Odd Policy at Cabela's

[209]

Not that I really minded having to follow it, but I was struck the apparent disconnect in Cabela's policy at their CT store.

You can carry into the store. So, if you are a cop or a person with a permit, you walk all through the store armed (and hopefully loaded ).

You buy a gun (at least a handgun, they may not do it for rifles and shotgun purchases), you have to wait for a "gun greeter" to come to the gun counter. He/she carries the gun out the front door and gives you possession of it outside.

The unloaded gun I bought at the counter is more dangerous than the loaded Glock on my hip. Odd policy!

And the really funny thing is that I could have loaded the handgun and strapped it on my hip and walked back in.

Like I said, I didn't mind all that much because my wife let me buy a new gun so I was willing to comply with their rules.

I have a new member of the family! I will cling to it!

 

[SCKimberFan]

If you bought it a Cabela's you probably paid too much.

But for that price, you do get a wonderful escort to assist you out the door with your purchase.

 

[BigBlock]

That is not an odd policy at all. Pretty much every large gun seller in the country does that.

 

[SHOOT1SAM]

I think it's a CTA (Covering Their A**) / liability issue.

If YOU bring YOUR gun into the store and there's an ND, it's all on you.

If YOU have in YOUR possession, one of THEIR guns and there's an ND, it's on them.

I believe Wal-Mart and Sportsman's Warehouse have essentially the same policy.

Sam

 

[ZeSpectre]

Security Theater

That is not an odd policy at all. Pretty much every large gun seller in the country does that.

Just because a lot of them do it doesn't make it any less odd.

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

I remember one chain store (K-Mart, maybe) that wouldn't allow you to buy a firearm and ammunition at the same time. That was plain silly.

Here's another thought. You may be licensed, but not everyone is. If a licensee who purchases a firearm is allowed to leave the store unescorted, it either unnerves the non-gun-buying public or gives a clear indication that the unescorted gun-buyer has a carry license. ("Hey, why is he allowed to leave the store with a gun?")

In no way would I want to be "printed" that way.

So the store policy isn't bad at all; in fact, it strikes me as a good idea.

 

[230RN]

My favorite little bodega does the same thing. Not only do they cart your groceries to the front door, they escort you all the way to the car with them.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

The unloaded gun I bought at the counter is more dangerous than the loaded Glock on my hip. Odd policy!

You guys can't honestly think this is about them not trusting you with an unloaded gun. It's for loss prevention to keep people from just walking out with guns.

 

[209]

With the way they lock up all of the new guns, I don't see loss prevention being an issue. But then again, they do have a used long gun rack that anyone can grab a gun from, so you may be right. Also, the liability issue could be the point of the policy. I usually buy at gun shops so I've never run into the procedure before. On its face, I found it odd.

 

[Griz44]

Also odd, if you go in to shoot at their indoor range, you carry your own gun in and out with ammunition whether you have a license or not. I agree, it must be for loss prevention.

 

[uneasy_rider]

If YOU have in YOUR possession, one of THEIR guns and there's an ND, it's on them.

After you buy THEIR gun, its now YOUR gun.

I don't see how thats different than any other gun you own.

 

[BruceRDucer]

/

It isn't an "odd policy" because the policy, when established, had nothing to do with "concealed carry" customers.

After all, isn't it just a kind of general safety issue that the store wants integrated?

Sportsman's Warehouse does the same, and it doesn't bother me none. It is their store, not mine.

 

[Blackbeard]

This is what happens when lawyers, insurance companies and risk managers get involved. My guess is that there is some legal theory that if the new gun is somehow loaded and discharges, it's the store's fault because they had control of it. Once it's outside the store, they lose control and with it the liability. Your gun was in your control the whole time, and therefore you have the liability for any discharges, accidental or otherwise.

 

[The Wiry Irishman]

I'm not sure its a gun thing, it may just be an expensive item thing. Go to Best Buy or somewhere similar and buy something that costs more than a couple hundred bucks and they'll do the same thing.

 

[Borch]

There's probably some sort of reasoning behind it that we don't know, maybe an incident of some sort thatbrought this policy into existence. The local Walmart has a policy that you can't even look at one of their guns if you are buying any ammo at the same time. I had 2 boxes of .40 cal WWB on the counter and asked to look at a Henry .22 lever rifle and the clerk wouldn't let me unless he took the ammo and secured it in the cabinet below the counter. I asked him why and he explained that a couple of years agao a guy had come in grabbed a box of slugs then asked to see a shotgun. He then loaded the shotgun while the clerk wasn't looking, robbed the clerk at the gun counter, then robbed one of the cashiesr at the front of the store and still got away before the cops got there. Now the policy is no looking at guns while purchasing ammo, period.

 

[Picard]

What's even more odd is that I did an FFL transfer on a few stripped AR lowers from them and I still needed a gun greeter for those.

I might have hit someone over the head with those, right?

I guess it's just easier and simpler to have an all-encompassing policy rather than have exceptions that people can make mistakes with. Still, with the stripped lowers, I thought it was funny.

 

[Threeband]

I think ZeSpectre got it:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_theater


Y'all are trying to make rational sense of something that really is irrational.

It's a policy that seemed to make sense to the nervous hoplophobe in some cubical in some corporate headquarters somewhere, somewhen. A lot of rules, regulations, and even laws are similarly shall-we-say "flawed".


-----------------------------------

 

[GEM]

They might be worried about an immediate suicide. Buys gun and ammo and shoots self in the store.

Such things have happened. It is doubtful you would walk in with a concealed gun and kill yourself but someone might buy one and do it. Happens at ranges also.

 

[Erik]

Given how common it is for people have NDs during loading and holstering, especially of weapons that they are not familiar with, I do not mind stores enacting such policies.

 

[Rugerlvr]

I've bought 3 guns at Cabela's. It never occured to me that it was odd. Didn't think much about it actually.

 

[Werewolf]

Sportsman's Warehouse does the same, and it doesn't bother me none. It is their store, not mine.

But it is your gun not theirs the moment you pay for it.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I asked him why and he explained that a couple of years agao a guy had come in grabbed a box of slugs then asked to see a shotgun. He then loaded the shotgun while the clerk wasn't looking, robbed the clerk at the gun counter, then robbed one of the cashiesr at the front of the store and still got away before the cops got there.

They might be worried about an immediate suicide. Buys gun and ammo and shoots self in the store.

These are the most likely reasons, and the same reasons that many ranges require at least two adults to rent a gun.

No, it won't stop somebody from committing these acts once they've purchased the firearm. But chances are, someone who has such intentions *(especially robbery) is not going to buy the gun. Since most of these stores have you pay up front, no escort would leave you walking around with a firearm that is still theirs.

I don't know of any gunshops that give you the firearm before it's paid for either.

The places that don't let you buy a gun and ammunition at the same time, however, do not get my business. They should have no say in what I can and can't buy at a given time.

 

[Tribal]

I'm not sure its a gun thing, it may just be an expensive item thing. Go to Best Buy or somewhere similar and buy something that costs more than a couple hundred bucks and they'll do the same thing.

Kind-of. Best Buy usually has had me check out at a special counter (the one with the Geek Squad and Returns). What gets me, though, is how they'll have a guy with a clipboard standing about ten yards away by the exit who then demands to see my receipt. It's my TV/computer/whatever, and I don't feel like being hassled so they can feel better about themselves.

I always tell them "no" and keep walking. It's not about loss prevention and it's not about real security. As mentioned above, it's just security theater and I don't feel like participating.

 

[Tribal]

But it is your gun not theirs the moment you pay for it.

Normally yes, although there are ways around that. I doubt there's a law requiring the practice, but that could be one way. Alternatively, they might post a sign saying that they'll walk you to the door with it, in which case you're on notice of the special terms of the sale.

As for me, I try to avoid buying guns at those places.

 

[rcmodel]

They probably just want to avoid all that messy & expensive crime scene clean-up inside the store.

Some guy bought a gun and a box of ammo at the Cabala's in K.C.K. a couple of years ago.

Then went out to his car in the parking lot, and blew his brains out.

The cops hauled the body, and towed the car away.

See, they avoid all that mess & trouble by walking you outside!

rcmodel