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GermanShepherd
Posts: 160 Member
What do you think of the gun dealers you do business with?
GermanShepherd
Posts: 160 Member
In my experience, independent mom-and-pop gun shops tend to be much more friendly toward customers than big-box stores like Walmart and big-box sporting goods stores. I don't so much like to deal with a gun department in a big-box store as I like to deal with a small store whose core business is the gun trade. People in those smaller gun shops tend to be more knowledgeable about firearms and have closer connections with distributors and manufacturers. A guy at one big-box store once told me they get a bunch of surprises off the truck from a distributor they deal with. It's kind of like Forest Gump's box of chocolates. Who knows what guns will come in on the next load. "New" guns on display with damaged/scratched finishes seem more prevalent in big-box stores too I've noticed. Small shops tend to have better product quality control. Guns sold in big-box stores tend to be lower priced but YGWYPF.
Mom-and-pops are more likely to have what you want or be able to special order what you want. They also have a selection of used and preowned firearms too. They often do trade-ins and sell on consignment. The mom-and-pops are probably also more user-friendly if you have to ship a gun back for any warranty work.
You are better off buying a Smith & Wesson handgun, for example, from a mom-and-pop who is a factory authorized Smith & Wesson dealer or service center. These are the dealers that gun makers list at their corporate web sites. You tend to get nicer treatment if you use the same dealer you bought the gun from as your service center or middleman for any warranty claims.
Also, gun shops in pro-gun jurisdictions tend to be nicer to people than gun shops in jurisdictions with iron-fisted gun control. San Fransisco, CA is one of the worst jurisdictions to shop for a gun in. Mom-and-pops also do a lot of FFL transfers for guns purchased online.
Replies
Was the larger store a big-box store or just a bigger mom-and-pop operation? I'll venture a guess and say the larger one was nicer in your case.
N454casull
Pointing the muzzle out of the store is not a safe direction.
At a gun show, there was a table of Lugers. One patron was picking up every Luger and pulling the trigger. Why no one stopped him is beyond me. He found one that was loaded and luckily it wasn't pointed at someone at that moment when it fired.
Several check points by numerous people and yet one was loaded. When I collected Enfields, I was picking one up. To me it should be second nature to clear every firearm when it's touched. Opened one at random. Loaded. I do not remember loading it. Checking every time is the only way to be a gun owner. Anything less is lazy and unsafe.
Winston Churchill
How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and [how] hard it is to undo that work again! -- Mark Twain
If the local big box has what I need, I grab and go and don't dally or talk. Big city. One day might be joe friendly at the counter, next day might be marylin manson, or worse. I don't correct people or ever let on I know anything or don't know anything.
Nice thing about the store here. They keep a running list of in stock powder on the counter.
Actually. Come to think of it. A gabby guy at the counter suggested I try Power Pistol one day when they was out of either Unique or 2400.. So I did. Good advice from big box counter guy. You just never know....
How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and [how] hard it is to undo that work again! -- Mark Twain
While I have run into some less than knowledgeable folks working in gun shops, I've never had one of them tell me they couldn't sell me a scope for a shotgun because it was illegal as the gal in Dunhams did some years back...
I frequent Scheels and find them very helpful and knowledgeable, have bought both new and used guns from them and feel their prices are fare.
The other shop I use is a local Napa store that also has a section for guns, they have always been pleasant.
Thus folks in the gun business are often there due to an elevated level of passion for the trade. They're either not getting paid what their worth, or if they are, they'd probably be better off flipping burgers.
Since the people working behind the counter have gravitated toward the gun trade, there's a good chance that their personality leans toward solitary, outdoor pursuits that avoid human interaction.
On a daily basis, they have to repeatedly explain the same technical aspects of guns and gun laws to an endless string of ignorant and misinformed customers who either aren't in possession of the right information, or got theirs gawd-only-knows-where, and when they arrive, they often flaunt their ignorance.
So, either underpaid for the knowledge required or probably on the verge of getting fired, and forced by the need for a paycheck to deal with many folks they'd ordinarily choose not to.
Did that job for 13 years. Took my knowledge to a place where I have not had to utter the phrase "Can I help you?" for the last 15 years, and I'm MUCH happier as a result.
If this seems like the attitude of the guy helping you, remember, we have our reasons:
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
The muzzle wasn't actually pointed "out of the store" but toward the front of the store while at the counter toward the back of the store but on one side of the store about 35 feet from the front windows. I was standing right at the counter holding the gun over the counter and pointing the gun long ways with the counter. To examine the gun thoroughly for fit and finish one has to view the gun on both sides. As I said, this store should have had its front windows covered up completely with shades, blinds or curtains. The guy was worried about people getting scared on the street outside of the store. Indeed, San Francisco is full of a bunch of anti-gun pansy cowards scared of their own shadow. The grumpy gun shop man was right about that part.
If I happened to see something at a big box store at a great price of course I am getting it. Depending on help there is stupid as hell. Getting someone that works there to care is a near statistical impossibility.
Winston Churchill