I went into a gun shop the other day (actually, a pawn shop which sells guns), and I was looking at their offerings. Not much, but I saw a used 1911 I couldn't identify through the case for $699 and I asked to see it. (Turns out it was a Springfield GI with non-factory grips - what a gyp! Usually they're pretty reasonable there...)
He comes over, checks the chamber, lowers the hammer, and hands it to me. I go about checking tolerances and indexing the piece, working the action, and just generally handling the firearm so I don't make the guy feel like I've wasted his time in letting me handle it (no way I'm paying that for a GI). I then rack the slide, index on the corner of the room (about 5 feet away and not in the proprietor's direction, with nobody but the two of us in the shop) and dry-fire the pistol. I cock the hammer, lower it, cock it again, and then re-index on an object in the corner, and slowly dry-fire it again. The trigger was a bit soggy for a GI, I thought...
I then hand it back to the shop proprietor and thank him for letting me look at it. He puts it back in the case and starts to walk away when he says, with criticism in his voice, "You shouldn't dry-fire guns in a gun shop."
The impression I got when he said it was that he was saying it with the general attitude that it's something which might freak out the patrons and/or the workers, as if I'm going to 'cap someone's arse', even though he checked the action and stood there watching me do the same at least twice. (Note: I'm a clean-cut kinda guy, no tattoos, and well spoken.) I patronize him with an affirmative response, walk about a bit more, and leave.
Is it just me, or was his response to my dry-firing of the pistol completely off-base and inappropriate? Yes, I realize it's his shop and therefore his rules, but c'mon; would it be reasonable to say a potential customer could not drive a car from a used car dealer? If it was a .22, I could understand him saying that (if he worded it specifically and not generally), particularly if it was after the first time I dry-fired and not after taking the piece back. I've dry-fired pistols and rifles both at every shop I've ever been in, and I've seen others do the same thing, so I don't think I'm too off in my assessment here...
I should note that I've been in there on a number of occasions, their gun guy knows me by name, and it's the only shop in the area which sells guns at all which is both not a chain and not staffed completely by pr*cks. This guy has been generally helpful and friendly in the past, so I was a bit miffed.
This kind of attitude from gun shop owners is really perplexing.
He comes over, checks the chamber, lowers the hammer, and hands it to me. I go about checking tolerances and indexing the piece, working the action, and just generally handling the firearm so I don't make the guy feel like I've wasted his time in letting me handle it (no way I'm paying that for a GI). I then rack the slide, index on the corner of the room (about 5 feet away and not in the proprietor's direction, with nobody but the two of us in the shop) and dry-fire the pistol. I cock the hammer, lower it, cock it again, and then re-index on an object in the corner, and slowly dry-fire it again. The trigger was a bit soggy for a GI, I thought...
I then hand it back to the shop proprietor and thank him for letting me look at it. He puts it back in the case and starts to walk away when he says, with criticism in his voice, "You shouldn't dry-fire guns in a gun shop."
The impression I got when he said it was that he was saying it with the general attitude that it's something which might freak out the patrons and/or the workers, as if I'm going to 'cap someone's arse', even though he checked the action and stood there watching me do the same at least twice. (Note: I'm a clean-cut kinda guy, no tattoos, and well spoken.) I patronize him with an affirmative response, walk about a bit more, and leave. Is it just me, or was his response to my dry-firing of the pistol completely off-base and inappropriate? Yes, I realize it's his shop and therefore his rules, but c'mon; would it be reasonable to say a potential customer could not drive a car from a used car dealer? If it was a .22, I could understand him saying that (if he worded it specifically and not generally), particularly if it was after the first time I dry-fired and not after taking the piece back. I've dry-fired pistols and rifles both at every shop I've ever been in, and I've seen others do the same thing, so I don't think I'm too off in my assessment here...
I should note that I've been in there on a number of occasions, their gun guy knows me by name, and it's the only shop in the area which sells guns at all which is both not a chain and not staffed completely by pr*cks. This guy has been generally helpful and friendly in the past, so I was a bit miffed.
This kind of attitude from gun shop owners is really perplexing.
