Its just culture shock I guess. In the places I've been, a gun pointed at you = weapons hot, clear to engage. .
I bet that was tough. I have seen numerous videos showing US forces sweeping one another in various circumstances.
If you can't adjust to the job, then maybe you need employment elsewhere. Many of those "morons" were just like you or your fellow soldiers before training. It doesn't make them morons, just ignorant of current safety standards. There are a few morons, no doubt, and you probably don't want them in your store at all if you are truly concerned about safety.
Of course the rest of us who know the standard US safety rules know that they were codified by Col. Cooper in a book entitled
The Modern Technique of the Pistol. We all know that Jeff Cooper is a huge icon in much of the gun world and that some of his teachings, especially the gun safety rules are dogma. So it would be reasonable to expect that Cooper, whilst living, would be the living embodiment of his safety rules. Turns out, such an expectation would be very naive and that Cooper really didn't practice what he preached. Here is their recapitulation. Note that in Rule 1, Cooper says there are no exceptions.
Here is Jeff Cooper violating his own safety rules ....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKgAkwB8WRo
How many violations do you see?
Rule I? Is Cooper handling the gun as if it was loaded? Does it appear that he is engaged in partial compliance? Would it bother you to see a person handling a loaded gun in that manner? Remember that accordng to Cooper in regard to Rule I, There are no exceptions. So what part of "no" doesn't he understand?
Rule II? With the opening scene of Cooper, he draws his 1911 and covers his leg in the process. Later when he reholsters, he covers his leg again.
Rule III? Does Cooper keep his finger off the trigger until his sights are on target? Nope.
Rule IV? His target seems to be the ceiling, walls, and back of the classroom.
Check out Jeff pointing his pistol over the berm and covering his leg as he reholsters. There is a very clear closeup of him covering his own leg as he reholsters at 2:44...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci3uPXj6Dpo&feature=related
From the examples in these two videos, you can see that when Cooper reholsters his gun each time, to find the mouth of the holster, he cants the muzzle of his gun toward himself. He does it repeatedly and consistently.
Getting swept by a muzzle is unacceptable no matter who you are. It should not be a risk "that comes with the territory" even if you are a clerk in a gun store. If people speak up when this happens, maybe we'll see more awareness of the problem.
BTW, this "muzzle unawareness" is very common at gun shows. That's one of many reasons why I hesitate to go to gun shows any more, unless I have something very specific that I'm looking for.
It is very difficult to handle a firearm at a gun show without sweeping people. That is the nature of the layout and compactness of gun shows. If the show is busy, you just about can't raise the muzzle of any gun above floor level and even then with the gun pointed at the floor, there is a violation of the gun safety rules because with the floor as your target and backstop, "beyond" is any direction of the ricochet and that direction will undoubtedly include people.
I have yet to see a single vendor provide bullet traps for which for which gun shoppers can aim guns when held in normal firing positions, such as properly shouldered rifles.
It has been my impression based on news articles that in gun shops a large percentage of the NDs are by the employees of the shop. The same goes for gun shows. It is the vendors that frequently screw up and get people hurt.