Should I have kept my mouth shut ?

[amboy49]

I shoot at a gun range on a weekly basis. It's a retail establishment that sells long guns of all types and handguns. I was sitting at a table inside talking with a friend after we were done shooting. As my friend and I were talking I looked up to see a woman handling a pistol she was apparently thinking of buying. The salesman, on the other side of the counter, was with her as well as her husband.

After the third or fourth time of staring down the barrel I politely (at least I think I tried to say it politely) asked the woman if she would please point the gun in another direction - or something to that affect. She gave me a half smile and moved the gun in a different direction. All well and good.

But. . . . . . .after the exchange between the gun buyer and myself the salesman looked at me, spoke up, and said "This is a gun shop. We sell guns. I cleared the gun 3 times myself." My response "Perhaps you did, but I didn't clear it. And, as I remember it, one of the safety rules is to treat all guns as if they are loaded."

His response was "If this makes you nervous maybe you should go outside." I opened my mouth to respond but, instead, removed myself before I said something I might regret later - something I do way too often. . I frequent the business at least 2 times a week on a regular basis and have done so for years. Maybe the salesman was just having a bad day ? Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut ? Do you say something in a situation like described - or either ignore or relocate without saying anything ?

 

[Tombs]

If you work in a gun shop selling guns, having "unloaded" guns pointed at you is a fact of life.

But, telling a customer to expect the same is completely and totally ridiculous. I would not return to that shop.

 

[gassprint1]

I had actually caught myself pointing in a vicinity of another at michiana firearms and said to the sales guy.."opps, i just broke rule #1"" he said, "indeed you did but thats why i lock the slide open when i handed to you", so while saying something to the lady, did the salesman have to same practices as michiana firearms with all weapons.. locking the slide open before handing to customer. I probably might have said something also but as an educational point. Thats exactly what i told my oldest daughter when i let her shoot 3 handguns last friday for the first time. Never point a gun at someone unless you plan to shoot and your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.

 

[BR8818]

I would have done the same, and I have. The guy behind the counter is a d*** for talking to a customer like that over a safety concern. I've been flagged by a person looking at a gun in a store before and said in a nice calm voice to watch where they're pointing it (it sucks you have to remind people of this) they said "omg I'm sorry" with no hard feelings. I've also been flagged at the range and those people didn't get the "nice and calm" voice, especially the guy who responded with "chill it's not loaded dude".

 

[Squid556]

I'm glad you said what you did. The employee was in the wrong.

Take it from someone who works on the otherside of the counter. If I heard a customer say that to me, I would be ashamed of my poor dicipline.

 

[radar8756]

You should have immediately asked to speak to the Store Manager about the Salesman's lack of Safety Knowledge

 

[10mm]

I shoot at a gun range on a weekly basis. It's a retail establishment that sells long guns of all types and handguns. I was sitting at a table inside talking with a friend after we were done shooting. As my friend and I were talking I looked up to see a female handling a pistol she was apparently thinking of buying. The salesman, on the other side of the counter, was with her as well as her husband.

After the third or fourth time of staring down the barrel I politely (at least I think I tried to say it politely) asked the woman if she would please point the gun in another direction - or something to that affect. She gave me a half smile and moved the gun in a direction. All well and good.

But. . . . . . .after the exchange between the gun buyer and myself the salesman looked at me, spoke up, and said "This is a gun shop. We sell guns. I cleared the gun 3 times myself." My response "Perhaps you did, but I didn't clear it. And, as I remember it, one of the safety rules is to treat all guns as if they are loaded."

His response was "If this makes you nervous maybe you should go outside." I opened my mouth to respond but, instead, removed myself before I said something I might regret later - something I do way too often. . I frequent the business at least 2 times a week on a regular basis and have done so for years. Maybe the salesman was just having a bad day ? Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut ? Do you say something in a situation like described - or either ignore or relocate without saying anything ?

You're not wrong. Maybe a little different phrasing, but ultimately regardless of whether or not a gun is loaded it is extremely rude to point one at anyone without a fairly exceptional reason. I.e. they're breaking into your house etc.

A breach of general etiquette can make some social situations difficult. Involving a gun ensures that outcome. It's important to gatekeep things that need to be for safety or general positive culture and I don't think you were even a little wrong for saying something. The dope behind the counter just got mad because you may have impacted his sale at the expense of your safety. (How dare you?) I would call the owner and explain you won't be returning and why if you really did frequent the establishment.

 

[Bassat]

You did right. The salesman was so far wrong the only way to classify it is: "STUPID". That salesman had a prime opportunity to instill some gun safety habits in that customer. Opportunity my big white ass; he had a duty to do so. He failed. He failed before, and whether or not, you noticed being swept. Gun owners, all of us, have an obligation to keep our ranks as safe as possible. Behavior like that customer exhibited, and the salesman condoned will get someone killed. The manager should have been consulted/informed. EVERY GUN I HAVE NOT PERSONALLY CLEARED, MYSELF, IS LOADED. PERIOD. I reserve the right to act accordingly.

 

[Magyars]

You should have immediately asked to speak to the Store Manager about the Salesman's lack of Safety Knowledge

This!

 

[KLB]

You did right. The salesman was so far wrong the only way to classify it is: "STUPID". That salesman had a prime opportunity to instill some gun safety habits in that customer. Opportunity my big white ass; he had a duty to do so. He failed. He failed before, and whether or not, you noticed being swept. Gun owners, all of us, have an obligation to keep our ranks as safe as possible. Behavior like that customer exhibited, and the salesman condoned will get someone killed. The manager should have been consulted/informed. EVERY GUN I HAVE NOT PERSONALLY CLEARED, MYSELF, IS LOADED. PERIOD. I reserve the right to act accordingly.

This. People need to learn early. He may have cleared that gun before handing it to her, but what happens after she buys it. Some time later she looks down the barrel while it IS loaded.

Even if I had cleared the gun, I would not want someone I was working with looking down a barrel like that.

 

[Ziggidy]

Once you begin to allow "little" things to change, eventually it becomes habit - bad habits. That's how accidents happen. When it comes to guns, we need to be STRICT with our handling and not allow ANY deviance.

Just because one works in a gun store, that does not mean basic safety can be eliminated. If anything, the clerk should have taught her, then and there, proper gun handling.

If he was my employee, he'd be immediately fired. He is a risk and without knowing it and is an example of how and why gun accidents can happen. Dang, our society is getting more and more full of smart a**es.

 

[LokhXIV]

Speaking up was the right call. I don't think I would have involved that manager at that point, but the employee could have handled it better. I'm guessing he was embarrassed and instead of admitting his mistake tried to shift the attention to you. It's unfortunate, but it seems to happen more often than not. Nobody likes being reminded they messed up, especially in front of someone who doesn't know better.

 

[Bassat]

Once you begin to allow "little" things to change, eventually it becomes habit - bad habits. That's how accidents happen. When it comes to guns, we need to be STRICT with our handling and not allow ANY deviance.

Just because one works in a gun store, that does not mean basic safety can be eliminated. If anything, the clerk should have taught her, then and there, proper gun handling.

If he was my employee, he'd be immediately fired. He is a risk and without knowing it and is an example of how and why gun accidents can happen. Dang, our society is getting more and more full of smart a**es.

I agree with you, up until firing the errant employee. Training/retraining should be required at that point. If he declines the training, or fails to follow it, then his job would be at risk. Proper firearms safety is not difficult. The hardest part is remaining ever-vigilant. I've been handling guns for about 60 years. I catch myself every once in a while taking a shortcut because I "know" something. We all KNOW the rules. Know the rules and applying the rules are two different things. We all NEED to help keep each other be as safe as is humanly possible. If someone can't take a friendly reminder, perhaps they should take up bowling, or knitting, instead of shooting.

 

[Bugzilla]

How about “And you can go **** yourself!” as a response.

 

[Hawkeye7br]

4-H leaders routinely deal with young teens and pre-teens, constantly instructing and reinforcing that all guns be pointed in a safe direction even unloaded. The sales rep should have given the customer directions on where to point the gun (at empty space behind the counter) and nowhere else. If youth leaders can direct 10-14 year olds, the sales rep can follow suit.

 

[1nderbeard]

Salesman was clearly in the wrong to speak to you the way he did, and I imagine his boss would be unhappy to hear a customer being told to leave.

Customer should also not have been flagging people. You can look down the sights of a gun without flagging people.

 

[sparkyfender]

You were in the right, but I would just have moved out of her path of destruction because I hate drama.

 

[Aszerigan]

Call that salesman out. Gun store culture sucks, and the faster we can get people like Mr "If you don't like it, you can leave" out from behind the counter, the sooner it will improve for all of us. If you don't follow gun safety protocol, you don't belong behind the counter. On top of being a jerk, that's the number one reason gun stores get a bad name and rightfully so.

That's also not how you run a business. If I ever had one of my guys say something like that (and I did), it would be grounds for an immediate reprimand if not firing. That is unacceptable.

 

[krvincen]

I agree with the above statement in regards to asking to speak to the manager. You yourself having not been present in insuring the weapon was indeed clear have no way of knowing it’s not a live chamber being pointed at you.

 

[Bollorollo]

Have you thought about joining one of the private ranges in Central Indiana? It would probably be cheaper to join a range in the long run then pay the fee each time you shoot at one of the indoor ranges. When Parabellum first open I would shoot there a lot.. I would hate to think this was the place this happened at as they were pretty good there with safety protocols.. But what happen to you sounds like something which would happen at a point blank range from all the stories I hear from people when bringing up issues they have ran into at indoor ranges..