Sports Authority to Add Gun Section

[SonicBlue03]

It was 25 months ago when I last test drove a car at a dealer and I was not asked for my drivers license. Never been asked for my license to handle a gun and I"ve bought 4 handguns at retail stores in the past 2 years.



Having nothing to hide does NOT make your private information other people's business. Defending my right to privacy does not mean I have anything to hide. It means my drivers license information is none of their business until after I agree to buy. Up to that point it's their job to interest me in their product without alienating me.

We don't really know what their real reason is do we? To prevent theft is a terribly weak argument since a theif would likely bring a gun of their own to expedite the transaction. In that case, security cameras would help to identify the theif. Same cameras would identify a runner.

Most car dealerships nowadays ask for a license to have a copy. There are some that don't, but most of the dealers I've been through in the past 36 have asked for a copy of the license of either myself or other people.

For every one person that is concerned about their privacy there are ten that won't give it a second thought. It's those ten that they're trying to sell to. But if you'd left the full quote in, you would've had the last part of my comment:

Of if you want to know why, just ask them why the policy.

It's not hard to just ask them. You're not obligated to shop with them, and while I'm sure they'd like the business they're not going to rub their hands together if not selling to someone who doesn't want to give over their drivers license. They're going to think, "Huh, I wonder what that person is hiding" or "Paranoid little gits, aren't they?"

Makes no difference if it's privacy or open carry. If you don't exercise your rights, you will loose them. That store is testing to see if you'll give up your right to privacy... You don't have to!

That's one perspective. Another (and more likely) is that they're protecting themselves from potential liability issues and are following a corporate policy that requires them to do so in order to make sure people handling firearms are of proper age.

Anyway Patriot Act took away your right to privacy years ago. Separate you'd probably crap a brick if you knew what personal information banks send out when you swipe your debit card at the gas pump.

 

[twoclones]

SonicBlue03,
Your attitude towards this reminds me of the people I knew when I lived in Europe. Kind of a "Small violations don't really hurt me." But from what I saw, those small violations added up very quickly. Essentially, they didn't appreciate their freedoms and privacy enough to protect them so those were eventually, bit by bit, lost.

Freedom is like virginity. Once you give it away, you'll never get it back.

 

[SonicBlue03]

No, my attitude is just fairly realistic that we live in times that companies need to protect themselves from theft and frivilous lawsuits and that privacy largely is an illusion unless you take yourself completely off the grid. Buy anything online? Give up some privacy. Register to vote and drive as a resident of a state? Give up some privacy. Purchase a firearm at anywhere other than a gun show? Give up some privacy. Use a credit or debit card for any purchase? You get the point.

To the original point of this thread, I decided since I'm off this week waiting for family to arrive for Turkey Day, I thought I'd take a little trip down to Sports Authority and ask. The fellow running the hunting/firearms department is a super nice guy and very helpful. We were talking and I asked about what drove the store policy, and his answer was that while you'd think people wouldn't do it, the chain has had a couple of instances where individuals tried to run out of the store with firearms. It's supposed to be a store standard policy now, although some may or may not abide by it.

So you can either spend some time thinking it's some nefarious policy or accept that big chain stores will overcompensate to protect themselves. They don't photocopy it, and they give it right back when you hand the rifle back.

 

[twoclones]

I'm planning on buying a rifle soon. This morning I stopped at a local retailer and was handed ever version of this rifle they had behind the counter. No I.D. required. I guess we know where I will not be spending my money.