Gun Store Stereotyping

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or how about just treating the like a person and then doing what your supposed to do and run the background check
 
Closing a cylinder with any more than a touch will, in my experience, get you chewed out. Not really debating what degree of force was used, but the word "slammed" inferred that it may not be all that necessary.

I know how you feel about the whole people looking at you funny due to appearances thing. IMO, one of the major downfalls of the gun crowd is just that...discriminating against people who look different. I'm not going to debate the merits/drawbacks of it...but I feel that its really a shame. My experience with gun store owners was really the #1 thing that nearly kept me out of the whole "gun culture," and I figure people can take that however they'd like.

Such is life.
 
Interesting stuff there Soybomb.

Wonder what this guy meant?

I am sure if you posted this on THR, you’d get a lot of posters saying you should have minded your own business.
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:confused:
 
or how about just treating the like a person and then doing what your supposed to do and run the background check
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Sapanther, I don't want to get into a mud slinging contest, but it is interesting to me that you are demanding respesct for yourself but displaying an obvious disrespect for the gun store owners here.
 
lousy experience w/gun shop owners?

i feel your pain on this one, but i would not have slammed the cylinder. anyway, the other day i stopped at my local gun shop where i had bought at least 4 handguns previously. i was looking for a new or used six-shooter and decided on an "evil roy" after a 15-20 min inspection. in tn, they charge $10 for a tbi background check, but in the past this shop owner waived the fee. i ask the salesguy if he would waive the fee and he said i'll ask the owner. min or two later i hear the owner say who the hell marked this gun so low at this price? this is a $650 gun and the customer wants what? he's very loud and angry about the situation. i then said to him that this was unfair treatment and the price should stand: i merely asked if the fee could be wiaved? i was so mad i walked out to avoid a confrontation. long story short is this guy was an a-hole and treated me like a child! i'm now getting the word out on his shop and he'll lose more than the cost of that gun sale!!!!:fire:
 
this is a $650 gun and the customer wants what? he's very loud and angry about the situation. i then said to him that this was unfair treatment and the price should stand: i merely asked if the fee could be wiaved? i was so mad i walked out to avoid a confrontation. long story short is this guy was an a-hole and treated me like a child!
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So the guy has a mispriced gun in his case and decided not to sell it to you at what I assume was a very low price. Well good for him i say. He is not in business to give away profits. He would not be in business long doing that. Sounds to me that you are mad they caught it before it went out the door.

What is the name of this gun shop, well since you are getting the word out and all.
 
While I don't have tats, I do have long hair and havent had a clean shave in years. I normally wear beat to crap combat boots, blue jeans, and t shirt, with or without sleeves depending on how the weather is and which shirt my hand lands on.

I dont really get treated any different than I did when I always tucked my shirt in, had short hair and a clean shave.

I'd say I slammed it as hard as I would slam magazines into a semi-auto pistol.
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If you slam your mags like I do mine, I would say the store owner under-reacted.
 
...am I in the wrong here? Or should I have known better and worn long sleeves and pants before going into an old timey mom n pop gun shop?
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Two sides to every story. At the very least you have learned how to better handle revolvers.

If you really want to blow the lid completely off stereotyping, consider the following:
1. You were just in that store yesterday, so head on back over there (with sleeves), apologize for mishandling the gun and express appreciation for the correction. You're a retail manager and know how to do this. You should appeal to the owner's sense of forgiveness. It would be very "High Road" as the error was yours, not his.
2. Don't call his business an "old timey mom n pop gun shop" or call him derogatory names in this forum or anywhere else.
3. Report back and let us know how it went.

An opportunity to mend a fence within the gun community should not be ignored.
 
at 52 i'm still amazed at the varying views of people, their opinions and certainly where they come from... forget about the damn gun; it can be replaced. this is about humanity and doing the right thing and treating others respectfully. i have tatts and i'm harley biker who happens to be a white collar worker. if this shop owner didn't want his gun handled and was afraid of some marginal rough handling that's just stupid. we're talking about a gun here that is made to shoot high pressure loads and last a life time for god's sake. as for my issue involving a mis-priced gun or anything else for that matter, this is NOT the customer's problem and has nothing to do about morality. it has to do with owning up to mistakes and treating customers wthe respect; there was no compromise or similar act. we had offer and acceptance here and he simply voided the contract and treated me like crap in the process. this gun shop owner is located in greenbrier, tn and has a shooting range; i'll leave it at that.
 
I try to avoid all the local gun shops to me. I am almost 20 years old, but look around 15 when I shave, which is almost everyday. I have an extremely large disposable income and spend it on cars and guns, so when I go into the store I normally plan on walking out with something.

Every store I have gone into has ignored me. The one I thought was going to be ok as they let me handle the gun, but then after about 2 mins of me handling it they disappeared. 5 mins later I went up to someone handed it back and left. I had the money in my pocket, and ended up buying from a different place. Same thing at the gun shows. All of these people act like I don't know what I a want, or need. I just expect to get the same amount of service as someone who is in their 30s. I don't dress weird or have a weird haircut. It just gets annoying when something which should take 10 mins ends up taking 40 because they look and help everybody else before coming to me, even if I was there first.
 
at 52 i'm still amazed at the varying views of people, their opinions and certainly where they come from... forget about the damn gun; it can be replaced. this is about humanity and doing the right thing and treating others respectfully. i have tatts and i'm harley biker who happens to be a white collar worker. if this shop owner didn't want his gun handled and was afraid of some marginal rough handling that's just stupid. we're talking about a gun here that is made to shoot high pressure loads and last a life time for god's sake. as for my issue involving a mis-priced gun or anything else for that matter, this is NOT the customer's problem and has nothing to do about morality. it has to do with owning up to mistakes and treating customers wthe respect; there was no compromise or similar act. we had offer and acceptance here and he simply voided the contract and treated me like crap in the process. this gun shop owner is located in greenbrier, tn and has a shooting range; i'll leave it at that.
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... on the other hand, if the stereotype fits, then ... wear it.
 
As far as being stereotyped. I feel your pain. I may look different than the norm.
My friends are all tattooed up, some have crazy hair and crazy t shirts. I have no tattoos and no crazy hair.
We love to shoot. I love a quality hand gun. I enjoy building evil black rifles. I try to go deer hunting every season
and fish til I can't fish anymore. I work hard and enjoy giving to my friends, neighbors and complete strangers.

There is one gunshop/range in my area where the co-owner does nothing but eyeball
me and my friends when we are shooting at his range. Every little detail gets scrutinized. I once was getting ammo out from my range
bag. I forgot a box of ammo and left it next to my bag on the ground. The co-owner demanded a cease fire out of everyone came in and rushed me
like he was going to throw down. Got in my face and told me to never leave ammo on the ground. Some little kid could pick it up and figure out how
to load a gun. " No one is going to die on his watch" haven't been there for 4 months and didn't show up until last weekend.

Last weekend,I show up by myself to put a few rounds through a new handgun acquired at a recent gun show. Co-Owner immediately spots me and asks me to share a lane with two complete strangers because they were up to full capacity. I accept. Pay a full range fee and once I enter the range. The lane next to us was vacant. I wait exactly 20 minutes and
jump into the vacant lane next to us. Fired 20 rounds and I get tapped on the back. Its the Co-owner. " I told you to share with these guys" I tell him the lane was vacant for 20 minutes.

He ignores me and demands I share the lane or leave. I left quietly. I figured it wasn't worth the trouble to try to get a refund. Don't know if I'll ever go back again. Sucks because this range is about 5 min away from my house and usually has competitive prices. But since this last incident I'd rather buy something for a few more dollars online or if the price is right with another local shop.
 
It's been said repeatedly but I'll say it again in case you didn't believe the first fifty guys.

Flipping the cylinder shut on a gun you don't own is like asking to be punched.

By the way, Malaka, that's a cute name.
 
Ugh... to clear up misconceptions... I didn't flip the cylinder shut. I used my left hand to press it into the frame of the revolver.

I wasn't feather light about it, but I made sure it was in there.
 
In the gun world there is allways someone who dosent like how you do something.
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Wise words. Applicable to just about anything.

Given the tenor of the whole situation, you needled a guy who was already eyeballing you suspiciously. Who knows why. And you made a smartmouth comment at that. Just to have the last word.
 
Ugh... to clear up misconceptions... I didn't flip the cylinder shut. I used my left hand to press it into the frame of the revolver.
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Well, what is it? Did you press the cylinder closed, or smack it as hard as you smack a mag into a semiauto pistol under the mistaken belief you needed to do so to put it in battery?

Look, the shop owner may have been rude, or over reacted. Certainly possible. But my question is why do you have tattoos? Or the above poster a Mohawk? Be honest.

Quite likely you want to project an image of looking rebellious, of looking badass, thumbing a nose at stuffy squares. And even if you don't want that, that is what it projects. _Own it_. If you project an image of being a badass, people will take you up on it.

Sure that guy should be polite to you. But you compound your image problem by mishandling his revolver (not your fault, we all learn, and sounds like you were misinformed) and then gave him a smart ass reply.
 
The more I think about this topic, the more I think it may just be a gun industry issue.

Owners of small gun stores, in my experience, seem to be suspicious of outsiders (often rightfully so).

Although I fit the category of the "typical" gun owner (white male law enforcement officer), I've had my share of bad experiences in guns stores too...

Many times I've had shop employees/owners talk down to me like I'm ignorant of the firearms I'm asking to see, before they know any background information about me. I've even had them adding things to the conversation like: "police officers won't carry these guns because of X, Y, Z" or "This is what ALL of the cops are carrying, and everyone in law enforcement loves these". It is usually at this juncture in the conversation that I tell them I am an officer, and know how to pick a firearm.

My wife has it worse... She'll often ask a question and find that the shop employee's response gets directed towards me (as if she is incapable of asking a question). The other day she was asking about the shop's selection of concealment holsters for her Glock, and the shop owner kept directing his answers towards me, and my needs for a holster. Plus, my wife deals with the "ignorant and delicate little female" replies, as she terms it... She'll ask about getting a shorter stock on a 12ga shotgun (she's 5'0" tall), for example, and get a response like "honey, you really should buy a 20ga... those 12ga shotguns are big guns, and you won't like the recoil". The last time she was shopping handguns (looking at .40S&W and .45ACP calibers) she could hardly see a gun without first having to look at the "more suitable" 9mm that the store employees felt she should be using.

I'm admitedly not much of the argumentative type when I'm not at work, but there do seem to be some know-it-all types working in a lot of gun stores. I have enough back bone to deal with them, as does my wife, but I fear that these kind of experiences probably scare a lot of people away from this sport!
 
Well, what is it? Did you press the cylinder closed, or smack it as hard as you smack a mag into a semiauto pistol under the mistaken belief you needed to do so to put it in battery?

Look, the shop owner may have been rude, or over reacted. Certainly possible. But my question is why do you have tattoos? Or the above poster a Mohawk? Be honest.

Quite likely you want to project an image of looking rebellious, of looking badass, thumbing a nose at stuffy squares. And even if you don't want that, that is what it projects. _Own it_. If you project an image of being a badass, people will take you up on it.

Sure that guy should be polite to you. But you compound your image problem by mishandling his revolver (not your fault, we all learn, and sounds like you were misinformed) and then gave him a smart ass reply.
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Question 1: I closed it w/ a decent amount of force. I pressed it into the frame. But I definitely didn't weak arm it. I was definitely misinformed, but I definitely did it. I'm not defending my actions, I messed up, I've realized this. I was more irked at how the whole situation was handled. I'm sure there was a better way I could have handled it also. I was so polite with him, and I reciprocated the malicious tone/attitude. Sure that wasn't very high-road of me, but I'm human I guess. And I'm sure all of you have made mistakes, or maybe I'm wrong again.

Question 2: I have had tattoos since I was 18, I played in touring bands, all over the US. Just a right of passage I suppose. But I definitely don't look like a badass. I looked like a normal dude with tattoos. You don't have to lock up your daughters when I come around, I'll put it that way.
 
forget about the damn gun; it can be replaced.
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To you, the gun is an object, that you can purchase with your hard earned money, and it can be replaced with some more hard earned money. To the store owner, the gun is his livelihood. Selling it is how he feeds his family. If the gun is damaged in any way, money comes out of his pocket to fix it before it can be sold.

If you had a car for sale, and I came over to test drive it, and I peeled out of your driveway leaving bald spots on the tires, would you be upset, or would you think "forget about the damn tires, they can be replaced?"

this is about humanity and doing the right thing and treating others respectfully.
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And this goes both ways. The store owner was not friendly, but the gun buyer not only improperly handled an item that wasn't his, he then then insinuated that the store owner was incorrect about how the store owner's property should be treated.

if this shop owner didn't want his gun handled and was afraid of some marginal rough handling that's just stupid. we're talking about a gun here that is made to shoot high pressure loads and last a life time for god's sake.
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In any industry where customers handle a product, it seems that it is common courtesy to handle the product with respect. When Magpul hands me a PMAG at SHOT, I carefully inspect it. It isn't until after they invite me to jump on the thing that I start to handle it roughly. I don't think store owners in general should expect some "rough handling" of their products, and thus it is understandable when the property owner gets upset when there is rough handling. The gun only lasts a lifetime if it is properly cared for and used in the way it is meant to be used.
 
I've read so much about how people are dressed differently and are treated based upon that. It doesn't tend to matter how I dress....I'm a woman and I'm young.

My boyfriend wanted to learn how to shoot so I showed him what I knew. I'm by no means a master and he took my little bit of knowledge and ran with it and has even surpassed me. But there have been times at gun shows and stores where I get the old "so do you have to make the sandwiches when the boys are shooting?"

I don't argue, I smile through my irritaion and almost wihout fail, my boyfriend pointed out that I'm the one who got him into shooting.

I don't give a rat's a$$ what a person is wearing, if they are tattood, if they have peircings, or look like a dead head. What happened to common curtesy? So many things I do in my life get strange reactions because they aren't typical 'womanly' activities. And it's gotten to the point that I'm not surprised by the comments and the ignorance anymore and that's truly sad.

So the OP should have apologized and the shop owner shouldn't have been so rude. I'm really starting to wonder about the percentagge of people out there who just suck. :cuss:
 
Everybody dresses to make a statement about themselves, whether consciously or unconsciously. It does say something about you, because unless your mama still dresses you, you picked out what to wear.

Some people choose to look a certain way to make a statement about themselves. Don't get upset when the world hears your statement and acts accordingly.
 
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