Oh Lord, kids at the gun store.....

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I went to my "local" gun store(30 miles away)to purchase a S&W 645 trade-in pistol. While I was there 2 teenage kids walked in looking over the inventory. One asked the clerk if they sold automatic weapons. The other kid asked if they had silencers. The clerk was a real gentleman and said "No" politely. Then they saw a Nickel Desert Eagle 50AE for sale and got all excited. One said that gun was the best in "some video game". The other agreed. They moved on to a Raven .25 and asked if it shot 9mm bullets. :rolleyes:

<sigh>

I have to hand it to the clerk. He was very cordial and answered the questions in a professional manner. However it scares me to see kids(I would say 17-18)to compare these guns to a video game. I wanted to inform the kids(in a nice way)of how different the two worlds are, but they left before I had the chance. Anyone else have a similar experience?
 
I think the clerk handled them exactly the way the owner would have wanted. They may come back one day and purchase from them. Instead of being rude and loosing possible customers in the future. Hopefully after they learn about firearm saftey.
 
At least these kids were interested. Now they need someone to introduce them to firearms use in a responsible way. Too bad most kids don't have that opportunity these days.
 
I always enjoy hearing gunshop/gun show/range stories. I hope this thread grows quick over night so I have pages of good reading material tomorrow.
 
Maybe if parents would actually teach their kids about firearms and life instead of letting the magic glowing box babysit them all day, they would have been more educated.
Of course, being new to firearms, it would also have been not at all impossible for them to mistake one firearm for a different caliber, seeing as they didn't have any real experience. How often can you tell the exact caliber of a firearm from looks, especial when the same model comes in different calibers?
 
When I was in the market for my polymer .45, I went to Cabela's and asked to look at the Glock 21 and the XD 45. Of course, every expert and his uncle had to swarm me at that point. One guy said "Buy the XD, I hear it's what the SEALs are switching to."
So as annoying as teenies can be, sometimes adults can be just as bad...
 
I am in agreement with Alemonkey--at least they were interested. Video games aren't inherently evil and if they bring us a few Gun Buyers then that's great. I think many people here know someone who has bought a PPK because that's what Bond used in the movies. How is this different? Or different than buying a SAA because the Duke used one?

With younger folks especially we need to be more tolerant. If we want the hobby to continue we need a constant supply of new enthusiasts.
 
Actually, playing video games especially the shoot em up ones enhances the gamer's reactionary skills. Great preparation for military service when searching out insurgents in an open field.

Despite this, fortunately the gun salesman won't let them touch one or sell without an adult.
 
Heh. I recall when the Media blasted DOOM as a brain washing tool designed to turn a whole generation of teenagers into shotgun weilding zombies....

For a time the shop was several customers here and there.

I think the Clerk did good. Must be a bit of .. patience involved herding cats.. ahem, prospective future customers...
 
"Buy the XD, I hear it's what the SEALs are switching too."
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DUDE!! That is so totally bogus!!:D

I think sometimes we have to remember that they are still kids and don't all get to share in the things we learned while growing up.
Not that its an excuse in any way for the boob tube babysitting lots of parents rely on, but you never know who that kid is going to become because of an influence we may pass on ourselves.
 
Actually, playing video games especially the shoot em up ones enhances the gamer's reactionary skills. Great preparation for military service when searching out insurgents in an open field.
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I wish it were so easy. ;-)

DUDE!! That is so totally bogus!!
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I know, that's why it's fun to just give people the long, uncomfortable stare.
 
I think that video games have had a huge impact in generating interest in firearms in a lot of Gen-X'ers and Gen-Y'ers. Furthermore, it's likely that the influence of gaming has had at least some impact on the mainstreaming of EBR's, SBR's, and sound suppressors.

Were the kids ignorant? Sure. But that can be fixed. We were all newbies at one point or another.
 
Actually, playing video games especially the shoot em up ones enhances the gamer's reactionary skills. Great preparation for military service when searching out insurgents in an open field.
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Only place that might play in is military jobs working off of a video screen, ie. - UAV's or running bomb robots, etc.

Anything else that is first person in real life, nope. It's a fast paced, three dimentional world out here, four if you count time.
 
I've actually had a recent experience where a dude brought in his brother-who just turned 21 years, to the range. The brother came out of the firing line with 1-2 inch groupings at 12 yards shooting a Glock, saying, "Video games helped."

;)
 
I never thought of them as "lost causes". Like I said in my first post, I wanted to educate them a little, but they left while I was filling out the paperwork. If I worked there, I would be happy to explain firearms to these guys and hopefully they would retain this knowledge if and when they do purchase a firearm.
 
I've been around and have played my fair share of Counter-Strike and Call of Duty games, but I'm educated enough to know that dual wielding Desert Eagles is impractical beyond belief for a regular person.
 
Kids...

I think they just need to be educated in what real gun ownership and shooting entails. The store employee seemed to have handled the situation admirably.

The game they were referring to was probably Counterstrike: A terrorist vs counter-terrorist capture the flag or eliminate the other team first person shooter.

In that game, the Desert Eagle is the most powerful, stats-wise, pistol. The AWP is the most powerful "sniper rifle" and AK or AR are the most popular all around weapon.

The game does peak their interest in shooting, however it does leave them with many misconceptions of real weapons.

Granted some kids are cyber-commandos and/or jerks, but many aren't and just need some education.

Fortunately for me, I took care of gun education with my kids early on. Gun "proofing" them (safety training, Eddy the Eagle, you name it) when they were under 5 years, and shooting rifles beginning age 12 or so. Whatever they hear at school or read or see online won't pull them far off from reality.
 
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I've been around and have played my fair share of Counter-Strike and Call of Duty games, but I'm educated enough to know that dual wielding Desert Eagles is impractical beyond belief for a regular person.
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Dude, whatever. I triple-wield my Deagles all the time.
 
I am new to guns and up until three months ago I knew nothing about them. In fact I thought that glock was a slang word for 9mm. I have learned tons over the last few months reading around, but I would love to have a knowledgable person personaly give me some guidence. I really could have used help the first time I went to the range. I was so scared I went by myself and had never shot a gun before, I knew general gun safety and the range rules, and just winged it
 
However it scares me to see kids(I would say 17-18)to compare these guns to a video game. I wanted to inform the kids(in a nice way)of how different the two worlds are, but they left before I had the chance. Anyone else have a similar experience?
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More and more, but let's not be "old foegys" without admitting that most of the previous generation got their gun-larn'n from TV and Movies and the one before that from B&W TV and Hollywood Westerns/Gangster/War movies. I don't doubt we'd have heard much the same thing in 1980 or 1960 with the exception of "video game" substituted with "Dragnet" or "Tom Mix".
 
I was in a local shop a while back and 2 gansta-wannabee's came in. I happened to know one of them and the one I knew had a record. They started eyeballing the "used rack" and racking the actions. The clerk, who was in the store by himself at the time, was taking a defensive position at the end of the counter, as they never spoke to him about any of the guns. I mentioned to him that I was rather chilly and was going to get my coat out of my truck. He looked at me and nodded. I went to my truck and got my jacket and my G36, and went back into the store. The clerk was very relieved when I returned and he knew what I had done. The two finally finished fingering every gun on the rack and mentioned that they just couldn't afford any of them right then. When they left, you could feel the total relief in the store. The whole event has been retold to the store owner on several occassions. You can bet I have never had any problems getting that guy to assist me since then. By the way, the "used" rack has since been moved back behind the counter with the rest of the guns. Those 2 kids had no idea the cross fire they would have been caught in had they tried to pull something.
 
Frankly, that took balls to walk into a gun store as a teenager without an adult.
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For several years now, my local FFL and I have become good friends. He's an older guy, old enough to be my grandfather, but has the spirit of a 30 year old. I have been visiting his shop for several years.

I remember just getting my driver's license and going to his shop after school, talking a bit about guns, but mostly having him tell me stories about his younger years. Here I was, 16 years old in a gun shop and no one in town would pay a bit of attention. I've even left his shop a couple of times with a box of .22 shells. He knew I was responsible, and my parents didn't care.

There has been a time or two when we're sitting around talking a young guy (well, sometimes older than myself) would come in and be completely ignorant about something. You can pretty much tell plain ignorance from game/movie influenced ignorance. If we can, we'll help get their facts or thoughts straight. If not, they are refused service due to the fact that they might think "this cool gun that *insert name* uses on *insert movie or game*" and actually go do something stupid.
 
I wish parents would introduce their kids to firearms. You don't have to force it on them, but I think they should at least know a little something about them. You have to remember though, the parents of these gang bangers are probably anti-gun liberals.
 
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