Gun pointed at me

[Alexx1401]

I'll freely admit I don't know what is happening with pawn shops in other States. In WA the pawn shops have been very, very active in the gun business because it makes them money even if they don't have a clue what Guns are all about. An FFL Dealer in WA CAN'T take a Gun in unless it's on consignment or being purchased. I'm of the opinion that pawn shops have a license to steal!

I have heard a few give that sentiment. Not only with pawn shops but with those check cashing joints that seem to be on every corner now. To me it's always been "I am all for freedom of choice". If someone chooses to sell sell something to a pawn shop for a small percentage of what it's worth? That is their choice. Never mattered to me as I was often able to then buy something at a good price from the shop. I figure no one forced the seller to walk in there and sell the item. This same argument in often made of gambling. That some can't control themselves so we need to do away with it to protect these people from themselves. To me? Don't gamble much at all. Play lotto weekly for a few bucks. Probably never win but what the hell. If I ever do will I ever have a damn nice gun safe

 

[Koda]

Now if we will , lets go back to the OP topic of a Gun Pointed at me ....

I was at Cabela's today checking out a piece I was thinking of getting. After 5 mins, my number was called. A guy came over, told him I would like to see this pistol in the showcase. He took it out, safety check it and show me the chamber was empty. Before he handed me the pistol, muzzle was pointed me, then as he handed me the firearm, the muzzle now pointed directly at the guy standing next to me. First thing came to my mind, these guys should know better, right? They are supposed to be experienced with handling firearms especially in a gun shop. When I was done looking at it, I put it down, making sure the muzzle was pointed at a safe direction, the guy pick it up and again pointed the pistol at me again. As he was fiddling with the pistol to put it back in the shelf, he again pointed the muzzle at me and the guy next to me again. Where is the common sense here. Comes to find out he was new. Just started 2 weeks ago.

My experience is different at each gun store but I usually find a muzzle violation at all of them each visit. Its both frustrating and perplexing how bad that is at a gun store where you would think gun people go who also know how to handle firearms. Yes I realize that the customer is potentially a new gun owner but in my book every person behind the counter should be trained in gun safety and instruct the customer how to handle the gun as appropriate. Gun stores need to step up to the plate on this issue as well has designate a safe spot for their customers to sight down the gun both pistols and rifles... but I have never seen a gun store with one, ever.

its generally less of a problem at small shops but always a problem at big box stores where the gun counter is often lined up with people taking numbers, I stay away from them this time of year.

Its frustrating because I want to say something but every single time it starts an argument that never goes well.

 

[Grimm]

I don't know what the criteria is to get a job behind the Cabelas gun counter is, but I've had bad experiences. Asking about a gun it said they had online and the guys words were "if you're in a buying mood, I'll check the back but I'll still have to assemble it" (which we know consists of putting the barrel on) and the next time I went when I had to show the guy how to release the bolt on a shotgun I was looking at. All this after taking a number and waiting for their premium service.

 

[KKG]

My experience with Cabela's and other Big Box Stores has been that the sales person I get may have just left the Shoe department or some other part of the store and doesn't have a clue. If the Salesman isn't actively working in the Firearms department I usually will pass up any purchases. Now days I simply pass on doing any business with those places unless I'm just grabbing a box of Ammo or maybe some other accessories.

 

[CoastRange57]

Did you say anything to him about it? I sure would have. He probably would have come back with something snotty like "You saw it was unloaded" though....

And my smart mouth would have said I don't give a f you fing moron, and promptly left that store and never went back.

I had to wait for the wife at the dentist the other day and though about going to the Sportsmans Warehouse next door for a bit, but I had no intentions of buying anything, and knew I would be let down if I had to talk to one of the drones that worked there, so I sat in the car and watched Lynyrd Skynyrd videos instead.

 

[CoastRange57]

Would you like to bet on that? I'll put up $1,000 that says no unloaded gun has ever discharged. If you can post even a single credible story of an unloaded gun going off, I'll pay you. If you cannot, you pay me. Deal? OK, go. I'll give you 48 hours.

The assumption that a gun is unloaded has killed many people. For those of us trained at a level that pointing a gun at anybody loaded or unloaded, (unless you are going to shoot them) is very bad. I have told people that need to handle that gun differently and if they are offended, well f them.

 

[Caveman Jim]

And my smart mouth would have said I don't give a f you fing moron, and promptly left that store and never went back.

I had to wait for the wife at the dentist the other day and though about going to the Sportsmans Warehouse next door for a bit, but I had no intentions of buying anything, and knew I would be let down if I had to talk to one of the drones that worked there, so I sat in the car and watched Lynyrd Skynyrd videos instead.

I feel the same way at any store that sells guns, some are ok but most make me want to be elsewhere & safe.

 

[orygun]

I had to wait for the wife at the dentist the other day and though about going to the Sportsmans Warehouse next door for a bit, but I had no intentions of buying anything, and knew I would be let down if I had to talk to one of the drones that worked there, so I sat in the car and watched Lynyrd Skynyrd videos instead.

Too true. I would handle more guns but much of the hired help in places like this are often inept. Then again, I'm usually just window shopping.
One of the reasons I can appreciate Cabela's is the used gun racks where you can handle the rifles. Like how it used to be everywhere.

 

[Caveman Jim]

My experience is different at each gun store but I usually find a muzzle violation at all of them each visit. Its both frustrating and perplexing how bad that is at a gun store where you would think gun people go who also know how to handle firearms. Yes I realize that the customer is potentially a new gun owner but in my book every person behind the counter should be trained in gun safety and instruct the customer how to handle the gun as appropriate. Gun stores need to step up to the plate on this issue as well has designate a safe spot for their customers to sight down the gun both pistols and rifles... but I have never seen a gun store with one, ever.

its generally less of a problem at small shops but always a problem at big box stores where the gun counter is often lined up with people taking numbers, I stay away from them this time of year.

Its frustrating because I want to say something but every single time it starts an argument that never goes well.

Get the manager involved if the offending employee argues about his\her unsafe gun handling, I used to let stuff slide when i was younger but not anymore.

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

Some of the dangerous situations surrounding the direction that firearms are pointed cannot be helped and are accepted as the cost of doing business.

Of course I speaking to life in the military or Law Enforcement where any number of situations can exist; the exception, not the rule.

Here are a few examples...

Casualty Evacuation
Entering/exiting a Trench
Crossing a water Obstacle
Entering/exiting a Manhole
Operating in zero visibility
Fast Rope/Air Assault Opns
Climbing ladders
Close Quarters (people in the other rooms)
Mountaineering
Getting in and out of vehicles..
GIs crossing in front

That's why weapons discipline is pounded into everyone on the team; finger control, weapons on SAFE, etc.

It's not very safe, nobody likes it, but sometimes the mission comes first!

Edit: That is way different than some undisciplined Yahoo at a gun desk.

 

[Koda]

Get the manager involved if the offending employee argues about his\her unsafe gun handling, I used to let stuff slide when i was younger but not anymore.

the vast majority I see are the customers. I imagine this puts the gun store between a rock and a hard place if they want to make a sale...

 

[Caveman Jim]

the vast majority I see are the customers. I imagine this puts the gun store between a rock and a hard place if they want to make a sale...

I see, if it's customers then it also should be brought up, careless gun handling is often times complacent and that could lead to bad teachings to young people.

 

[CoastRange57]

That's why weapons discipline is pounded into everyone on the team; finger control, weapons on SAFE, etc.

It's not very safe, nobody likes it, but sometimes the mission comes first!

Edit: That is way different than some undisciplined Yahoo at a gun desk.

Yeah, at least in the situations mentioned you are fairly well assured that there is a basic level of training that has been met and those field conditions are far different than what and who you are dealing with in the store.

 

[CoastRange57]

I see, if it's customers then it also should be brought up, careless gun handling is often times complacent and that could lead to bad teachings to young people.

A guy swept me with a handgun at Coastal a couple years ago and I told him not to point that fing gun at me. He said it is not loaded, I told him I don't give a f if it was unloaded, that was poor gun handling and I don't appreciate it. I told the clerk I was leaving until I felt I could go to his gun counter and not get muzzle swept by some idiot who did not know gun safety. The guy says Oh f you dude. I said no f you moron, you are a rookie. Walked out and have never been back to that gun counter ever.

 

[Koda]

A guy swept me with a handgun at Coastal a couple years ago and I told him not to point that fing gun at me. He said it is not loaded, I told him I don't give a f if it was unloaded, that was poor gun handling and I don't appreciate it. I told the clerk I was leaving until I felt I could go to his gun counter and not get muzzle swept by some idiot who did not know gun safety. The guy says Oh f you dude. I said no f you moron, you are a rookie. Walked out and have never been back to that gun counter ever.

and there in lies the problem, ignorant gun owners thinking they know how to handle guns when they don't, and making exceptions to the 4 rules, and then getting upset about being called out on it and defending their position. This is why I just leave, your braver than I CoastRange.

Gun stores need to step up and say hey I'd love to help you buy a gun but we cant be pointing the guns at other customers. If the customer gets upset or still doesn't comply with 4 simple fing rules, we don't need to be selling him a gun then.

another documented case of a discharge in a gun store with an unloaded gun.
ND at tigard Gunbroker

 

[CoastRange57]

This is why I just leave, your braver than I CoastRange.

Believe me, my call out and smart azz comments only took about 10 seconds and I was gone in 20 seconds. Nothing scares me more than that.

 

[Alexx1401]

I don't know what the criteria is to get a job behind the Cabelas gun counter is, but I've had bad experiences. Asking about a gun it said they had online and the guys words were "if you're in a buying mood, I'll check the back but I'll still have to assemble it" (which we know consists of putting the barrel on) and the next time I went when I had to show the guy how to release the bolt on a shotgun I was looking at. All this after taking a number and waiting for their premium service.

LOL, so they have a factory in the back huh? Machine shop and all?

 

[Mainsail]

View attachment 407391
×
hy·per·bo·le
hīˈpərbəlē/
noun

1. exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
   
   
   If saying there is an invisible laser beam coming out of the muzzle isn't a claim not to be taken literally, I'm not sure what is.

The irony is that you posted up a picture to mock me, cut & pasted a definition, and you still don't know what hyperbole means.

"..saying there is an invisible laser beam coming out of the muzzle..." is an allegory, not hyperbole; they're totally different. But at least we know what the problems is.

Arguing semantics, grammar, and punctuation only takes away from the meat and potatoes of conversation and makes things personal.

Except that's not at all what I was doing- that's only what you assumed I was doing. I said making statements everyone knows are not true (unloaded guns go off or all guns are always loaded) actually contribute to the behavior the OP experienced at the gun counter.

If you disagree with a statement that was made, or have an opinion to share, even if it is an unpopular one... Great!

Exactly what I did; I expressed an opinion that the cause might be ourselves some of the time, because we make such statements. People handle it differently; ID just put his fingers in his ears and cried 'la lal la I can't hear you' while you in your pride couldn't bring yourself to ask for help understanding.

Nevertheless, I'll step out and let the few of you that cannot accept different ideas, and the rest of the people in here, continue to agree.

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

Pointing out a Safe Direction when a firearm is passed is good policy.

I was checked (searched) at Wheatland Ferry a few years ago...
I pull my 12 foot yacht up to the boat ramp and there they were...

"Andy and Barny 5" ran over and wanted me to validate the plug in my SG....overzealously..

I pointed up to a Cottonwood Tree and said.."SAFE DIRECTION?". I yelled actually; I didn't want to set the conditions to be shot by an officer fearing for his life. They nodded and I handled my SG.

Of course I was legal.

While they were searching my boat and shaking me upside down, their boat drifted away.

Of course I retrieved it for them.

 

[Glock Jock]

Had a guy in a shop down in NorCal hand a customer a Mosin (I believe) and he then turned and used my face to sight in as he checked the gun out and held it there and the employee said nothing. I was furious, walked out and never went back. I believe the first part of the stores name was "Tactical" - Lol!