Recently returned (to store) handguns: new gun owners.

Ignition Override said:

There is no hidden agenda here.

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Except the name of the store being Blue Steel.

No ulterior motives at all.

Would need to see a lot more quantifiable data that people with zero experience are looking for guns with safeties.

Ignition Override said:

It was posted as pure entertainment-I didn't sit there analyzing any aspect.
A sense of humor costs nothing.

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My liberal use of emojis should have given you a clue I am not serious.

I get it. I bought my 1st handgun 11 or 12 years ago, I used this forum and other internet sources to find the information to make my decision on what to buy. Cost was a major consideration, but safety was another. My 1st handgun was a Bersa Thunder 380cc. I liked the manual safety, and the magazine disconnect, as well as having a long, heavy double action pull. When I first started carrying, I carried with the chamber empty, safety on. I just wanted to make sure the safety wouldn't get bumped off while carrying. After I was comfortable with that, I carried with one in the chamber, safety on, and later still, I carried one in the chamber, safety off. Now I don't like manual safeties on my carry gun...or magazine disconnects for that matter. I needed that process of being able to step down incrementaly as my familiarization increased. I think a lot of folks ran out and bought whatever was available, or what their buddy down the street told them they liked. I doubt I would have been able to jump right into carrying something like a Glock from the get go. Makes sense that folks may want to return their impulse purchase and get something they can grow into, only to return that years later and probably wind up where they started But there is no substitute for experience, I needed to have mine when getting comfortable with handguns

As far as the returns go, I think it would be nice to know what the most purchased brand in that area during the panic buying was. Being able to compare the volume of returns against the volume of purchases would be pretty useful in making sense of the information.

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This; It's possible to have all the facts and still reach the wrong conclusion. I don't doubt the information in the video is factual, but I think they missed the point.

I'm 63. I bought my 1st shotgun at age 16 and have been a prolific gun buyer/seller/trader ever since. I knew exactly what I was getting every time but just wanted to try it to see for myself. Virtually all of my guns were bought 2nd hand and I was usually able to sell/trade them later for what I paid, or at least very close to it. Even made a small profit a few times. Otherwise I could have never afforded to try so many different guns.

I think a lot of these new gun owners are in the beginning stages of being a "gun nut" like myself and are just experimenting with something different much like I have always done.

I like the God, Family & Guns videos, and although the lady in the shop is very well versed in the area of firearms, she is too over- the- top, kind of goofy for me to watch.

My first handgun was (is) a Taurus Model 66, purchased the day after I turned 21 in 1987. Nothing wrong with the gun, and it was everything I expected it to be, but the ammunition was not, even in .38 Special. Within two weeks or so, I was back in the store buying a Ruger Mk-II, something I could actually afford to shoot at the time. I still have both.

Early last year, I saw my first-ever Seecamp pistol in the flesh. I was familiar with them and their limitations (in .32ACP) from back when they were intriduced, but had never laid eyes on one. This one was in my favorite pawn shop. They had just taken it back from a previous buyer who had found out about its ammunition restrictions the day after he bought it when he arrived at the range with it and a box of FMJ rounds (which, of course, don't fit in the magazine.)

They were almost hesitant to sell it to me until I told them even more about the gun than they already knew.

A corollary to that video - in this era of "six drops of lube", the WilsonCombatRep, a few years ago on another forum, commented that 50% of their returns for service are fixed simply by properly lubricating the gun.

It probably prompted the Larry Vickers "The Myth of Over Lubrication" video

I am a Glock guy. I don’t care who is or isn’t a Glock fan. And I like other guns just fine. My last handgun purchase was a 2011 that cost me what I could have bought 6 Glocks for.

This gun shop clerk, like many others I’ve met, doesn’t strike me as any authority on guns any more than the car salesman at a dealership on vehicles. Pretty condescending. And she’s clearly a “leather and steel gal”, which is fine, but makes me wonder if she too is a gun snob like so many folks I’ve met who carry steel in leather and “poo-poo” plastic guns, even though she clearly sells a lot of them.

If what she’s saying is true, and I suspect it is to some degree, does she sell any other striker fire guns without safeties, and are they coming back too? Or does she just like to throw the darts at the “G” ring?

I know the OP said this video was posted for entertainment, and I’ll accept that. But it’s certainly got a bias, purposefully or not.

tarosean said:

Except the name of the store being Blue Steel.

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humorous vid. I wonder if a true poll was taken across the US on what it would actually turn out to be.. I wonder if they let them return all the wasted ammo they bought lol. jk.

Im just waiting for them to bring them back.

Historically, its the after the panic bring backs that are usually where you find some great deals on "new" guns.

I wonder what would prompt these folks to suddenly be struck by the lack of a manual safety on their new Glock? They got the Glock recommendation from their friends, and I assume when they got their gun and brought it home, they would talk it over with their friends that recommended the Glock, and I don't think it would be an issue with their friends. Another common recommendation for those new to guns would be a revolver that wouldn't have a manual safety either.

I get "old guy" (raises hand), that grew up with guns, and had semi-autos before Glock's were introduced, who may have been out of guns, for a few decades, and was now getting back into them, to be surprised a semi-auto came without a manual safety, but folks just starting out in guns, it seems like a lack of manual safety wouldn't register even after bringing it home. I think times have changed.

For instance, I completely understand why the US Military would choose the Beretta M9 over the SIG P226. The Beretta M9 came with a manual safety, and the P226 didn't. The 1911 had a manual safety, the M16 has a manual safety. Picking a replacement without one, seems like a step they weren't ready to take, back in the late 1970's and early 1980's.

Conversely, I'm surprised the M17 has a manual safety. By now, all the users have grown up with Glock-type guns without a manual safety, and even the decision makers are probably young enough to have lived their entire shooting lives in the "Glock-era" where semi-auto pistols without a manual safety are the norm rather than the exception.

I bet she happily sold all those Glocks and will happily buy them back at a significantly reduced priced. She then will happily sell them all over again.

New gun owners frequently trade in guns for other guns.

A lot of new gun buyers use the term "Glock" for any polymer framed semi-auto handgun. So they go to the gun store and ask for a "Glock" and that's what the gun counter person hands them.

My buddy is a gun trader. He's had half a dozen glocks in the last two years. Plus several other polymer guns. Half a dozen 1911s. The last trade went like this, which is typical of him. Sell a Springfield ronin, buy a shotgun, week later, sell the shotgun, put boot with it and buy a tisas 1911.

He had a gun, don't recall which now, it was nice though, and he sold it based on a YouTube videos bad review.

He traded a glock 19 gen 4 for a glock 19 gen 5 and added $100 boot. I asked him why? He started listing features the new glock has that the old one didn't. He doesn't use none of the features though.

He now carries, a different, glock 19 gen 4. For now.

Part of it is just trying new models, part of it is just wanting to trade. He's in his 60s.

Valid assessment, by all

She clearly has a bias, but no problem with money.

My question is, IF she has this experience with unhappy customers, why are customers not being told about the external safeties?

Granted, not all counter people are experts. They are usually, the most knowledgeable, of the employees.

A car salesman POINTS out and demonstrates special features.

I am not a Blocker. They are reliable and well built, at any affordable price. I don't like how they feel IN MY HAND. I have friends and relatives that love their Blocks. They were mostly, first time handgun buyers and new the name.

Years ago, when it took my CC class, a gentleman and his granddaughter (25????) are in the class. They had gone to Academy, the evening before, and bought 2 semi-auto .22LR handguns.( I have not idea what they were. i tried too stay as far from them, as possible.
He was deaf and uninterested. She was not willing to take instruction. )
The handguns were in the factory boxes, in the Academy bag. They had problems getting the guns out of the cases. Had not idea how to load or insert the mags. Clueless to operations. Guns covered in grease, never cleaned.

Why would a legitimate gun salesman NOT go through operating the arms, especially, when knowing the buyer is a novice?

Inexcusable

The “I need a safety.” thing is very real. S&W makes most of their carry guns with a TS or no TS option for that reason. I think the term “Returned” is misunderstood when talking about guns especially with new buyers. It’s not like at Target when you buy a sweater that doesn’t fit and return it for a full refund. Trade in is a better term.

I get it. I was a new gun owner once, too. But it’s 2021. We have the internet, forums, YouTube, and hosts of other sources of info.

It’s harder for me to accept the “I didn’t know what I was getting into” bit.

Do a little research, go handle some in the store, try to get some trigger time if possible, and then make an informed purchase. It’s not that hard.

md7 said:

I get it. I was a new gun owner once, too. But it’s 2021. We have the internet, forums, YouTube, and hosts of other sources of info.

It’s harder for me to accept the “I didn’t know what I was getting into” bit.

Do a little research, go handle some in the store, try to get some trigger time if possible, and then make an informed purchase. It’s not that hard.

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I agree, the internet is a big help that wasn't available for the pre-1990's-ish gun shoppers. However, in defense of some of these folks, the events of 2020, Corona Virus, George Floyd riots, the Democratic win in the Presidential Election, all presented a real or perceived immediate need for a firearm and also severe shortages of all things firearm related. That immediate need and shortages may have limited some options when folks were just looking for something/anything to help them protect themselves.

md7 said:

I get it. I was a new gun owner once, too. But it’s 2021. We have the internet, forums, YouTube, and hosts of other sources of info.

It’s harder for me to accept the “I didn’t know what I was getting into” bit.

Do a little research, go handle some in the store, try to get some trigger time if possible, and then make an informed purchase. It’s not that hard.

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And yet ......

Millennials are they "I want it NOW", instant gratification, but never satisfied, forever triggered, a don't have time for that nonsense.

And it's fast spreading to include EVERYBODY.

I have always spent time researching and searching for exactly what I want. A such, when it purchase a firearm, I very rarely sell it. Same with my vehicle, in drive them 15+ years.

Impulse nor panic buys are in my wheelhouse.

Everybody has their own way. Some don't make sense to those who do it right

I think the reality is actually harder than just doing a little internet research. You really do need to actually shoot things to know what they are like, and whether or not its something that will work for you.

You also should put a bit of time and effort into anything you try, just to really know too. Just shooting a couple of mags or cylinders full, or even a couple of boxes, really isnt anywhere close to being enough either. It takes time to actually learn the gun.

Something I kind of doubt a lot of the people who bought guns this time around are really willing to do, or would even consider it.

Ive bought a number of "used" guns, and a bunch of them were Glocks, that were basically NIB, and a few of them came with a partial box of ammo. What was missing was probably all that was shot out of them too.