Muzzled in a gun shop?

[The-Fly]

Every time I go to the local sportsman, the clerks walk right on front of customers aiming unloaded firearms at the walls I always get nervous when the clerk walks in front of me, and raise my barrel to a 45 degree angle, but a lot of customers don't. Don't think I could work there.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

"It's not loaded!"

That's the last thing a lot of people hear (except for the loud bang on occasion).

 

[RobXD9]

Was in Bass Pro Shop at Festival Bay Mall in Orlando.

The guy behind the counter not only muzzled me, he muzzled my wife and muzzled himself.

I was checking out a Para 5" 1911. I'm gripping it with my thumb on top of the safety. He looks at me and says, "Nope. You're holding it wrong. You hold it like that and you'll get slide bite."

I looked at him and said, "Well how do you hold a 1911?"

He says - "Not with your thumb there."

To which I said, "And when you end up in a gun fight and accidently knock the safety ON, what do you do?"

He just looked at me.

Only ONE gun shop I've ever been to where I don't get muzzled (by staff anyway) - Calibers in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They're top knotch.

-Robert

 

[kingpin008]

At the shop/range I shoot at, there's an older guy who works there part time. Very nice, but very, very old.

I always try to quietly wait for another clerk to help me when I'm looking at a gun, or I need an opinion on what to do with a malfunction, etc because he's so damn shaky. I don't say that to be mean, it's true. His hands shake so bad that even if he's not sweeping me with the muzzle, he will be in a second because the darn gun is too heavy for him to heft for long.

That, and he has trouble clearing guns before he shows them. Most of the actions are too stiff for the poor guy to manage easily. It's kinda sad, but he knows a lot of good stuff, and I'm sure it's more satisfying for him to be active and help people for part of his day rather than sitting in an apartment or nursing home somewhere doing nothing.


Oh, and to everyone who mentioned stories about "gangstas" and their gun-handling skills - one of the funniest things I've ever seen, is at that same shop I mentioned earlier. One of the clerks is this awesome lady named Helen. She was showing some guys a few of the rental guns one afternoon as I was checking in to the range. I looked up after clearing my 1911 and showing unloaded, and she was turning back around to face the two guys. One of them had been holding an XD-9, pointing it straight at her back. She grabbed the pistol and set it away from him on the counter, and points to a Glock 21 and asks "which one of those is mo' accrate?"

Without skipping a beat, Helen looks him right in the eye and says in the sweetest voice "The one you weren't pointing at my kidneys."

I swear to God, I about bust a gut trying to keep the laughter in.

 

[JKimball]

This is a scary thread.

I've been muzzled by gun shop employees. Gives you kind of a sick feeling in your stomach as they point that pistol at your gut. It's even worse when you see the signs advertising that they teach firearms classes.

I think if I had a gun shop I would put up a target behind the counter and tell the customer that is the only safe direction for pointing the gun.

And before I passed a gun over I would check it and say, "Yep, it's loaded."

I'd post the 4 rules in big print on the wall behind the counter too, and maybe bring it to people's attention when they want to handle a gun, but especially if they mishandle a gun.

 

[Geno]

This is precisely why I had stopped going to Target Sports in Royal Oak, MI for quite some time. So long as the owner is there I will go; if he is gone, so am I. He keeps the place in good order.

 

[BridgeWalker]

This thread is reassuring to me. I've always been really careful not to muzzle anyone in a store, to the point of not pointing the gun at a wall I know has a stockroom behind it. Makes it a bit hard to assess fit on a shotgun, but I don't point guns at people. A couple people have accused me of being too obsessive and a couple people have just assumed I'm clueless. Lots of muzzles flying around at Jay's, a big store a bit north of me. Lots at about every shop I've been too. The ones that have ranges on site make me really nervous in that regard.

 

[Noxx]

When I'm checking out handguns at my local chain store (Turners) I'm always hyper-aware of where I'm pointing a gun. Unfortunately, among the employees and customers alike, it often seems like I'm the only one.

 

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

Went in for a PPT today at a gunshop in Campbell. I noticed that when a few guys were checking out some guns that were handed to them from behind the counter, their actions were not checked to see if they were unloaded.

If anyone was about to get muzzled or even their finger near the trigger, I would have piped up.

 

[Deacon Blues]

You might not think that anybody notices or cares anymore, but I was actually complimented by an employee for proper handling at Academy Sports. It was both surreal and gratifying to be recognized for exercising [un]common sense.

 

[The Wiry Irishman]

It seems every gun shop I've been to has given me the gun sideways, action locked open, and on the counter. I always ask their permission before I close the action or dry fire, and I always ask them a good direction to point.

This isn't quite related, but its similar:

Probably the first time I was ever in a gun store, I was 14 or 15, maybe. It was Jay's Sporting Goods in Clare, MI. (Might be a nice vacation spot for some of the people here - 22,000 in-stock guns) I was looking at the air pistols I wanted to buy, and there was a customer up at one of the "real gun" counters handling a Desert Eagle. He was using the space between the top of the grip and the bottom of the hammer as a convenient thumb slot. The clerk had to inform him that that would "take his finger right off." I didn't think much of it at the time because I didn't know anything about guns, but its good for a laugh and a shake of the head now.

 

[Sir Aardvark]

I usually go to Turner's Outdoorsman here in So. Cal. because they have a pretty good selection to look at (I only look here, I go to Ade's Gun Shop down the street to buy my guns).

I must say that I have never been swept by an employee at Turner's.
They even have targets posted high on the wall behind the gun counter to "sight" the merchandise on, that way the customers aren't pointing guns just willy-nilly everywhere in the store.

 

[Snowdiver]

One thing, I would NEVER let a sweep go by without saying something. Guys, speak up it's your duty. Lots of my friends call me "crazy", yea calculated crazy like a fox. I notice so many little things and point them out to shooters daily. It's all about safety, YOUR safety. Don't let anything slide or you might not live to regret it.

 

[RKBABob]

I had been to Cabela's several times during working days, on the way to or from business trips......and had not encountered this problem. Probably because 1.) there is nobody there at 12 noon on a Tuesday, and 2.) anyone there at that time is probably retired, and has a few decades of common sense under their belt.

Doesn't it just figure that, the one time I take my wife, on a weekend, the place is packed with toothless bozos pointing all manner of firearms in every direction.

Then there are the macho guys pointing to every pistol in the case while saying "that Colt is a good TACTICAL pistol..." "that Sig is a good TACTICAL pistol..." "That HK is..." Well, you get the idea. Gee... and I thought all firearms capable of firing a projectile were "tactical."

Anyway, my wife and I stopped to admire something (I don't remember what, but it was across from the rifle racks). Well, I hear this unusual noise. "clump-schluk, CLICK" "clump-schluk, CLICK" "clump-schluk, CLICK" Well, I look left and I look right, and I don't see where this is comming from... but there it is again... "clump-schluk, CLICK" "clump-schluk, CLICK"
Right behind me, about 20 feet away is one of the "TACTICAL" guys from the pistol counter cycling a bolt action rifle "clump-schluk" pointing it at my wife's back and dry firing it "CLICK"

Let me tell you, I was p!ssed! I was headed over there to give Mr. Tactical a piece of my mind, and most likely would have ended up shoving that rifle right up his hole-ster but after doing a ten-count, I decided that me having harsh words with a man 6' 5", 275 lbs, with an IQ of 12 (who thinks he's a Navy SEAL ) wouldn't really be something my wife would care to see.

I just hope Rambo carries his "TACTICAL" 1911 Mexican-style, in the front, and with the safety OFF! Darwin awards, you know?

 

[jeepmor]

Never been swept in a gunshop, and the shops I've encountered have had respectful employees and patrons in my experience. I don't spend much time in them though. I usually know what I want and go get it, not peruse for a whole long time.

However, my buddy showed me his Taurus 9mm Beretta copy a while back and, while not intentionally, held the gun in his right hand. I was on his left and it was pointing at me the whole time. I kept looking at him, the gun, him, the gun. He never got it. Needless to say, we've never been pistol shooting together either.

I know this is serious subject matter, but some of the stories exemplifying the idiots that wander the world have made me chuckle. Not in a good way, but in that, wow, people really are that dumb, amazing, kind of way.

 

[Ala Dan]

At a lot of shops its damn near impossible not too rake someone with the
muzzle of a firearm, after said weapon is chamber checked by a salesperson;
especially in the "Mom and Pop" gunshops here in the southeast U.S, as they
are usually small shops [area wise] with lots of customers~!