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NGC - gun shop experiences

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segesta:
Background: a couple of weeks ago my family completed the NRA Basic Pistol Shooting course at a local range. I am not interested in home defense or concealed-carry, I simply think that knowing how to safely handle and shoot a gun is a worthwhile skill. Like riding a motorcycle.

Of course, we all loved it and now I am interested in buying a .22 target pistol--the Browning Buckmark is the leading contender, despite being impossible to disassemble and clean.

But my customer experience at gun shops is really turning me off. I've gone to two locally owned shops and a Bass Pro Shops, and the guys behind the counter are invariably--what's the best word--dicks. Grumpy, impatient, distracted, arrogant, terse. I'm a normal, presentable, boring middle aged guy. I am not a goof. So I'm thinking that there is some inherent genetic flaw that draws these people into gun sales. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong, not using the secret handshake or something.

Your thoughts and advice are welcomed.

(see, one of the reasons I became a Guzzi fan is that Jim Barron at Rose Farm is a great guy to simply talk with and bum a smoke from. I have no qualms approaching him with a dumb or obscure question about my bike. I get the exact opposite feeling from gun shops--and if I can't build a relationship with these guys, I'm not sure I want to bother)

ponti_33609:

--- Quote from: segesta on April 02, 2015, 10:11:32 AM ---Background: a couple of weeks ago my family completed the NRA Basic Pistol Shooting course at a local range. I am not interested in home defense or concealed-carry, I simply think that knowing how to safely handle and shoot a gun is a worthwhile skill. Like riding a motorcycle.

Of course, we all loved it and now I am interested in buying a .22 target pistol--the Browning Buckmark is the leading contender, despite being impossible to disassemble and clean.

But my customer experience at gun shops is really turning me off. I've gone to two locally owned shops and a Bass Pro Shops, and the guys behind the counter are invariably--what's the best word--dicks. Grumpy, impatient, distracted, arrogant, terse. I'm a normal, presentable, boring middle aged guy. I am not a goof. So I'm thinking that there is some inherent genetic flaw that draws these people into gun sales. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong, not using the secret handshake or something.

Your thoughts and advice are welcomed.

(see, one of the reasons I became a Guzzi fan is that Jim Barron at Rose Farm is a great guy to simply talk with and bum a smoke from. I have no qualms approaching him with a dumb or obscure question about my bike. I get the exact opposite feeling from gun shops--and if I can't build a relationship with these guys, I'm not sure I want to bother)

--- End quote ---

Hi - FWIW, I have purchased 2, online through Gunbroker.com.  Like an eBay for guns.  This of course is if you know really what it is you want to buy.  I do not love local shops either.  They will ship to a licensed shop and you simply pick it up.....in FL was like a $30 fee.

AJ Huff:
I have had mostly the same experience in every shop I have been in save one in Kalamazoo. I only go in now when I know exactly what I want.

-AJ

rocker59:
Hmmm.

I've never had this experience at a gun shop.

Now, one of our better shops is really busy, so getting much attention is tough sometimes.

But, the old d00ds who work the counters at Cabela's, Atwoods, and most local gun shops and pawn shops seem just fine.

Do your research online.  Don't go in asking lots of n00b questions.

Keep in mind that they get LOTS of tire-kickers and time-wasters each day.

Go in, ask for what you want.  Look at it.  Handle it.  Buy it, or don't buy it.

Gun shop d00ds remind me a lot of the average Guzzisti.  Enthusiastic and very knowledgeable, with a bit of a patience problem with people who haven't done their homework.

raul:
Please remember that for every customer that actually buys a gun, there are probably fifty that are just looking.

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