As a matter of fact...
There is a Sportsman's Warehouse near where I live (West Denver area). A while back I was down in Austin visiting my family. I decided to drive over to Georgetown and visit my friends at STI. While there, I started eyeballing some of the goodies in their safe. These are the guns they use for display at trade shows, etc...
The itch was geting to me and I asked Pauletta Skinner what it would cost me to have a nice Ranger II put together to my specifications. She quoted me a price and I wrote her a check. David Cupp made the modifications.
Skip ahead a couple of weeks. I walked into Sportsman's Warehouse to inquire about them handling the transfer of my new pistol. The firearm manager told me there would be no problem and that he would charge me a flat fee.
All seemed right with the world. Once the gun arrived I went down to fill out a 4473 and submit to the State administered instant check. I told the folks there at the counter that I might get a delay as I have a misdemeanor in my background. The NICS has delayed me a couple of times, but never have I been denied. This time I got denied by the State of Colorado. The folks at the store told me how to appeal the denial and that my gun would be in the safe. I thought there would be no problem as this was a misunderstanding and should be cleared up in a couple of days.
I called the CBI gun section and got specific instructions. I mailed off my appeal with supporting documentation that afternoon. The State has 30 days to act on an appeal from the time they recieve it. Reckon how long it took to get a response from the CBI? Thats right, exactly 30 days. I was told that the denial would stand.
I immediately got on the phone and asked to speak to the agent who signed her name at the bottom of the denial letter. I calmly tried to explain that the item in my record was a misdemeanor. She replied that she looked up the statute and called the DA's office and they told her the charge was a felony. By this time I was getting irate. I asked her if she looked at the disposition paperwork I had sent. That at the top of the document is says in VERY BOLD letters, "Misdemeanors". She replied that she didn't care, and that she had done her research and that was that. I told her as calmly as I could that I would call her back. I went to the Library and looked up the statute, chapter and section. It took me less than twenty minutes. I called the CBI again. I spoke the with the same agent and asked her to look up the same information I did and told her exactly where she could find it. After a pause she told me she would "try to work another angle on this", and that I should call back the next day.
The next day came. I called back. This time she told me that the denial would be reversed. I asked her how she came to that conclusion. She replied that they had checked with the NICS! Get it folks? They waited a full 30 days to do basically NOTHING, when they could have solved this in a day or two.
Now, I headed back to Sportsman's Warehouse, armed with my new transfer approval. The gun section manager wasn't at the counter as he was teaching a reloading class upstairs. I was confronted with a VERY RUDE individual who told me the gun had been sent back to STI. I asked why and he told me that it was in the store more than 30 days, so they sent it back. I asked, given that they know the state takes 30 days to act on any denial appeal, and given that it would take me a day or two more with getting a letter in the mail and all...Why the hell did they send my gun all the way back to Georgetown, Tx? I got a gruff reply that it was store policy.
Needless to say I left there angry that day, feeling like I had been rode hard and put away unhappy at every turn since getting back from Austin.
When I got home I called Pauletta Skinner at STI and asked if she had indeed recieved the gun back. She told me that Sportsman's Warehouse had called her and told her it was enroute and that they were not as friendly about it as they could have been.
Not wanting to go to bed unhappy, I went back to Sportsman's Warehouse to talk to the gun section manager. During that conversation, which was friendly, he told me that the store policy was indeed to hold the gun for 30 days and then to dispose of it. I asked him the same questions I asked the other gentleman... why do that when you know the state is going to take as long as they are allowed to act on an appeal. He told me it was store policy, but then said something I will always remember...
"...and then, WE had to spend fourty dollars to send it back to STI..." as though that was my fault! As though it cost them something to get the gun there in the first place, as though it was paid inventory. What a crock!
I then went to The Gun Room in Lakewood and asked them to handle the transfer. The owner introduced himself and told me there would be no problem and he would charge a flat fee (reasonable). The gun arrived in a couple of days (after I called Pauletta back and had her charge my card for another fourty dollars) and the State of Colorado gave me a "GO" on the instant check. I went home with my new Pistol. It is truly a joy.
The moral of the story? There are two:
1. The State will take the maximum ammount of time, and do it's best, to deny your rights. That's not an indictment of the employees, exactly, it is a statement of the nature of the beast. The instant check system is in the business of trying to find a way to say "NO".
2. Sportsman's Warehouse is a big-box store. They seem to have the idea and the attitude that they are in the gun business, you are not. They know things about guns and gun laws, you do not. They will do what they want to do and if you don't like it you can shop somewhere else, NEXT PLEASE! Their prices on the guns in the display cases on on the shelves are at FULL RETAIL. When I was in the gun business, ten years ago, I swore that I would always be friendly and courtious to my customers and NEVER act arrogant and condecending. That attitude will always bite you on the arse. A perfect example...did anyone read the piece in Gun List a couple of months ago about Jims Gun Jobbery in Fayetteville? Since they got big in the early 90's, they have had the same attitude. Anyone who lives in Fayetteville can attest to that.
I will now buy through my local gun shops, no where else.
Physician, heal thyself!
Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum
