Gun Shop Safety Violations

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Yoda

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OK, what are your stories?

I was at a gun shop in Gulf Breeze, FL, where a jerk was sweeping a Glock around at waist level, pointing it directly at four or five of us other customers, constantly pulling the trigger and saying, "Hey! Nice trigger!" Anal-duct!

I was at a pawn shop in Niceville, FL, when a guy with a Tokarev was doing something similar, plus holding it upside down, muzzle resting on his belt buckle, with his thumb inside the trigger guard and his other fingers on the back of the grip. I started to leave, and the very, very nice and lovely lady behind the counter asked if there was anything I wanted. I said that I just didn't want to be around someone who handled a gun so improperly, and I left. When I went back a few days later, she told me that the guy in question steamed for a few seconds after I went out the door, then he went outside to "deal with" me. I guess I had already driven off, because I sure didn't see him. I suggested she post the rules for safe gun handling and enforce them.

I was at a pawn shop in Fort Walton Beach, FL, looking through the glass at a really nice .17 HMR revolver, back when they were fairly new. When I asked to see it, the dealer handed me the gun and its factory case, but inside the gun case was a box of live ammo. I suggested to the dealer that this wasn't a good practice, and he patted the gun on his side and said that no one better load the gun and try any funny business. This started a long and frustrating attempt on my part to convince him that someone loading the gun and threatening him was not the only hazard here. Someone might load the gun and return it to him loaded, setting the stage for something to go very wrong in the future, long after the culpruit had left the store, or the idiot in question just might have a stupid accident on his own. The dealer never admitted that he agreed with me, but he gave me a great deal on the gun and I left with it---and the box of ammo.

Any stories of your own?

- - - Yoda
 
I went to a gun store, had a pleasant conversation with the knowledgable salestaff on the reasonably priced firearms were very tempting to purchase. then the alarm went off, I got out of bed and thought to myself "what a wonderful world" :D
 
I don't want to appear nasty, but this type of story has been posted many times before.
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If you don't want to appear nasty, then just don't post.

Re the OP's discussion:

I was in the gun section of Bass Pro. Some old man was looking at handguns and for some reason was looking down the sight plane ........ right at me. I had to ask him several times to stop. The final time I yelled at him to stop pointing that gun at me.

The clerk (who doubtless was working his second part time job, splitting time between Bass Pro and McDonalds) looked totally clueless.
 
I usually get swept once or twice when I go into a particular locally owned gunshop. I think the owners have decided just to let this stuff slide in favor of sales. They don't want to chew out potential customers.
 
Uncle-Mike always grinding his axe on Florida.

And for the "this has been posted before" crowd- this is a forum, not a library; no situation is unique, everything you say has been said by someone else before you. If we stop posting the forum dies.

The last gun store I visited there was a man with a saleman racking the slide of a Colt full size over and over- not controlling the slide with his hand, just dropping it repeatedly on an empty chamber. And the saleman just stood there watching him without saying anything. Makes me leary of buying a gun from there.
 
I picked up a

hunting rifle, in .338, When I turned it over, I could see that it was loaded.
I handed it to the guy behind the counter.
 
why would it be loaded? guns SHOULD NOT be loaded in gunstores.
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hammernail.jpg
 
When I was in a gunshop and some fool was pointing a handgun in my direction, I went over there, looked him right in the eye and said, "Don't point that gun at me again." Probly 99% of decent gun customers would have apologised, but this maroon said, "What's your problem, man? It's not even loaded!"

I replied, "If you point it at me again, I'll take it away from you." Then a couple employees came over and asked him to leave, which he did. They apologised profusely, and I said, "Hey, it wasn't your fault, but thanks for getting rid of him" and went back to what I was doing.

I suppose the maroon could have waited for me outside so we could settle the matter in redneck fashion, but I never saw him again.

Parker
 
I've found that the generally pawn shops are less safe than dedicated gun stores. I was in a pawn shop in Milton, FL and the guy swept me right after he retrieved it from under the counter.
 
The gunshop I go to is very good about safety. They pull the bolts on rifles (leave them in the box) and check all handguns before handing them to a customer. Not sure about what they do about AR's beside pull the mag.

So far I haven't been swept by anyone at the gunshop. Can't say the same about the public shooting range.
Dallas Jack
 
If you walk into a store of any kind that sells guns of any kind you had better expect to be swept. I dont condone any of it but it happens all the time.

If you dont like guns pointing at you then you probably dont like the guns on the shelves pointing at you as you walk in then.

If you are in a gun shop and you pay attention to everyone there you are going to see someone get swept all the time. I try not to pay attention to everyone there because I would probably get nervous.

The gun shop I frequent the employees all obsessively check the guns every time they touch them. I believe this is a good practice. It doesnt stop many people in the store at any given time from being swept by an employee or a customer with the gun though.

As soon as the emplyees hand touches the gun on the shelf the sweep has already begun most of the time. I know I am being technical here but you are too if you will not stand to get swept in the shops ever.

It just is not going to happen.
 
Earl, I disagree (respectfully). The gun shop I referred to expects the customers to handle guns safely, and usually they do. When I handle a gun there, I point it up, down, or in a direction where nobody is standing. It's just a continuation of the gunhandling practices I use elsewhere, and I'm grateful to the owner and staff of that shop for enforcing it. How else will people unfamiliar with safe gunhandling learn it if not from being corrected?

'Course, I buy a lot of stuff there, and could be they just don't want a good paying customer shot if there's a round left in a gun.

Parker
 
How about, instead of focusing on the bad behavior we observe in others, we focus on the good things they do.
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How about instead of ignoring reality we cover both sides of the field.
 
+1 Uncle-Mike.
I can count the gun stores that properly handle firearms on one hand... and the number of gun stores/pawnshops that I've been in would many extra appendages. When I note an unsafe practice in a store, I simply walk out and never return. I've only been in Florida Gunshops, so my view is skewed one way based on this.

I've resigned myself to never buying from any gun from a gun store again. I found a few pawnshops that deal very low volume firearms, so I generally don't have to worry about other customers. That leaves just the workers for me to worry about, and I found one or two shops that have knowledgeable workers that I can "trust" to do a FFL transfer.

Silly to use "trust" in that context when I am only referring to following the BASIC firearm safety rules. I vote with my dollars. Unless a customer is doing something that directly affects me, not my responsibility to make a scene; I just leave.
 
How about instead of ignoring reality we cover both sides of the field.
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Right, like there haven't been eight million "SHARE YUR DUMB/DANGEROUS/STUPID GUN RELATED STORIES" threads here already.

It's been done. It doesn't advance us as a community. We all know that poor gun handling skills are dangerous and should be avoided - why go on and on about instances we've encountered where they've been abused?

We should be celebrating and discussing the positive, responsible, and correct examples, and emphasizing their importance. Not the idiots who can't be bothered to follow four simple rules.
 
Walked into a small, local gunshop one morning before deer season and was met by the business end of a Remington 700 staring at me from across the room. Spooky feeling, let me tell ya.

In fairness, the gun was scoped and the guy was looking out the door - through the glass - to see what the scope was like. I don't remember if the action was open (that would have helped), because I was busy kissing the carpet. :eek:

The buyer-to-be blanched, apologized for the moment, and a bit shaken, bought the gun. On the way out, he apologized again and stuck out his hand for a shake. I took it, accepted his apology with the caveat that he think twice in the future.

Q
 
"If you walk into a store of any kind that sells guns of any kind you had better expect to be swept. I dont condone any of it but it happens all the time.

If you dont like guns pointing at you then you probably dont like the guns on the shelves pointing at you as you walk in then."

Sorry, but that's the biggest load of doo-doo I've seen on here yet. I have never had a gun pointed at me in a gun shop. And yes, I pay attention.

There's a difference between conscientious people handling guns and imbeciles handling guns - those who learned everything they know about guns from the movies. In the shops I go to, all the rifles point up, the handguns is the display cases point to the left, not at you.

In the local shops I frequent here, idiots are sized up immediately upon entry into the store, the clerks are knowledgable, ALL firearms are opened and looked into/felt to be unloaded then handed to the potential customer. The first time a boob slams the slide home/swings a muzzle/dry fires an expensive bolt gun or anything else, the gun is taken from him and he is told to leave.

The local shops I frequent prohibit loaded firearms from entering their stores for the very reason that some people with guns are negligent discharges waiting to happen - and they don't want it happening in their store.
 
I just don't see much of this. When I go to a gun shop, I follow the unwritten procedures I learned years ago. I watch the salesman "clear" the weapon. I take it, verify it's safe, then begin to handle it. Before I return it to the salesman, I verify the weapon is unloaded, show that to the salesman, and hand it back with the slide retracted, cylinder open, etc. I don't lecture others, but I believe that most halfway intelligent individuals begin to "get it" once they see safe gun handling procedures.
 
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