Walking out of pawn shops with guns

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joplinsks

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I love buying cheap guns at pawn shops, but that walk out of a pawn shop to the car carrying a gun is a different story... especially in bad busy neighborhoods. Seems like I'm always a magnet for the local "riff raff". :uhoh:

I like looking around at pawn shops in bad neighborhoods. Sometimes they will have killer deals on guns you just can't pass up. Last weekend I was in such a shop and bought a Marlin 75 .22 carbine for $50. Everything went fine until I walked out of the shop to my car, then all hell broke loose :what:

I start walking to my car and here comes two teenage boys on bikes wanting to see the gun and ask to hold it. I throw it in the hatchback acting like I need to leave quick... then as I'm getting in the car I notice a car pulling up behind me with a 20s something age guy inside. He yells "see you have a gun... wanna sell it?" Don't know if he was trying to block me from leaving or what, but thankfully there was nothing in front of me, so I basically floored it out of there.

Do you guys run into these types of situations buying guns in bad neighborhoods?
 
I haven't had problems like that, but there aren't any stores that sell guns in a "bad" neighborhood around here.

I do get a kick out of some of the stares I get when I carry a gun out of the store though. It's near one of the busiest intersections in this little city, and some people look at me like I'm going to nut out and start howling at the moon and shooting everything in sight. Imagine their surprise when I just go to my truck, hop in, and go home.
 
Around here, any time I leave a store with a gun, I just put on a big grin and nod and say hi and go about my business. Most times, folks smile back.

I've been in and out of one or two pawn shops... had one do a transfer on one I bought of Gunbroker... it was a cold snowy day and I was in a hurry to get back in the truck and get on home. Other times, I've had a sporting goods store do transfers... that was the times I described. Neither situation took place in any bad neighborhoods, but rather in a small town business district.

The South is really great that way.
 
I will not go to such a place.

I live in a "working class" neighborhood adjacent to a borderline "ghetto." Only a couple of blocks away is a little gun shop that I would have liked to visit some day, but after seeing the, shall we say, less than stellar characters hanging around it or going in and out of it as well as the stinky convenience store next to it, declined. (Those who live in the Phoenix metro area might know of it: it's on Glendale and 67th Ave. and is called simply, "GUNS.";))
 
Haha yeah I would'nt bother going to those places. IF you think you HAVE TO just check out the deals go early in the morning when they first open (8-9am). You will find that most of the ghetto all-stars are still sleeping over their malt liquor hang-overs and probably won't be up roaming the neighborhoods until 11am or so. Just food for thought :D
 
Ask to borrow a golf bag... I'm sure any pawn shop has a few. Use it to carry the rifle out to the car and then bring it back empty.

I've never seen a pawn shop in the "good" part of town.
 
I usually don't buy guns on a whim, and even if I do, there is usually a way to get the gun out without it being naked. I'll bring a case or duffel bag to put it in. The only time I walked out of a place with a gun in plain sight was at a gun show....so I just blended in with the 30 other people walking out with guns in plain sight.

Quite a beautiful sight.
 
Finch: The only time I walked out of a place with a gun in plain sight was at a gun show....so I just blended in with the 30 other people walking out with guns in plain sight.

Quite a beautiful sight.


OH man, I love that sight too.
 
I always use a very simple piece of camoflague when carrying a rifle to the car - put it in a black plastic garbage bag. If someone sees a garbage bag then the last thing you think is 'gun'.
 
Never had that situation as all the pawn shops around here blow. Their "slightly" used prices are usually higher than new online prices.
 
I never leave the premises of a location where I have purchased a now-unloaded firearm without having another, loaded one on my person. It's that simple.
Click to expand...

A lot of times, if I know I'm picking up a particular weapon, I'll have a stripper clip or two of the appropriate ammo in my pocket. Yeah, I know, I haven't shot that gun yet to know what it'll do at distance, and I have to keep that in mind, but I hate to have a gun with me and no ammo.

The pawn shop I was referring to... it's not in a bad part of town. It's downtown in a town where the last census said there were 500 full-time residents within the city limits and another 20K full-timers in the county.
 
Why did'nt you have a big mean looking .44 magnum in a holster?
Click to expand...

My .44magnum is a single-action and it's generally carried in a old west rig. I don't know about you, but it's not the gun that looks mean so much as the person wearing it. The way I put that big smile on, I just don't exude mean any more with a sidearm than I do with a rifle.
 
Furious is right on with his method. I'm always carrying anyway. Walk in with a plastic grocery bag, and since it's always a hand gun I'm after..no problems!
 
Did this not long ago. There was a guy I felt looked kind of suspicious hanging around the front door (anyone hanging around is suspicious in this situation IMO). I waited til he left, then walked out to my car and moved it right next to the door of the shop and looked around again: I figured if I was going to be accosted it would happen on the first 'trial run'. I then went in, locked the pistol in a briefcase and walked out - no problems, but yes I'm at a heightened state of alert in this situation. CCW is not an option for me, and I'm pretty sure even having ammunition on me in this situation would be illegal.
 
People are indeed strange creatures. A friend of mine owns a local pawn shop. Someone backed out on a special order the other day and I ended up with a new AK at his cost. I walked down the street, tossed it into my truck, and drove home. No one gave me a second glance.

Yet, if they see someone with a concealed pistol they go ape squat and call the cops. Some things in this world I will never understand.
 
Alphazulu got it right:

IF you think you HAVE TO just check out the deals go early in the morning when they first open (8-9am). You will find that most of the ghetto all-stars are still sleeping over their malt liquor hang-overs and probably won't be up roaming the neighborhoods until 11am or so.
Click to expand...

I've had jobs in several less than optimal areas. 7am-9am is the safe time of day.
  1. Before 7am, you have the up all night crowd. This means drunken partiers, speed freaks, dark cultists looking to sacrifice kittens, etc.
  2. After 9 am, you have the wondering aimlessly, with nothing to do crowd. This includes homeless and winos waiting for the store to open.
 
Hell, twice the cops made me carry a recovered stolen gun out of the police headquarters in my hand even though I brought a case to carry them. They said casing it would constitute carrying concealed.

Huh?
 
"I never leave the premises of a location where I have purchased a now-unloaded firearm without having another, loaded one on my person. It's that simple."
That is how I do it now.

"Walk in with a plastic grocery bag, and since it's always a hand gun I'm after..no problems!"
That is how I go to the range with hand guns, one on me and the otheres in a bag. By the time people realy stop to think why does he have a plastic wall-mart bag going into the range I'll be gone.
 
+1 for the "slightly used" price. I have walked into the pawn shop in my town twice just to see what guns they have. There must be a large market for "suckers" when it comes to gun prices.

As for buying from a store... there is always a loaded gun on my person. I've never heard any validated stories of someone being attacked in any way while leaving a gun store, but it just seems like a place where a little extra caution is prudent.
 
If these kinds of situations bother you, stop hanging around pawn shops in bad neighborhoods. Otherwise, learn to expect it and be able to deal with it.

K
 
I avoid these problems by purchasing all my guns on the internet and having them sent to my FFL, which is located in the back of a small car dealership. It is very discrete, I don't have to worry about anyone seeing a gun and freaking out.
 
I've walked out of gun stores carrying the gun NUDE! zOMG NUDE. With a wooden crate that just SCREAMED EWBK AMMO!!11!!


Note: P0N1ES
 
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