Mr Gunsmith
Member
Hello all.
I've lurked around these forums for some time now, 6-7 months at least, & it's time I get off the sidelines & participate. There seems to be quite a resourceful group that is active here so it seems a good place to get advice. So here goes...
I recently purchased a small community grocery store nearby in a tiny resort town here in Western NC. It was a long time coming & I've dropped a pretty penny of family resources into it. But I'm happy to report it's profitable & with hard work & good fortune I can have it to hand down to my kids. Well, if the gov't regulators don't completely cripple small business but that's another discussion for another day.
So counting myself & my 2 older kids who I am making work regularly, I have 3 full time employees & 2 part time employees. Now bearing in mind this is a resort community & for about 4 months out of the yr we have only the locals in town, our police dept (such as it is) is staffed by only 9 dedicated members. My store is slightly off the beaten path & I've been approached by the police chief himself urging me to be taking precautions for our safety. We have Interstate 40 within 2 directions from the store no more than 15 miles either way. Our police couldn't respond in time to an emergency & they openly admit it as I'm just outside the town limits & the criminals have 2 effective escape routes. Crime isn't a major factor, but it happened just recently that a handful of burglaries in nearby businesses occurred. My store is open late since I'm effectively the only place for the local residents to get gas & the closest chain grocery store is over 25 miles away. I think you are starting to get the layout of the situation.
I want my employees to be safe. I personally carry a Beretta PX4 9mm that I openly wear when in the store in a hip holster. But I'm not there every hr of the day & we are open 7 days a week. I want my employees to be safe when I'm not there. My wife has on occasion taken a shift & I leave the gun with her. She is quite capable of using it too. I'm willing to even pay for the firearms & the appropriate licensing & training for my employees. NC is an open carry state & I practice that discipline daily. I want the message to be clear that in my business we serve our customers needs & not suffer fools gladly. So what to buy & who to buy it for?
Oh just for some further data. My store is roughly 120 feet along all 4 walls corner to corner with a full service deli/cafe in the rear. I have multiple live security cameras that back up to a 48 hr DVR with corner mirrors as well. I mention this because I'm sure certain gun calipers could be effective inside & others may be overkill. I've openly discussed this with everybody & they are all comfortable with getting & wearing a firearm as well as being properly trained for it.
So there you have it. I've seen so much conflicting data on a .45 vs 9mm vs .40 S&W etc etc etc. Any advice on what to buy for this environment? I'll take any & all suggestions.
Thx in advance.
I've lurked around these forums for some time now, 6-7 months at least, & it's time I get off the sidelines & participate. There seems to be quite a resourceful group that is active here so it seems a good place to get advice. So here goes...
I recently purchased a small community grocery store nearby in a tiny resort town here in Western NC. It was a long time coming & I've dropped a pretty penny of family resources into it. But I'm happy to report it's profitable & with hard work & good fortune I can have it to hand down to my kids. Well, if the gov't regulators don't completely cripple small business but that's another discussion for another day.
So counting myself & my 2 older kids who I am making work regularly, I have 3 full time employees & 2 part time employees. Now bearing in mind this is a resort community & for about 4 months out of the yr we have only the locals in town, our police dept (such as it is) is staffed by only 9 dedicated members. My store is slightly off the beaten path & I've been approached by the police chief himself urging me to be taking precautions for our safety. We have Interstate 40 within 2 directions from the store no more than 15 miles either way. Our police couldn't respond in time to an emergency & they openly admit it as I'm just outside the town limits & the criminals have 2 effective escape routes. Crime isn't a major factor, but it happened just recently that a handful of burglaries in nearby businesses occurred. My store is open late since I'm effectively the only place for the local residents to get gas & the closest chain grocery store is over 25 miles away. I think you are starting to get the layout of the situation.
I want my employees to be safe. I personally carry a Beretta PX4 9mm that I openly wear when in the store in a hip holster. But I'm not there every hr of the day & we are open 7 days a week. I want my employees to be safe when I'm not there. My wife has on occasion taken a shift & I leave the gun with her. She is quite capable of using it too. I'm willing to even pay for the firearms & the appropriate licensing & training for my employees. NC is an open carry state & I practice that discipline daily. I want the message to be clear that in my business we serve our customers needs & not suffer fools gladly. So what to buy & who to buy it for?
Oh just for some further data. My store is roughly 120 feet along all 4 walls corner to corner with a full service deli/cafe in the rear. I have multiple live security cameras that back up to a 48 hr DVR with corner mirrors as well. I mention this because I'm sure certain gun calipers could be effective inside & others may be overkill. I've openly discussed this with everybody & they are all comfortable with getting & wearing a firearm as well as being properly trained for it.
So there you have it. I've seen so much conflicting data on a .45 vs 9mm vs .40 S&W etc etc etc. Any advice on what to buy for this environment? I'll take any & all suggestions.
Thx in advance.