"for this good old boy"
I'm offended by this comment
I work ocassionally at a shop, we "reserve" the right to not sell to anyone we care not to sell to, for any reason, or for no reason at all.
Just yesterday, one young baggy pants, worn around his knees, young man came in three times to buy a 24/7 45acp compact, but had forgot his license when I handed him a 4473 form. He left and came back, and had forgotten his license again. He left and came back again, this time with another young man who was dressed like he was.
The "new" guy with him said he was going to buy the 24/7 45acp with the original "looker' standing there. I informed him I'd need to see an AZ drivers license or identification card. He showed me his license and I jotted the name and lic # down on a piece of paper.
I then told him "NO you are not going to buy this gun or any gun in this shop" and handed his license back to him. He stepped back from the counter and wanted to know why. I explained to him that straw purchases were illegal, and my opinion was that he was buying the gun for the "looker" based on the summary of events.
He got a little beligerant and said he wanted to buy the gun and he wasn't buying for the "looker', he was buying it for himself. As well, why did I take his license information if I wasn't going to sell him the gun. I explained he was not buying that gun or any gun from the shop, period. He told me I couldn't prove he was buying it for the other guy, and I simply pointed to the sign above my head which states:
"We reserve the right not to sell a firearm to you for any reason we choose" and then proceeded to tell him if he came back into the shop again and attempted to buy a gun, the feds would be called and his name and pertinent information would be turned over to the feds. He could then talk to them when they came to his residence.
That goes both ways, we don't buy certain guns from "certain" people because that gun needs to sit until the sheriffs rep comes in and runs numbers on these private sales to the shop before we can put it out on the floor for sale.
We've not bought guns from mothers, brothas, tweekers [ based on their appearance and their having acquired the gun from a "friend", or someone they didn't know at a gun show, etc ], as well as men and women in casual business attire.
What comes into play in making the decision to buy or not to buy from private parties is their overal appearance and what they are trying to sell. Someone who comes in with baggies to their knees, piercings, wife beater shirts, and wanting to sell a 1000.00 Python isn't going to sell that gun to us.
Is that profiling? You bet!! Is that discrimination? You bet!!!! Is it the right of the shop owner to refuse to buy based on the probability the gun might be hot based on the totality of the circumstances? YOU BET!!!!!!!
I've sold guns to people with baggies, bandanas, wife beater shirts, people who were afro americans, whites, and even people who looked like they could be illegal mexicans. They have to fill out the form, they get checked by NICS and I don't care what they look like as long as NICS tells me "proceed" with the sale. What I won't do is sell to anyone who I believe to be violating the law in that regard.
Now my opinion is subjective at best. It's based on years of being an investigator on the streets, understanding the signs and signals that lead me to believe a straw purchase is a potential with that customer based on what I've observed, heard and just about anything else one can think of that gives me a "heads up" I don't want to chance a sale to that person.
"for this good old boy", I'm sitll offended by that comment
NOT
Brownie
