I saw some guys at the show who seemed (to my innocent eyes) to have gang-related tatoos. I wonder what the dealer's rights would be if he decided to refuse to make a sale to anyone who wore (what appeared to be) a gang-related tatoo.
I don't disagree with the basic concept, since a store owner is and should be free to run his store as he sees fit within the law.
However, nothing personal, but a lot of folks tend to say "gang related tattoos" while not knowing much about tattoos. It's entirely possible that they were just regular tattoos, which aren't uncommon among various subcultures these days. Plus various tattoos that used to be prison tattoos have been watered down by popular culture, so there are people who have, say, spiderwebs on the elbow just because they look cool.
There's a difference between noting actual troubling signs and deciding not to sell, and "not my kind of person" and alienating potential customers. My buddy's friend in Austin had a gunshop sell him .38 Super for his revolver, despite him clearly describing his gun, apparently as a "boy, get a load of that dreadlocked hippie I sold auto-pistol ammo to! Won't it be funny when he can't load his gun!"
Sure, you get better service if you blend in to the "local culture", and some folks do have troubling connections and like to broadcast them clearly. However, a lot of folks just look slightly unusual but aren't harmful, and getting and keeping those folks in the pro-gun camp is better for our community then ticking them off and leaving them thinking that shooting is "just a white redneck thing".
