Odd or frustrating gun shop policies?

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Llew Taranau said:
There's a place near me that charges $200 -- yes, that's TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS -- if your 4473 is declined.

Makes me wonder what kind of clientele they've had in the past.
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Yea to be fair, the stores that are picky about making sure you can even buy the gun before letting you handle it probably have had too many failed transactions in the past that they view it a waste of time to let any customer handle the merchandise and possibly decide to buy it, only for them to fail the 4473.

The reason most of us find this treatment unpleasant is because we're so familiar and on equal grounds when it comes to firearms that there's no need to treat us like we're "everyone else". but when a store has too many "Everyone else" i can see why they get picky about this stuff.
 
Llew Taranau said:
There's a place near me that charges $200 -- yes, that's TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS -- if your 4473 is declined.

Makes me wonder what kind of clientele they've had in the past.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Especially since an error on the other end (NICS) or any number of other clerical errors can cause this, of no fault of the potential customer. What is the legal justification of this? "Services rendered"?
 
Used to be the laws were simple, now it takes a law degree to understand what the BATF wants, never mind the loco local laws. Don't blame the store employees, they are probably not trained, just some monkey see, monkey do.

Politicians just pass these vague, ill defined, social program laws, that contradict each other, ( except on odd number days and Tuesdays!) and we get mad at the people who are supposed to implement them.
 
It is their business so they are free to make their store rules. If I don't want to follow those rules I'm free to shop at other stores. In other word's they are free to do what floats their boat and I'm free to do the same. Life's too short to get stressed out over someone's store rules when you can just find another place to spend your money.
 
Llew Taranau said:
There's a place near me that charges $200 -- yes, that's TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS -- if your 4473 is declined.

Makes me wonder what kind of clientele they've had in the past.
Click to expand...
:what:


Will they give you a $100 break on the purchase price if it goes through the first time? :alien:
Hey! Fair is fair, yes?:neener:

Me thinks I would spend my money elsewhere.....:scrutiny::scrutiny::thumbup:
 
I have been on both sides of the counter . It is way more comfortable being the customer and so much easier to complain , owning or working for a shop is no picnic . Having a complete stranger walk in the front door carrying a weapon is not one of those, "would you like fries with that sir" moments . Many folks don't know their own laws , and when told that they instantly get mad and go on the attack . Always easier to blame the other guy . It's a strange world out there , no need to make it any stranger getting mad at things out of your control .
 
In California you could be arrested for a combination of brandishing or illegally open carrying a firearm , so he was doing you a favor by informing you not to open carry in California. Honestly with how sensitive some of the police are in Fresno, you might get guns drawn and told to lay on the ground. I grew up in Fresno and can tell you from experience. I got my head hit and screamed at by a cop for the crime of walking down the street and saying “I’m sorry I can’t hear what you’re saying” to a police officer during Mardi Gras.

SHOOT1SAM said:
Not quite a dumb policy, but I was visiting family in Fresno, CA and walked in to the gun store that also has a range where I have shot at many times, looking for a holster. I had a semi-auto pistol, unloaded, slide locked back and no magazine, holding it in the trigger guard by my little finger and turned sideways so anyone could see it was safed.

One of the guys behind the counter almost s**t a brick. WHOA WHOA WHOA!!! SIR, YOU CAN’T WALK IN HERE WITH AN UNCASED WEAPON!!! Literally YELLING at me from maybe 10 feet away. I just stopped and looked at him while I slowly rotated the pistol, again, hanging upside down, slide locked open, from my little finger. Now, not quite yelling but not speaking in a conversational tone either, he says “Well, I’ll give you credit for that but you shouldn’t walk in with an exposed weapon.” Tells me “Next time, put it in a paper bag or a rag, or even wrap it in a pair of underpants (he seriously said that), anything but carrying it in exposed.” I just replied something like, “Well, I’m from Idaho and I guess we just don’t panic when we see a gun.”

I walked in to 2 other stores, in the same manner; both simply asked me quite reasonably, if they could double-check the pistol first.

Sam
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Employee carries the rifle so if they accidently shoot someone, YOU set them up to do it, and its your fault.
If you carry it and shoot someone, the store let you do it... so its the stores fault. Changing hands is proof some declaration of safety was given.
Also, a spree shooting where you let the crazy walk to the "middle of the store where the most carnage could be inflicted while carrying a weapon of war that doesn't belong on our streets" (thats what the D's will be saying on the news) is a consideration.
I can't say for certain, but I would bet a NICS denial charge their insurance contract or agent says something to that effect.
 
A long time ago i bought my son a mossberg 590 for his 18th birthday from Dicks. They carried it to the door and handed it to us on the sidewalk.
I thought it was strange. The employee was a nice guy and apologized for the ridiculousness.

Last time I purchased anything there.
 
Waveski said:
A) That one is your property. The merchandise in your hand is store property.
B) Making reference to your "loaded pistol" in such a conversation is not a good idea. Not relevant , not helpful , too much room for misinterpretation , sounds real bad when repeated by staffer to other people later on ... no redeeming value. Bad tactic , period.
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A. I thought I was pretty clear when I said that I was walking INTO the store with MY pistol in the factory S&W case. I have been walked out the door when buying a new gun plenty of times. Also dumb, but whatever.

B. I was pointing out the reality and absolute facts of the situation. This is the new insanity that we are surrounded by. There is no common sense or reality; only feelings and optics.

Sad to see so many gun owners defending such insanity.
 
Trey Veston said:
Never really had many issues with employees of area gun shops, but have had a couple of gripes about policies that make no sense.

Couple of weeks ago, I decided to sell a pistol at the LGS. They are a store that sells everything from lawn and garden equipment, tools, guns, shoes, to Thule rooftop tents. Their gun section is in the back of the store and is pretty big. Probably 10% of floor space.

So I go walking in the front door past the checkout counters and have my pistol in the factory blue S&W hard case, when I hear a panicked, "Sir! Excuse me sir, what do you have in your hand?"

I reply to the college-aged female that it is an unloaded pistol in a locked case that is going back to the gun counter to be sold.

She tells me that it is store policy that they have to call someone from the gun counter to come up front and take possession of the pistol to take back to the gun counter.

I get a puzzled look on my face and ask her what about the loaded pistol on my hip? Can I still walk around the store with that? She declined to answer.

I have no idea why a store that sells guns in Idaho, with most customers having firearms on them, would make customers hand over their firearms to employees to walk back to the gun counter.

That same store charges 15% commission on selling guns, and also a $10 "shelving fee". Never heard of that one, either.

Anyone else have a gun shop that has some weird or ridiculous policies?
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Unfortunately, it is quite simple. I am not sure what the percentage actually is, but, it IS more than you think.

There are many ________ people that will walk into the store with the exact same scenario........and yes....you guessed it....WITH a LOADED FIREARM.
 
Some of you guys are funny. If you don’t like how they run their business, don’t go there. Go open your own gun store and make up your own rules. Trying to argue about it makes a person sound ignorant. I truly don’t understand why a person would be clutching their pearls about employees following the policy that their employers have set for them.
 
I reread the post and I stand corrected regarding the gun in the case.
A chain store in my area had a similar policy ; I was told it was due to an AD incident in one of their stores. I'd imagine the insurance carrier was involved.
The difference between the gun in the case and the one you are carrying is - the assumption is that the cased gun is going to be handled in the store. Management wants to have control of that. There is also an assumption that the loaded carry gun will not be handled - inn fact there is probably a hard rule about that.

While it is true that these rules and procedures can be a nuisance , it is also true that one mistake can put a store out of business. It is also true that taking the college aged female staffer to task is pointless. She is just doing her job , and may well find the situation intimidating. Bringing up the "loaded pistol on [your] hip" did not benefit the situation in any way. A simple "yes ma'am" would have been a more polite way to respond to the young lady.
 
I was filling out a 4473 at my LGS with a young kid helping me. I asked him during the process if he thought a murder warrant from Alabama would slow down getting the gun. I did it with such a straight face I almost believed it. He walked over to the owner and quietly asked him. I'd known the owner for 30 years and he asked the kid what he thought. I pulled the same joke with a customer another time, their eyes got huge and they said "I dont know"
 
There's a store similar to the one described by the OP that I occasionally visit. They have a sign on the front door that says "no open carry", firearms for sale,trade or repair have to be checked at the front desk but you can carry them to the gun counter afterward. Firearm purchases are called from the gun counter to checkout counter and the buyer carries it themselves.

Except for extremely small LGS, everywhere I've ever purchased a gun I was escorted out the front door by someone who carried the gun for me.

The time I had to take a rifle back into Walmart (in the box) because they forgot to take the trigger lock off, I called ahead and let them know. Apparently that wasn't communicated to the door greeter because she about fell off her stool. She was nearly frantic on the 2-way asking for management to come. I waited patiently though and I think the lady finally realized I wasn't trying to pull anything.
 
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