Gun Shop Etiquette

[giggitygiggity]

We’ve seen threads on things that customers do in gun shops that are annoying/off-putting. However, I’d like this thread to focus instead on the things that gun shops and gun shop employees do that are frustrating.

The point of this thread is to share some personal accounts and perhaps garner a few laughs or even help anyone on here who sells guns get a feel for what to do/not to do to win favor with customers.

For me, the things that some gun shops/employees do are as follows:

1. Prices: Make your prices know/easy to see. I’ve gone into quite a few gun shops in which prices of the guns were either not displayed, on tags on pistol trigger guards but upside down and under the counter, and/or not readable because they were too far behind the counter. This is even more common with ammo, which could be remedied by placing a sheet of paper with the different ammo available and the prices. I know what most guns and ammo should cost and I often peruse gun shops to see if something catches my eye… when there are 100 guns, I am not inclined to make it awkward and consume everyone’s time by asking an employee to tell me the prices of every gun.

2. FFL Transfers: Similar to my first point, I like being able to visit a gun shop’s website and know 1) if they accept transfers, 2) stipulations for transfer from individuals, and 3) the cost of the transfer. Some shops do a great job and make all of this information extremely clear, but others do not even mention anything about transfers and others that do transfers often do not list their policy/process/price.

3. FFL Copy: It is annoying when I buy a gun online, but the company/person from whom I am buying the gun does not have my FFL’s license on file. As such, I have to call/email and ask my FFL to provide a copy of their license, which sometimes requires a follow-up because the FFL forgets or send to a wrong email, etc. A practice that I really like is when shops post a transfer copy of their FFL to their website, which enables the sender to obtain the FFL from the recipient FFL’s website of for me to download and provide that license copy to the sender.

4. Websites: While I don’t necessarily think that every gun shop requires a full blown website, I do think in the 21st century that gun shops should have some sort of an online presence in which customers can obtain information such as hours, holiday closings, fees/policies, etc.

5. Handling of Guns: I often buy guns online and then visit my local FFL to conduct the transfer. I have had employees unnecessarily handle my firearms. When I say “unnecessarily,” I mean that the employee touches/plays with the firearm more than is necessary to obtain the information required to complete the transfer. For example, I had one employee tell me, “I was dry firing your gun before you arrived… it’s got a great trigger.” I had an employee at another shop start digging through the my PSA RK-1 case to see what all it came with. I pay gun shops to conduct a transfer… my guns are not there for the employees’ amusement.



I understand that some of the above items might come off as complaints, and that wouldn’t be an inaccurate categorization. However, I hope that my descriptions and feedback are reasonable and might help anyone in the industry to enact some best practices.

 

[Ks5shooter]

Gunshop employee to customer"the porting on this shotgun barrel will reduce recoil 50%". Customer bought the gun and the bad advice.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I have had to move a lot over the years due to my career. I make a point to hit all the local shops when I get to a new place and get a feel for them which helps to address some of the OP's concerns. I understand your point, but I think some of what you're wanting contradicts themselves a bit. For me, I want one or 2 people I am dealing with who know me and aren't going to touch my transfer in an unprofessional way. Most didn't open it till I was there. However, those shops didn't tend to have much online presence, which I was fine with as what I cared about was being done well and they weren't getting hit with 4,000 net inquiries a day on prices, etc.

So, I shop around, takes some time and each shop has downsides but I have been able to find ones which work well for me each move. Most are smaller, less tech focused, and simple (like me Do wish I was smaller though..........

My biggest issue now are the people in gun shops who are ignorant of what they are selling, are spewing 'net BS, or want to talk down to an older person since I don't love their plastic, fantastic, thing which they want to push onto me.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

The one LGS i had my lower transfered at. He said i sell AR'S too. I have another one coming in. If he does it again. I'll rub in my 20 inch heavy barrel upper with dual charging in full length M-Lok rail with lower cost me less than 400.00 I started using them for transfer 'cause it's 10.00 and a mile away.

 

[nettlle]

Last gun shop I was in, (closest to home), was a Cabelas. It took me 30 minutes to get the attention of someone at the gun counter because they were to busy talking about world problems to wait on me. Finally when waited on I asked to to look at a particular pistol. When they handed me the pistol it had a trigger lock on it. When asked to remove the trigger lock so that I could try the trigger they said that they were not allowed.

I have decided to not allow myself to look at guns at Cabelas but rather shop online.

 

[dogtown tom]

3. FFL Copy: It is annoying when I buy a gun online, but the company/person from whom I am buying the gun does not have my FFL’s license on file. As such, I have to call/email and ask my FFL to provide a copy of their license, which sometimes requires a follow-up because the FFL forgets or send to a wrong email, etc.

You are annoyed at your FFL because the seller doesn't already have an FFL copy? Do you expect your dealer to be a mind reader?
If your dealer is forgetful, find a better dealer. When I email my FFL to sellers I always cc: my customer so they know it was sent. It isn't difficult.

A practice that I really like is when shops post a transfer copy of their FFL to their website, which enables the sender to obtain the FFL from the recipient FFL’s website of for me to download and provide that license copy to the sender.

And guess what. Your dealer has no idea who downloads his FFL copy and when the gun arrives without any documentation on the seller or transferee your dealer will be sitting on your mystery gun.

You sending your transfer dealer a short email with:
-Your name and contact info
-Firearm being transferred and your order# or auction#
-Sellers name and contact info.

Its just that simple. If a "mystery gun" arrives with no documentation, it takes only a minute for me to search emails and tie that gun to my transfer customer.

If I don't know about the incoming transfer it sits until someone calls and wants to know why.

It's common freaking courtesy to give the receiving dealer a heads up on an incoming transfer. It avoids the problems of the dealer changing his fees or policies, him being on vacation or at deer camp.

 

[MrShooter]

I have a really good store near me, his transfer is 25, for 1 or several. When I find a great deal online, I always call him and give him a chance first. If he can come within 10 bucks more than I'd pay if I bought online and paid the transfer I go with him. I don't mind paying a little extra to support a good business and a good guy. Heck, sometimes he'll even beat the online+transfer price. Etiquette goes both ways, and I know my guy appreciates my giving him first shot.

 

[giggitygiggity]

@dogtown tom, I suggest you refrain from jumping to conclusions and imagining things that I and others did not actually post. You have a habit of doing this, much to the ire of many members on THR. While you occasionally provide worthwhile points, your contributions are often overshadowed by your condescension and illogical conclusions.

You are annoyed at your FFL because the seller doesn't already have an FFL copy? Do you expect your dealer to be a mind reader?

Yes, I am annoyed that the seller doesn't already have an FFL from the receiving FFL on file. This is not the same as being "annoyed at your FFL" or being annoyed at a person/entity. My point is that something can be annoying, but not all annoyances are the fault of a person/entity. For example, I may find it annoying when it rains and I want to do something outside; however, the poor weather is not an annoyance resulting from a person/entity, but it does result in additional effort (have to wear a rain jacket/take an umbrella), similar to the lack of my receiving FFL's license being on file resulting in the additional effort of having to contact my receiving FFL.

If you read my quote, you will find that I faulted neither the receiving FFL nor the selling FFL for not already having the receiving FFL's license on file, as you imply through your asinine questions. In fact, I faulted no one, nor did I imply that anyone was to be faulted or responsible for the annoyance. I said, "It is annoying when I buy a gun online, but the company/person from whom I am buying the gun does not have my FFL’s license on file." To me, it is easier and less annoying when, upon checkout, the receiving FFL's license is already on file as this avoids the annoyance of me having to contact the receiving FFL to have his/her FFL copy sent to the seller. I think that nearly everyone would agree that there is less annoyance when one is able to complete all steps of an online order process at the time of checkout and without having to contact their FFL afterwards.

Only an unreasonable person would expect every random FFL to have every other random FFL's license on file. I don't know how you read my post and concluded that I "expect [my] dealer to be a mind reader" as I neither wrote nor implied any such thing.

Condescendingly, you will likely respond, "Just use an FFL that the seller already has on file. It's really that simple. [INSERT CHILDISH EMOJI]." That is an option and one that I've gone with before, but whether that is a suitable solution depends on things such as 1) the transfer fee charged by each of the potential receiving FFLs, 2) the distance of the FFL from met, etc.

If your dealer is forgetful, find a better dealer. When I email my FFL to sellers I always cc: my customer so they know it was sent. It isn't difficult.

I have changed dealers when they haven't met my expectations. I also move frequently so there is some trial/error when arriving in a new location and determining which FFL to use.

That's good that you cc customers so that they know that the FFL was sent. I wish every dealer did that. I agree that adding someone to a cc line isn't difficult.

And guess what. Your dealer has no idea who downloads his FFL copy and when the gun arrives without any documentation on the seller or transferee your dealer will be sitting on your mystery gun.

It is true that the dealer has no idea who downloads his FFL copy. In my experience, sellers (especially bonafide online businesses) include a receipt with the buyer's name/phone number so that the receiving FFL knows who bought the firearm. Similarly, private sellers usually, but not always, include some sort of documentation. Failing that, it is up to the buyer to ensure that the receiving FFL is aware of the incoming transfer and to provide the receiving FFL with their contact info so that the FFL knows who to call upon the firearm's arrival. As a buyer, I know that I track my firearm shipments and ensure that the receiving FFL is well aware of the incoming transfer. Granted, some people are not super responsible, I have found that when someone is spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on something, they tend to follow up and ensure that it arrived. That said, your point is valid that there is potential for a "mystery gun" if both the seller and buyer provide no contact info, which why it is critical that FFLs include their transfer policy/process/price on their website as I explain in item #2 of my OP.

You sending your transfer dealer a short email with:
-Your name and contact info
-Firearm being transferred and your order# or auction#
-Sellers name and contact info.

Its just that simple. If a "mystery gun" arrives with no documentation, it takes only a minute for me to search emails and tie that gun to my transfer customer.

If I don't know about the incoming transfer it sits until someone calls and wants to know why.

It's common freaking courtesy to give the receiving dealer a heads up on an incoming transfer. It avoids the problems of the dealer changing his fees or policies, him being on vacation or at deer camp.

I agree with the above, which supports the argument in item #2 of my OP in which I advocate for FFLs including their transfer policy/process/price on their website.

 

[giggitygiggity]

I have had to move a lot over the years due to my career. I make a point to hit all the local shops when I get to a new place and get a feel for them which helps to address some of the OP's concerns. I understand your point, but I think some of what you're wanting contradicts themselves a bit. For me, I want one or 2 people I am dealing with who know me and aren't going to touch my transfer in an unprofessional way. Most didn't open it till I was there. However, those shops didn't tend to have much online presence, which I was fine with as what I cared about was being done well and they weren't getting hit with 4,000 net inquiries a day on prices, etc.

So, I shop around, takes some time and each shop has downsides but I have been able to find ones which work well for me each move. Most are smaller, less tech focused, and simple (like me Do wish I was smaller though..........

My biggest issue now are the people in gun shops who are ignorant of what they are selling, are spewing 'net BS, or want to talk down to an older person since I don't love their plastic, fantastic, thing which they want to push onto me.

Please explain or provide examples of how "some of what am wanting contradicts themselves a bit." I am not making this request to be argumentative. Instead, I am not seeing how anything in my OP is contradictory and can elaborate if there is anything unclear in my OP.

 

[drk1]

"Gun Shop Etiquette" is not one sided. Having worked in gun shops, big and small, on and off, for over sixty years, I am certain that the people on the other side of counter have a few (dozen or more) points to add to your list. One of my favorites would be "please don't kill the employees." Having a customer ask to see a pistol, take it from your hand, quickly take ammunition out of his pocket, load the pistol and kill your co-worker standing beside you kind of takes the joy out of your day. But that's only one of dozens of etiquette issues from the other side of the counter. Another of my favorite ones involves pricing. If you "know what most guns and ammo should cost," would you please tell that to my distributors who often charge different prices for the exact same boxes of ammuntion that arrive in the same package? And then there are those distributors who charge different customers different prices for the same gun based on the ouija board they use? It's also a common pricing etiquette issue for my distributors to tell me one price over the phone or on-line and then surprise me with a completely different and always higher price when the invoice arrives. That one is a really difficult one to explain to customers who usually angarily storm out of the shop, swearing never to return. That would be very helpful. Thank you for shopping with your lgs.

 

[jdc1244]

I have had employees unnecessarily handle my firearms.

Yeah, when I went to pick up my Python it got handed around to everyone.

Otherwise, my FFL is very good - $25 transfer fee, reasonably fast service, nice shooting range.

 

[Lo-Profile]

I never buy online if my LGS can get the item for me. I always check with them first and they'll usually be cheaper than any online seller, once you figure in all the shipping, fees and other charges.
Gotta love the one auction site that charges both the buyer and seller fees for a item.

 

[Coyote3855]

I'm very fortunate to have a good friend with an FFL. He doesn't charge me for transfers and lets me send his license to the vendor when I purchase online. Last buy took three tries to get the vendor to find my email.

 

[bassjam]

My local FFL used to send me a copy of their license for me to send to online sellers, but recently they told me they were warned by the ATF not to do that so they will only email their license direct without copying me.

 

[dogtown tom]

@dogtown tom,

If you read my quote, you will find that I faulted neither the receiving FFL nor the selling FFL for not already having the receiving FFL's license on file, as you imply through your asinine questions. In fact, I faulted no one, nor did I imply that anyone was to be faulted or responsible for the annoyance. I said, "It is annoying when I buy a gun online, but the company/person from whom I am buying the gun does not have my FFL’s license on file." To me, it is easier and less annoying when, upon checkout, the receiving FFL's license is already on file as this avoids the annoyance of me having to contact the receiving FFL to have his/her FFL copy sent to the seller. I think that nearly everyone would agree that there is less annoyance when one is able to complete all steps of an online order process at the time of checkout and without having to contact their FFL afterwards.

Another thread of rants and annoyances.
Literally the most annoying thing is someone complaining that they have to send a single exhausting email to their dealer. One email. One email that should be seen as a common courtesy.

Condescendingly, you will likely respond, "Just use an FFL that the seller already has on file. It's really that simple. [INSERT CHILDISH EMOJI]." That is an option and one that I've gone with before, but whether that is a suitable solution depends on things such as 1) the transfer fee charged by each of the potential receiving FFLs, 2) the distance of the FFL from met, etc.

No, childish is posting a list of annoyances.

It is true that the dealer has no idea who downloads his FFL copy. In my experience, sellers (especially bonafide online businesses) include a receipt with the buyer's name/phone number so that the receiving FFL knows who bought the firearm.

I've had boxes arrives from Palmetto, Bud's, Brownells, Kentucky Gun, CDNN and Gunprime without anything in the box. Those are some of the biggest firearm retailers on the planet. It happens. I've been transferring guns for fifteen years and cannot recall a week where at least one mystery gun did not arrive.

Similarly, private sellers usually, but not always, include some sort of documentation. Failing that, it is up to the buyer to ensure that the receiving FFL is aware of the incoming transfer and to provide the receiving FFL with their contact info so that the FFL knows who to call upon the firearm's arrival. As a buyer, I know that I track my firearm shipments and ensure that the receiving FFL is well aware of the incoming transfer. Granted, some people are not super responsible, I have found that when someone is spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on something, they tend to follow up and ensure that it arrived.

Bravo.

That said, your point is valid that there is potential for a "mystery gun" if both the seller and buyer provide no contact info, which why it is critical that FFLs include their transfer policy/process/price on their website as I explain in item #2 of my OP.

I have my info on my website, my business cards and in every email I send to buyers and sellers. Sadly, you can't make people read, much less follow instructions.

 

[DukeConnor]

I agree with #5. I purchased a outrageously expensive rifle. Upon entering the shop to pick it up. It was being passed around and fondled by employees and customers.

I found another ffl that respects their customers.

 

[dogtown tom]

I agree with #5. I purchased a outrageously expensive rifle. Upon entering the shop to pick it up. It was being passed around and fondled by employees and customers.

I found another ffl that respects their customers.

About a year before I applied for my FFL I read a thread on another gun forum about the receiving dealer actually firing the customers gun before the transfer. His excuse was "because the insurance company requires it". It was in the Texas Hometown forum on AR15. That dealer was in Mesquite i believe.

 

[Anchorite]

Gun shop pet peeve: I ask to see a handgun and instead of safety checking it first, they point at me while handing it over.

 

[arsterling180]

About a year before I applied for my FFL I read a thread on another gun forum about the receiving dealer actually firing the customers gun before the transfer. His excuse was "because the insurance company requires it". It was in the Texas Hometown forum on AR15. That dealer was in Mesquite i believe.

God, can you imagine if they had loaded up bubba's nuclear bomb handloads and blown the gun up? That's some serious lack of foresight.

 

[tws3b2]

I usually go to Dunham's for guns and ammo rather than the lgs.
Dunhams-
The guns have trigger locks and they will not remove them for inspection.
Their price tags are scattered, upside down, or under a gun so you can hardly tell which tag goes with which gun or caliber.
The sales person knows nothing about guns.
The paperwork is so slow that by the time it's done your feet hurt from standing there for so long.
They WILL Not let you carry your new gun from the gun counter to the checkout counter, they will carry it themselves. They will Escort you not only from the gun counter to the checkout but also out the door into the parking lot. Outside, in the parking lot is where they will hand you your new gun.
Their prices are better than the lgs.
They have a better selection than the lgs.
Lgs-
Attitude. I don't know what their problem is. They just stand there saying very little, with this "Look?" on their face? Like,
You should not be there.
They should not be there.
I don't know, it's hard to explain. Like they are the gun Gods, You are Peon??
Anyway, I prefer Dunhams. Sometimes I will go the Gun/Pawn shop in the next town.

 

[Choctaw]

I never buy online if my LGS can get the item for me. I always check with them first and they'll usually be cheaper than any online seller, once you figure in all the shipping, fees and other charges.
Gotta love the one auction site that charges both the buyer and seller fees for a item.

I'm lucky because my LGS has an up-to-date website where I can buy and have the gun shipped to the store for free. That's if they don't have it in stock.

 

[beeenbag]

This thread makes me thankful to have a friendly, small, local gun shop that I am friends with the owner of. I often tell him to check out the gun and see what he thinks about it if its something rare or not commonly on the shelf. Shop Guns Gold and Cash if you all are ever in East Ky

 

[jmorris]

However, I’d like this thread to focus instead on the things that gun shops and gun shop employees do that are frustrating.

#1 on my list is to relay information that is untrue, while “educating” potential customers but that’s not just gun shops.

Lots of places seem to go by the mantra, “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with B.S…”

 

[Rule3]

My former LGS (they closed) my friend passed away suddenly at to young a age.

I used to bug him all the time to put different color price tags on the used guns vs the new. They did keep all the semis in one place and revolvers in another Kinda in caliber order.
Is that new or used? Does it have the box and stuff??

It was a great hometown shop/pawn, Kinda like the old hardware stores. Sure do miss him and the shop.

 

[wayneinFL]

My local FFL used to send me a copy of their license for me to send to online sellers, but recently they told me they were warned by the ATF not to do that so they will only email their license direct without copying me.

None of them I know of in Florida will copy you when sending the license. Works out okay, as long as the dealer gets the address right. There was one dealer I used to use a lot, back when we did everything through mail. When they started email, they couldn't get an email address correct to save their life, and they wouldn't call to work it out.