Whyyyyy do people pester me whhhhhy (While buying a gun)

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I was in a shop looking at buying a bolt-action rifle. There was a crowd of guys that I would say were some sort of construction laborers who were looking at some very expensive pistols. I was waiting on my paperwork callin.

One of the guys asked for a specific high-end pistol. He was shown the pistol, and really liked it. He commented that he had been wanting one for a long time now and had saved up the money to buy it.

Problem was he was working a job here, but lived in another state.

He said the pistol was $700 cheaper here; his local gunshop had the exact same pistol marked for $2000 and they wanted $1300 for it here.

The clerk who was helping him said, "Too bad, I can't sell you a pistol because you don't live in this state." and put the gun away.

The guy said, "wow that sucks. The price is great." And the guys kept looking.

The clerk said, "Yeah, Iwould love to sell you the gun but there is no way you can buy a pistol in another state."

Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.

I chimed in. "Well, you *can* buy a pistol from out of state. The only thing is that you have to take posession of it from an FFL dealer in your home state."

The clerk kinda turns away from me and ignores me, but the guy hears and asks me, how?

I said, "Well, you need to buy the gun here but you can't take posession of it. You need to find a FFL licensed dealer in your state to receive it and log it through their books. You would need to pay this dealer here the shipping, probably FedEx next day, to get it to your dealer. You pay your dealer what they are charging for an FFL transfer. All legal."

The clerk says, "Well, that's a lot of work, and by the time you pay the extra fees and stuff he won't save any money."

I said, "He says it's $700 cheaper. FedEx is what, $50? Plus what, $30 FFL fee on his end? Sounds to me like he saves over $600 doing it this way. I've bought guns through the Internet this way."

The guy is interested now and asks if he can do that.

The clerk tells me, "You can't buy guns on the internet."

I said, "Ever heard of Gunbroker.com? Gunsamerica.com?"

The clerk says, "Well, it may be legal, but I don't want to do it. And we charge a $150 FFL transfer fee on something we keep in stock, so I don't know where you can find a $30 transfer. Most gun stores won't do it."

The guy leaves, kind of disappointed.

I decided I didn't need a Mosin after all...at least not from that store.
 
Filling out out paperwork---the bottom gets filled out first---the important stuff doesn't get filled out till I'm alone and no one is near--with the exception of a store employee---drivers licence is always covered or put back in my pocket immediately.

If our wannabe gansta comes around---I just humor them till they leave---then continue with the form.

As a PT cashier at Walmart(no longer there--helped with the child support at the time) for 3 years---usually in the cigarette aisle---they were usually buying alcohol with their smokes too--always at night---I can spot your various types a mile away---believe me---even the little variations between hip hop and gansta. My profiling was spot on---it had to be.

I was always friendly and courtious---but I knew what their deal was---long before they ever got to the register--not just talkin gasta's---but the little old lady--the trucker sleeping in the parking lot---the family man---to the trailer trash hoe----I could/can spot trouble coming a mile away.
 
I don't think my remarks on the guy were too stereotypical. I stated what he dressed like and the term "thug" fit appropriately. It might not be the most PC thing to say but "a guy that doesn't wear clothes anywhere near his size with oversized jewelry and a bandanna to cover his bald head for sun protection" just seemed too long.

The point is, i don't think too much of people who say cop killers with a smirk on their faces.

You can't judge a book by its cover, but in general if they aren't the same as their cover, its more of an exception.

Now lets reverse, would you think Mr. business suit clean cut guy is generally a law abiding business man? I'd say you folks would agree, and thats also stereotyping...

Striving to be more PC and cutting down on stereotypes is something i do, but the truth is, i dont have time to sit down and have a deep conversation about morals with everyone i see. So I must do a bit of stereotyping.

P.S. hopefully we can stop about stereotypes and talk about intrusive and annoying people :p
 
------quote-------
"I don't see why anyone would need that many bullets. what are you planning on doing, shooting up somebody's neighborhood?
-------------------

I tend to reply to these things like this:

"If you really believe that gun owners are mentally unstable, and liable to go on a murderous rampage any time we encounter the slightest annoyance, isn't it kind of stupid for you to be standing there annoying me?"
 
"If you really believe that gun owners are mentally unstable, and liable to go on a murderous rampage any time we encounter the slightest annoyance, isn't it kind of stupid for you to be standing there annoying me?"
Click to expand...

GAAAAHHHH!!! HA! HA! HA! HA! ...snort... WAAHH!! HA! HA! HA! HA!

One of my personal favorites happened a couple years ago. Went to a local outdoor range and was shooting when a bunch of "gangsta" types pulled up in the next lane. They weren't being too obnoxious and seemed to be practicing safe shooting, so I let it be and kept shooting. Right next to them a guy pulled up that I recognized. When he got out of the truck I caught the look on his face and new it was going to be good. By the way, did I mention this guy has a .50 he likes to pull out on occasion?

As he set up the kids between us were going absolutely bonkers, making all kinds of stupid remarks, asking a ton of dumb*** questions, and generally being irritating. As the guy hunkered down for the first shot these kids all crowded up next to him, snuggling up to the bench ... and the muzzle brake. At the touch of the trigger do rags flew, curses rang out, and I noticed that one of them had even lost a press-on "gold" tooth cover.

I laughed. They left.

Brad
 
I had a non-worker hanging out at the counter tell me:

"Don't you be buyin' no ugly gun."

It was lighthearted, but I could not imagine saying such a thing to someone buying a gun.

300px-Winchester_1897.jpg


I didn't care since I know it ain't ugly. Just potentially a little painful on the thumb.:)
 
"ugly

Guess he didn't work on commission. I have seen some not so pretty guns but they usually have a real nice history.
 
I'm actually a fairly shy person. I don't go running the other direction if somebody tries to talk to me, but it is rare for me to start a conversation, particularly with a stranger. Plus I'm a middle aged woman, "playing", as Gunbabe said, in a man's toy store, so to speak.

That said, conversations with strangers at the range, or at the gun counter, happen more often than anywhere else. Maybe it's because we're all there because we like the same stuff, and while there are probably more things that would divide us (if we knew each other well enough) than would unite us, this thing of owning guns, shooting guns, liking to browse the gun shelves...IDK, it brings out a willingness to chat.

Some of these folks are just blowhards and, like Gunbabe said, are heroes in their own little worlds. I've seen all kinds of folks come in when I was browsing Carter's or Gander Mountain, and I see it in other folks too. It's just the sort of place that LOTS of retail places used to be...where people would just chat, shoot the breeze, whatever.

Bottom line: it's not pestering. They're trying to be friendly and while they may BE pests (especially if you're filling out paperwork :eek:) there's no harm in it. My highly overinflated $.02

Springmom
 
Hmmm, remember the old toothpaste ad line: "You don't get a second chance to make a first impression"?

Yeah, I profile based on my experience and judgment. Often, I can tell the difference between a real thug and a wannabe, but not always, so I watch and listen, but until I have enough input, I'm keeping an eye on 'em.

I often chat with other folks browsing in a gun shop, but I make it a point to stay out of converstaions between sales person and customer unless the sales person is just flat out lying, and I expect the same form others. JMO.
 
i apologize in advance as this is off topic but does anyone remember what the thread was with the "pictures" as shown in paintballdude's post, to create your own?
 
gunsmith said:
I read an article that said stupid people often assume they are smart!
Smart people assume there is a lot they do not know.
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Heh..my dad told me once (in the middle of his divorce with my stepmom), "Son, you can marry a smart woman that knows she's smart...you can marry a dumb woman that knows she's dumb...but DON'T marry a dumb woman that thinks she's smart".

I told him about this quote a little while ago and he just laughed. He didn't remember saying it but thought it had some merit;)
 
supraneurotoxin,
I work in a hospital cardiovascular lab; I guarantee you that those fries are as deadly in the long run as that 9mm round.
(New thread: "9mm vs. .45 vs. french fry - which is deadlier?") .
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I suspect the french fries have killed more than the 9mm or .45. Now just how do we go about registering those deadly french fries and getting them out of the hands of the public??
 
I suspect the french fries have killed more than the 9mm or .45. Now just how do we go about registering those deadly french fries and getting them out of the hands of the public??
Click to expand...

That's actually not too funny, as it's not very far-fetched. I'm sure in the next few years we will see areas banning McDonalds and 'evil' food and such.
 
mikeb3185 said:
i apologize in advance as this is off topic but does anyone remember what the thread was with the "pictures" as shown in paintballdude's post, to create your own?
Click to expand...
I don't know the thread itself, but a site where you can create your own is here
 
I went into a local store one time wanting a 9mm.All the clerk could do is tell me how much better the 40 was and asked how come I did not want one of them instead,I said because I already own two 40s.

And do not even get me started on the guys who think you need ultra magnums to hunt with.
 
Ah, the memories...

I remember back in the 60s, when I and my friends wore multi-patched bell bottoms, tie-dyed T-shirts, love beads and granny glasses, B.F. Goodrich sandals, and hair down to our shoulders--how terribly unfair we thought it was that people assumed we were all dope-smoking acidhead draft dodgers that never bathed and spent every night getting high and banging hippie chicks.

I also remember what hypocrites we were, because we dressed that way specifically to "freak out the straights" by making them think exactly that.

I know I'm turning into my father, but I can't help wondering how many who affect "gangsta" fashion delight in "freaking out the straights" today--putting forth an intentionally intimidating and antisocial image, coupled with a hostile, arrogant (but fashionable) "attitude", and loving every second of the fear and suspicion they inspire--while moaning about how unfair it is for others to judge them on how they look.

We hippie wannabes did it. No shame in it; being obnoxious and rebellious and pi@@ing off adults is in a kid's job description now just as it was then.

But as I recall, we thought that anyone over 30 who tried to look like us was weird and a little pathetic... THAT seems to have changed.

Oh, well. Now I'm just an old fart like my father was. What do I know?
 
Well I guess I'll share a story, except in this one I'm "that guy." After staying up all night studying for an exam I decide to go to a few gun stores after the test since I wasn't tired...

I wasn't tired because I had drank enough Red Bulls to make any other person's heart explode. Needless to say I was a bit jittery. I'm pretty peppy on a normal basis, so with this much caffiene in my system I probably seemed a little strung out.

I was in the mood to check out AKs and the local store stocked a variety. Being about as hyper as a 5 year old with ADHD who just ate a 5 pound bag of sugar, I was in a talkative mood. So I find the clerk I regularly deal with and start furiously blabbering away with questions and conversations regarding the AKs they had in stock. Two uniformed police officers are in the store...

...Oh I forgot to mention, its been only about a week after Virginia Tech and I'm proudly wearing my university t-shirt. I notice the cops eyeing me from across the store. Then they move a little closer, closer, closer, till they are standing next to me and the clerk, pretending [poorly] to look at some pistols in the display case. I give them both a polite nod to let them know that I knew they were evesdropping and returned to my conversation with the clerk. They hovered around until I lost interest in the AKs and began a new set of inqueries into some Uberti Single Action Cattlemans.

After the caffiene wore off and a nap I realized what the cops were so concerned about. They saw a super hyper college student looking at AKs about a week after Virginia Tech. :banghead: I felt kinda dumb.
 
I went down the first page of this and haven't read the rest yet, but before I forget...

boredelmo, I shop a little place where I can lean on the counter and visit. Like just today, I was there and an older gentleman came in looking for some .223 loaded with the heaviest bullets they load because of his rifle's 1:7 twist rate. Well, we got to talking about this and that to do with .223's and deer hunting and before you know it, we're talking about military small arms. Turns out this gentleman is an old US Marine and Vietnam Vet with a liking for some of the same rifles... M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, M-14... the rest of us like. In general, I'm an interested bystander, but I don't dress/talk/act like a thug so folks don't treat me like one. I haven't had to deal with the guy you dealt with either... that's a pretty different kind of scenario for me. And the shop owner figures if it's my gun or his, it's loaded.

Editted to add: The wierdest people I've ever seen in this one shop I was in today... it's been a while, but there was this one idiot who's black t-shirt read, in white letters, "FBI"(top line) and "Female Body Inspector"(bottom line).
 
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My gun store story from today that doesn't quite fit here but it also doesn't warrant its own thread:

I just moved to Minneapolis and decided to visit a local store I've heard good things about. I was shopping for a CC piece and wanted to see what they had in stock.

Now I will admit that this place had very good prices on their merchandise but everything else was terrible. There were 3 employees, two of whom were BSing with a group of apparent regulars and the other one was busying about doing various things. While I kneeled down to check out a Springfield 1911 a bit closer, I looked up to see one of the employees wiping down a large caliber Taurus revolver with his finger on the trigger and the muzzle pointed directly at my forehead. I shrugged it off as he stopped very soon after that but when I kneeled down again at a different counter, he decided once again to level the revolvers at my head. This time he also had one in the other hand and was apparently comparing the two's sight pictures with my forehead as the target.

Those aforementioned regulars were camping in front of a substantial portion of the gun cases, blocking them completely from view. They made no attempt to move when they saw that I was looking at the various pistols and the group, including the employees they were conversing with, seemed somewhat disdainful that I was actually looking for a gun instead of gabbing it up.

Ah well, I just felt the need to rant. I'm off again tomorrow to search for a more hospitable store.
 
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