My LGS has Guns They WONT Sell Me

[dogtown tom]

I'm a teacher.......I want a discount on everything. What are YOU selling?

Ash

"Then become a cop."

Because we know that cops deserve preferential treatment.

No, it's about a manufacturer building a relationship with its customer base.

AethelstanAegen
So unintentionally, it is discriminatory pricing, but what can you do?

What can you do?...........for one look up the definition of "discriminatory pricing"......it isn;t illegal, immoral or unethical and IS a standard business practice since day one. You'll discover that nearly every retailer in America gives a discount for SOMETHING: seniors, children, ladies only, retirees, quantity purchases, even their own employees may get a discount (gasp!) NONE, repeat NONE is illegal.

Those that whine the loudest would be the quickest to take advantage of a discount if they qualified.

PabloJ ......LEO, military,.... discount sales for personal use are BS. Unless guns are part of government or department contract individuals from military, police,.....should pay SAME price as rest of the people.

What a load of horsepoop.
A retailer is free to give discounts to anyone he chooses, just as YOU can choose where to buy or what brand to buy.

As a dealer I choose to give discounts to those that I feel DESERVE them.....police, firemen, active military, teachers and CHL holders. If you are a stockbroker, a minister, a dry cleaner, a carpenter or a vet.........good for you...... but you'll need to get your CHL if you want a discount. That short list doesn't stop people from asking for a discount.........last night a guy asked if repeat customers got a discount.

kwguy ....I don't think anyone seriously begrudges LE / Military discounts

I disagree. As you can see from some of the posts above there are those that equate being a policeman as "more equal than others".

PabloJ PS. Do as you wish I for one am sick and tired of being treated as second class citizen when it comes to buying handguns.

Oh good grief.

 

[Aaron1100us]

That is just sill. Civilians should not be treated anu different than law enforcement.

Sent from my SCH-R760 using Tapatalk 2

 

[KTXdm9]

Wow, a lot of hurt feelings on this thread. Pretty much every LGS I've been to has a LE only case. As stated, it's a program done by the manufacturers. It's really not worth shedding tears about it. Do you guys get all upset about senior citizen discounts too??

 

[Combatcomm]

deleted. Quoted reply did not show up

 

[JWJacobVT]

You are not being treated as a 2nd class citizen. You just haven't paid your dues. I have no problem with the LE/Military/First responders discount. Why? I think that I and my fellow brothers and sisters sort of earned it. I have 30 years as a volunteer fire fighter and still active. I have 25 years as a volunteer EMT and now retired. I have 25 years of Active duty Military and now a retired veteran. Go pay your dues. Go put your life on the line for your country, state, county or town. I earned my discount. Thank You.

 

[Combatcomm]

Sorry reply I wanted to reply to still didn’t show up correctly, sorry.

 

[AethelstanAegen]

What can you do?...........for one look up the definition of "discriminatory pricing"......it isn;t illegal, immoral or unethical and IS a standard business practice since day one. You'll discover that nearly every retailer in America gives a discount for SOMETHING: seniors, children, ladies only, retirees, quantity purchases, even their own employees may get a discount (gasp!) NONE, repeat NONE is illegal.

Slow your roll there, dogtown tom. I didn't make any value judgement on the discriminatory pricing. I definitely understand the economics here and I don't see anything wrong with it. There's nothing wrong with trying to capture more of the market under your price curve. An LEO/Military discount I have no problem with and indeed, would general encourage seeing as they put a lot on the line for usually subpar pay.

What I do get tired of hearing is people saying "...if you want x, y, or z maybe you should enlist/become a cop." That's what I was objecting to mostly. I do get tired of people's unhelpful advice to do the impossible/unrealistic (for some people) for a discount. It's like the people who stroll into a discussion about handloading rounds for an antique firearm with helpful tips like "you should get a Glock because then you won't have to handload."

 

[kwguy]

I disagree. As you can see from some of the posts above there are those that equate being a policeman as "more equal than others".

Well, that's probably because there are some of them out there that actually feel that way about themselves or their profession. Self professed elitism will always anger someone. If a person doesn't fall into that category, then fine. But I think some folks here are venting at a percieved sense of superiority among the folks who are eligible to get these discounts. I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist among everyone in that group, but it certainly exists among some, so that's probably why.

Discounts have been around forever. Heck, it's no different than having a coupon. It's just that you have to actually cut out the coupon and use it. This is just like a permanent coupon. Or maybe someone can cut a better deal on a car, so it's cheaper for them.

Sure, there are riskier professions and less risky professions, and people are free to choose to do them or not, based upon their abilities, desire, etc. Each profession has some little 'perk'. I bet even the kid working at Walmart gets an employee discount, right?

I don't begrudge a LE discount any more that I do a military discount or senior citizen discount. But there are certainly LE officers that haven't had to put up with as much hassle as some others, just like there are military members who haven't had it so difficult, and senior citizens why may have been felons their whole lives. They still get the discount.

It would just be nice if everyone could get it as well, but that's business. Just like everyone can't get an employee discount.

C'est la vie.

 

[nwilliams]

We occasionally sell LE only handguns at the gun shop I work at.

If you see a LE only firearm in a store counter the decision to sell that gun at a cheaper price is an agreement between the retailer and the distributor or manufacturer, it has nothing to do with whether the gun shop wants to sell it only to LE, they have no choice.

If a gun shop sells a LE only firearm to someone that is not LE then that gun shop is violating a contract and it could jeopardize their business don't take it personally.

 

[Gato Montés]

Firearms manufacturers are businessmen first and foremost and the LEO community represents a big market for these companies. Glock has a pretty good hold on the US LE community right now so other brands have to figure out ways to generate interest and sales within that community; special pricing to entice individual officers, who then would share their experiences with other officers possibly generating more sales, is just one way of doing so. Special pricing also ensures customers who already own their product remain loyal to that brand and don't jump ship, and if one company does it that forces the hand of all the others if they want to stay competitive. Having professionals choose their firearm for the line of duty is also a great marketing campaign for the civilian market as well, another reason why Glock is so popular.

It's not about discrimination or "paying one's dues", it's just business. What bothers me is when a company offers certain products ONLY to LEO, as if they are taking the moral high road by doing so. That's a company not to be dealt with.

 

[Davek1977]

Not only in the world of firearms, but the world at large, there is always a variety of discounts on various merchandise, and you may or may not qualify for those discounts. Auto dealerships offer "first time buyer" financing.....Sam's Club offers discount merchandise in bulk, but you have to be a member. Its a fact of life that oftentimes, someone else can buy the exact same thing you want for a cheaper price than you can. It may not be "fair" in your eyes, but its certainly not new and it certainly isn't limited to only guns. While I don't necessarily wholly agree or disagree with the idea that those who have served "earned" a discount others aren't entitled to, but that is irrelevant to the actual facts. I respect a company's CHOICE to do business as they please, and I think the LGS is only doing the honorable thing by agreeing to only sell the gun under the terms it was acquired. WE can argue all day about who is entitled to a discount and who isn't, who has earned the right to cheaper merchandise, and who hasn't, but at the end of the day, it comes down to contractual agreements and following through on them. Some people seem oblivious to the the fact these kind of arrangements/agreements/contracts exist, but the fact of the matter is, they do. Its not a vast conspiracy, its not the government, its private enterprise at work. Company A agreed to sell the gun to store B, at a certain price, with the expectations the store would sell it under the terms of the agreement. Why is this concept so foreign or hard to understand?

 

[Vulcan71]

FNH is very strict on government and state regulations and does not give out the date of manufacture of any firearm or any info on unpublished specs. The LE pistols are for LEO/LEA only and have special model numbers. Check out the 2013 catalog to find the model numbers. You can also contact FNH but I would not waste my time.

 

[HexHead]

I can understand giving LEOs a discount since in many smaller jurisdictions the officer has to pay for their own firearm. At the very least, they may have to buy their own off-duty firearm.
But what's with giving that discount to firemen or especially EMTs? They're not allowed to carry on the job.

 

[JShirley]

Do some manufacturers offer a LEO (and sometimes mil and first responder) discounts?
Yes.

Can your LGS sell firearms purchased under those programs to someone who doesn't qualify?
No.

Asked. Answered. Done. Some of you obviously have too much time on your hands, and are considerably less clever than you believe. If your post is gone, you probably fall into that category. If any members think a thread about buying a handgun is an excuse to talk about where the president falls on the political spectrum, they need to read the forum rules again.
John