I shook up the appliance clerk!

Did the clerk have a British accent?

Drop It

Frightened people have no sense of humor.

The emotional tones right above fear, which include anger and hostility, are also not blessed with humor.

Don't pursue that.

Frightened people also have trouble with the truth, and such humorless hysteria can mess up your afternoon, as you answer questions to the nice LEO about why you "threatened" him.

Be gentle with frightened people.

Once you have emotions like "interested" and "cheerful" -- or even "bored" -- you can try humor.

Frightened/angry/hostile people 1) take things literally, 2) misinterpret what they see and hear.

Be kind. Pay them compliments. Thank them.

That's all.

I think you missed an opportunity to educate someone who is gravely misled about firearms, and possibly, fundamental freedoms that he could enjoy.

It's understandable to not want to upset the poor guy any further, but he was already uneasy with you.
I don't think you had anything to lose in trying to politely educate the man, and the 2A cause has everything to gain.

I think that maybe your actions were a tad unorthodox. I would strike up conversation if I was the cashier and that happened, but it was probably a life threatening incident to the sheep that helped you.

He started shaking a bit and saying how if johnny law caught me with those I'd be in big trouble, even more so if I owned something to shoot them with.

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I'm surprised a guy living is South Carolina thought it was illegal to own guns or ammunition in the US

perhaps fear was not an issue
perhaps he was just wondering why you would choose to show off some ammo in your pocket
lastly
perhaps he just wanted another customer out of his store

edit to add:his comments could also stem from the above "perhapses"
not that he cared about johnie law but that you might

The hail with him - I don't spend my money with anti-gun weirdos, and I sure don't spend it where people have no sense of humor!

some folks are just plain stupid

( I bet the guy was scared because he thought they would "go off")

they spout stuff off because most folks do not know firearms related law, stupid people always assume they are correct.
In fact a study proved that stupider people assume they are really smart, and smart people are open to learning and do not presume to know everything.

The one exception is myself, I'm far smarter then everyone else

Johnny law would probably just say, "Don't litter with those.. ya hear?"

A smidgen of advertising pays

For a while, until I got a store-boughten cigarette snuffer, I kept a .40 S&W case in my change pocket to snuff out cigarettes (works pretty good).

So one day I'm in a cigarette store and I'm paying, and since I figure the only practical way to get rid of loose change is to actually spend it, I hauled out all my change to count out the 57 cents over the dollar amount. So the young clerk spots the casing and asks, "What's that?"

So I tell him it's a .40 S&W case I use to put out cigarettes, and he asks if I shoot, and I say yes and that got the ball rolling and soon I ended up flipping over my wallet card case to show him my CCW license.

So across the top of the license, in big letters, it says "SHERIFF," and then blurbs on with my description, and cites the "shall issue" state law, and of course has my signature and picture on it.

So naturally, he asks if I'm a cop, and I say no, just a private citizen and this means I'm licensed to carry a concealed handgun.

"How'd you get it?"

So I explained a little about the process and about felonies and domestic violence, etc., and he asks why I had one and I say you don't need a reason in this state.

So then he asks if he can get one and I ask how old he is, and he says 19.

I tell him if he keeps his nose clean for the next two years, he can get one too.

He looked like a big revelation just hit him, and I told him where to find info on it on the web.

He was a nice-enough-looking kid, but you know how you were at that age, so I hope the remark about keeping his nose clean will in fact encourage him to stay out of trouble.

I have now moved the CCW license to on top of all the cards, even in front of my driver's license, to make it more visible in these kinds of cash-register transactions. Not to "look like a cop," but to assuage fears if they happen to spot my usually "casually concealed*" 1911 or a couple of .22s happen to come out of my pocket with the change I'm always trying to get rid of.

Oh, so then he pointed out the real cigarette snuffers, and I bought one, so I don't have to carry the .40 S&W case any more. Sharp kid.

(Yes, he asked if I had a gun on me, and I said yes, and he wanted to see it and I said no. (Certainly not in front of the Security Cameras.))

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* As far as I know, the phrase "casually concealed" was originated by Standing Wolf.

skwerl said:

It just kicks my butt the the sight of little bitty 22's scare people.

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Remember the scare in Britain late last year, where a single live .22 SHORT was found at a bus stop and the area went on high alert for a bit?

obxned said:

The hail with him - I don't spend my money with anti-gun weirdos

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In this case he was probably just ignorant.
I'd take the time to educate the guy is he was receptive.
"Actually, sir, the local laws are as such..."

If he plugs his ears up, yeah, don't look back.

I don't think anyone can say the guy had no sense of humor. He just offered up a belt for $400. He just doesn't have the right kind of humor, or at the least a mind flexible enough to deal with new and different input. He's probably been telling that same joke for the past 25 years for every two bit part that goes out the door.

When I have been in situations like that, where someone tells me an outrageous price, whether for real or not, I ask them if they have a gun, since they are intent on robbing me! Or, if it is a real price, I will tell the person I would feel better if he/she had a gun so it would make it easier for me to hand over my money to them. This brings guns up in a nonthreatening way.

There have been times when I have reached into my pocket for change or my wallet, to discover loose cartridges, and one time a fully loaded magazine! I try not to flash them around. You never know when I just might go off my rocker, grasp the "boolet' in my hand, and rap the primer sharply with my knuckles, shooting some undeserving bystander.

It seems to me you need a change purse or an ammo pouch .

Yes the appliance man sounds like a bit of a pansy.

I've taken to keeping my permit on top of my driver's license as well. The benefits are multiple-fold (if that's a real word):

- More than once I've had cashiers try to give me the military discount with purchases requiring ID (they don't know what a military ID or CCW permit look like; I have a ponytail at least a foot long)
- I've only had one or two ask me if I'm a cop, but it has happened (again, hair half way to my butt...)
- When a cop legitimately asks me for ID the permit is on top, in all cases they've figured it out instantly and it's never been a problem
- People who do know what it is and are shooters/permit holders themselves can spot an ally instantly
- People who do not can be educated and possibly turned to the cause
- When someone is a closet anti-gunner and asks me what the thing is I can answer honestly and annoy them

Well worth the price of admission, in my opinion.

I must say, leftist anti-gun propaganda certainly is working well in places. For a Southern man to think you can be arrested for having .22 rounds in your pocket. I'm from CT and I wouldn't expect a response up here!

Zero has it nailed spot on. Photo ID? Sure..hand 'em my CHL. It's a more current photo than my Texas drivers license anyway. That way, Any gun / ammo revelation or situation is covered, IMO.

You can't get into people's heads. He may have been held up at one time..or, and more probably, he's just a misinformed, misguided anti with no clue.

"..even more so if I owned something to shoot them with." If that's a direct quote, it's time to bug out to the dugout.. and remember to have your "see the light" message next time you're in there.

tough call to make, you got to read the situaion and wonder if the guy is legitemately afraid of the inanimate objects, or if he mistook your display as your method of threatening him.

However, I get a compulsion to correct someone no matter who when they say somethign I believe to be patently untrue.

I'd probably have said 'good thing you are an appliance salesman and not a lawyer then, because that is absolutely not true, good day sir'

i've been suprised how simpy saying 'that's not true' can stop a lot of people in their tracks

Photo ID? Sure..hand 'em my CHL.

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Hmmm.. no photos on my state's CCW. We're required to carry photo ID with our permit.

skwerl, the only thing I might have done differently is ask the guy "why do you think ammo is illegal?" and then pointed out to him that there is nothing at all illegal about ammo OR guns. But, like you, I certainly wouldn't have told this sheep that I was carrying.

Then again, maybe he was a convicted felon, in which case, for him, it would be illegal.

Mostly I can't help but laugh at, and about, this kind of crap. I'd have told him he needed to get educated about his constitutional rights and his state law.

Back when Don Knotts died, I took a .38 reload to church and left it on our associate mininisters classrom speaker stand. Had a note.."in honor of Barney Fife, carry a single bullet." Two women in class kind of freaked...so I told them to grow up. Made me want to

Mark.

* As far as I know, the phrase "casually concealed" was originated by Standing Wolf.

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Thanks for thinking of me, eh? I tend to use "indifferently concealed," but might have used "casually concealed." I'm sure both terms have been used before.

Felon?

Mabey the guy did some time in his youger days.