast cities are facing.

Jovanne Bernal said his store Into the Retroverse has been robbed three times since November, which got him to support a legal ban on all face masks.

Bernal and his partner considered adopting a no-mask policy on their own, but concluded it was legally risky for them to do so.

‘I would very much love it,’ Bernal told the Journal. ‘But…we’re opening ourselves up to someone claiming we’re discriminating [against] them.’ 

However, Los Angeles boutique chain Kitson, a favorite of celebrities, was seemingly able to institute a mask ban in 2022 without any legal consequences thus far. 

Owner Fraser Ross said the policy has been extremely effective at cutting down on shoplifting.

Critics argue these types of bans constitute major violations of civil liberties, while also jeopardizing the health of truly immunocompromised individuals.

‘People wear masks for such a broad variety of purposes that criminalizing masks threatens to either stop people from wearing masks for various legitimate reasons or creates the possibility of selective enforcement,’ Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Journal.

And some businesses, like Kitson, don’t provide any exemptions to their mask bans for immunocompromised people, who make up around 6.6 percent of US adults, according to the American Medical Association.

Kitson does allow shoppers with legitimate medical conditions to go inside the store with a mask before or after closing but not during regular hours. 

‘The rules are for everyone,’ Ross said. ‘You never know who the shoplifters are.’  

Fernando Mateo, co-founder of the United Bodegas of America, said his organization tells business owners not to let in anyone wearing a face mask.

He also said he supports an exemption for elderly people, but everyone else should have to follow the rules.

‘Criminals will take advantage of any loopholes,’ he said. 

Steve Miller, an attorney who frequently represents businesses in cases related to the Americans with Disabilities Act, said all establishments need to provide equal access.

That means people are essentially allowed to wear masks and if they sue a business that stops them, that business would have to prove that having a mask exemption for immunocompromised people causes an undue burden.

North Carolina has taken a different approach to discouraging mask-wearing. The state passed a law increasing penalties for crimes committed while donning a face covering.

And although the law has a carveout for health exemptions, disability advocates and those with disabilities say the legislation is contributing to the mistreatment of people who need to wear masks for their own safety.

Shari Stuart, who has stage-four breast cancer and is immunocompromised, said she was accosted by a male customer at an oil-change center in Raleigh for wearing a mask.

This was just a day after the North Carolina bill was passed, according to her.

The man told her that masks were illegal, coughed on her over and over again and said he hoped her cancer would kill her, the Journal reported.

‘We’re just in the middle of this political battle when it’s just a health issue,’ Stuart said. 

Another immunocompromised person in North Carolina, Susan Scarbo, told the Journal she’s been confronted out in public a lot more for wearing a mask since the anti-mask law was passed.

‘Trust me, I don’t want to wear my mask,’ she said. ‘I have no other choice.’