Was this acceptable in your opinion?

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conw

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Hey guys,

I had a somewhat negative experience today at the local range. I had recently decided to get my CCW, but have been open carrying here in NC for a couple months or so.

So I went in, signed up in advance for the class, and can now shoot for free for the next half year or so.

I struck up a conversation with one of the guys behind the counter, and mentioned that I had been OCing. This apparently started some process in him that resulted in some pantomiming...it was unsettling.

At one point in the conversation, he said "Yeah man, but if you don't conceal then anyone who wants your gun or money, gets it. If you conceal, they usually come up to you and flash the gun (he pretends he has a gun in his waistband and lifts up his shirt)...that's when you say 'HERE'S YOUR MONEY' and (he reaches toward his gun, openly holstered on the hip, and then turns his hand into a mock gun, points it at my head) says "BOOM."

He also, at another point, said "Dude, if you come into my grocery store, my shop, I'm gonna be like...whoa, you a bad dude. I don't know you're good, so you're bad. And I'm gonna be like, get out of this store now. (He reaches under the counter and gets out a Mossberg 500 tacticool and lifts it into partial view)."

This left me with a very bad taste in my mouth. If this weren't so convenient relative to my apartment, and the only place in town, they'd have lost my business. He wasn't an owner, but the owner's son was right there. This is unacceptable in my book, and very immature. What if he is in a questionable "defensive" shooting and I have a vendetta against him, and testify against him in court - say that he was a loose cannon when I encountered him at his workplace?

I'm not interested in doing that, but it seems like his behavior is unacceptable to others for a variety of reasons, and not the best behavior for his own good either.

Opinions?
 
Sounds like he was colorful and vigorous in his dissertation, but I don't see anything to get upset about. Lots of folks in the world, and we should tolerate their eccentricities unless they impinge on our freedoms. I agree he might not be painting the best picture of himself, but it takes all types...
 
He doesn't sound like the Poet Laureate. However, he has some good points, actually. They might be worth considering, since the guy behind the counter at the store might be a lot more like him than like you.

...unless you are curious to know what buckshot feels like...
 
Eh... I tend not to read too deeply into the ramblings of the guy getting paid $10/hr to man the counter
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Ditto. Morons everywhere. Let it roll off your back and enjoy your shooting there.

"Don't let the Bastards get you down". I wish I could remember the latin for it, but I am not as smart as my brother. (the History major who went back and got a teaching degree so he could teach college classes on the side for fun and a little spare change, as if he needed it. :))
 
You have my support, I think people like this do more to damage the 2nd amendment than anyone else. It makes it difficult to make an argument for the need of CCW and gun ownership in general when you have people out there pretending it is a game. Sounds like the type of guy who gets shot with his own gun. Nothing as embarassing as psychos dreaming of the day they can get in a fight.
 
"Don't let the Bastards get you down". I wish I could remember the latin for it
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From my history degree, I recall that being popularly bastardized as:

"Illegitimus non carborundum."

However, technically I think it's more "pseudo" Latin than grammatically correct. I've heard the when General Stillwell had to deal with the insane politics of dealing with the Nationalist Chinese in WWII, he kept that over his desk.
 
Eh, refusing to give them business is a little extreme considering this was only one employee. I can't say I'd stop going somewhere because one employee was acted like an idiot.
 
Maybe I missed something, but you're upset because he pointed his finger at you while acting out a hypothetical robbery situation? Or you're upset because he said he'd tell someone open-carrying a gun to get out of his store, and showing that he was prepared to defend himself? I mean, when you open carry, everyone knows you have a gun, all he was doing was returning the favor. He didn't point it at you or even take it all the way out.

There's plenty of people here on THR who would agree with his first point. I don't know how you could consider him a loose cannon, but I wasn't there.
 
I am not a fan of open carry. I think it is for police wannabes or oddballs.

Nothing personal, but discretion as they say, is the better part of valor.

Besides, the look on the face of a scumbag when a concealed gun magically appears is pretty priceless. Why miss out on the best part of a gunfight?
 
Heard/read worse right here at THR.

Nevertheless, it's too bad that this range allows such a PR liability to deal with its customers. Some ranges should work a bit harder on their image in the overall interest of RKBA.
 
Vodka7 et al,

I'm not "highly upset"...however, if the guy is to be taken seriously and (as others said) spread good PR for RKBA and the range itself, I don't think he should act like that. Heck, I wouldn't act like that if I were paid.

Ironically, three or four people who came in the place were OCing, as was the guy who said it was bad. Seems like people who are totally against it can always come up with scenarios where THEY should be able to do it, or cops should definitely have the right in their eyes even when in plainclothes. If you want to be able to do it at all, ever, support the right for everyone to do it all the time!

Whoever said OC is for screwballs and cop wannabes, it's funny, since lots of people say that about anyone who carries...period.

As far as the storeowners' responses and whether I want to test the effects of buckshot...I have OCed for a while here, as I mentioned, and the people who seem to be strongest against it are cops and CCWers. No one else seems to give a hoot.

Consider this post and the orig post I made rants, but I wouldn't act that way for the world. I can't understand why anyone would, and it seems a liability for a lot of reasons. Someone who seems to relish the thought of killing in defense and is dumb enough to openly talk about it to strangers gives me bad vibes.
 
Oh, as far as switching ranges, I don't mean an all-out boycott or extended animosity. I just mean that it would have been a strike against them in my decision process to choose the best fit for me.

And, vodka, I wasn't even OCing at the time. HE was OCing, ironically, and I wasn't. Why he felt a need to show me his/their shotgun is beyond me. How about if I'd been like "Yeah, but then I'd be like...[and pulled out my knife 'just to return the favor some more']" - if I had been acting as thoughtlessly as him, the situation wouldn't have been nice. Sure, it's "his" establishment, but it is discourteous to act that way.
 
ArmedBear wrote,
He doesn't sound like the Poet Laureate. However, he has some good points, actually. They might be worth considering, since the guy behind the counter at the store might be a lot more like him than like you.
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Point taken...I'd chalk it up as a learning experience. Anti-gun people are actually worse than the guy in this shop. I'd rather learn this way than later in some hostile anti-gun environment.

conwict wrote,
Sure, it's "his" establishment, but it is discourteous to act that way.
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Is it really his establishment? It sounds like he's the spoiled brat son of the owner.
 
jake,

sorry if I was unclear; the owner's son was a pretty cool guy. No problem there. He was, however, witness to our conversation and didn't seem fazed by it.

This was a tertiary employee...when I said "his" establishment I meant, he is more rooted there than I since he works there.
 
He also, at another point, said "Dude, if you come into my grocery store, my shop, I'm gonna be like...whoa, you a bad dude. I don't know you're good, so you're bad. And I'm gonna be like, get out of this store now. (He reaches under the counter and gets out a Mossberg 500 tacticool and lifts it into partial view)."
Click to expand...

Now, I'm not a fan of open carry, but no one else sees anything wrong with this statement? Last time I checked, "bad dudes" don't walk around with their gats visible...Granted, I see things different than a lot of other people, but when I see a guy/gal walking around a store or wherever open-carrying I think to myself, "well, if the bad guys do come, I have someone on my side."

I would expect that statement from your average Joe, but not someone working at a gun shop/range.
 
Hey Conwict

Hey Conwict, thanks for sharing the story.

Chalk this up to people who love, at all costs, to play the ONE-UPMANSHIP GAME with you.

No matter what you say, you're wrong, and he's right, and he's willing to engage in lots of melodrama to prove it.

Ask yourself this question:

If you had to pay 5 cents for this performance, would you have paid it?

[I wouldn't]

Of course, somebody might act out and victimize you precisely as described, but my guess is that the percentages are way in your favor. I think you should open carry, if the turkeys don't like it, let'em gobble.:) If I see someone carrying, I know there's one more man I can count on.
 
Open carry means that if there's an ambush scenario, you're the first body on the floor.

Open carry means that some folks may mistake you for a bad guy. That's just the way it is.

I would NOT open carry without a Darn Good retention holster.
 
OC is legal in most of NC... you can OC in banks but not CC... you cant OC in any other prohibited CC places... the city of chapel hill has restrictions against OC of handguns under a specific length... other than that, its allowed
 
My opinion ? ( you did ask). I can't believe this scene generated a 7 paragraph complaint here on the World Wide Web. What's the deal lately with folks crying about how they were treated at the gunstore/show ? So the guy's a little goofy, who ain't?
 
Three words: Weapon Retention Drills.

If someone is in range to grab your gun from it's holster, they are within striking range for you. If they are going for your gun, you have every legal/moral reason to believe they are going to use it on you, and therefore your life is in immediate danger. This is not the time to be standing idly by. Both your hands are free, only one of the BG's is free.

If they've got the drop on you from behind, though, you have to decide whether your going to take the risk of reacting. Self-defense schools often teach these kind of scenarios.
 
I don't wanna worry about malinformed idiots who think that they wanna play hero and take the bad gun away from the guy. And I can't always keep my back to a wall.

If someone tries to grab your boomstick, and it goes off during an ensuing scuffle, who gets blamed? I HATE paying perfectly good money to lawyers.

Frankly, I'm old enough that I prefer to take the path of least resistance.

Besides, a kel-tec looks stupid if you wear it like a BBQ gun.
 
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