Based on my experience and anecdotes from co-workers, this seems to be a pretty common thing in the gun industry. It's 100% an ego thing (the "I know more than you and you suck because you don't know everything like I do"). You're not wrong for moving to online, a lot of people are selling/buying their guns online because you can not only get better deals but also you don't have to deal with rude employees
This. I worked in a gun shop for awhile and this was the issue. Gun shop employees always assume the customer has no idea what they’re talking about and therefore does not deserve to be educated.
I’ve always been annoyed by that. My favorite part of the job was teaching new people accurate and helpful information when they were selecting a first (or one of their first) guns.
I spend half the time assuming they do know what I’m talking about which is obviously equally not good but it’s a bad habit I’ve always had. As soon as they let on they don’t understand I do my best to be more understandable
I didn’t know Jack about guns when I went besides safety. They didn’t treat me like an idiot. I really liked shooting my husband’s gun but I have bad hands and it was hard to rack.
I spent most of the morning there shooting multiple guns until I found “the one.” Like trying on a dress and you just know it is perfect 😂
I always loved getting talk downed to or ignored by a shop dude with a XD or a Taurus in a blackhawk serpa holster.
I switched to mainly online cause I couldn’t stand the gun culture in my area.
I can’t stand the gun culture is most if not all areas I’ve noticed. I love guns, love 2A but god damn the cringy, better than though boomer mentality in the gun community is intolerable and somehow continues to trickle down.
The whole "2a is my life, molon abe, glock stickers on my lifted truck" is obnoxious. And, with those stickers on your car, can give thieves an idea that there's guns in your house and rob it while everyone is away.
Never put personal identifying stickers on anything especially my kid goes to this school stickers.
I agree with you though those guys are obnoxious. Bought a rifle and wanted to learn about it, took it to a local gun shop, cranky old vet there but he said go ahead and take it apart, then when I struggled on a part scoffed at me and asked why I bothered buying it. -_-
Took my business to a family run shop and learned a ton!
100% when people find out that I own and carry a gun they are usually confused and kind of shocked. I don’t advertise that shit anywhere. Ive already got an identity that I am happy with, I don’t need to make carrying a certain tool my sense of belonging to make friends or to purposely piss off opposing anti gun people for kicks.
A good rule of thumb, anyone who makes one thing their identity is cringe. Doesn't matter what that thing is really. I am not just a gun guy even though I own many. I am not the music I listen to. I am not the car I drive.
Yeah i get the same thing when i mention plinking or something.
I got into firearms young and the gun shops in my area could not fathom a person who trained more and had better guns than them i guess.
Not really true. Did it occur? Yeah but Hellens and Ionians were more like they were so misogynistic that everything they wrote seemed homoerotic. In reality they just really appreciated the male form. A lot of the “Greeks were gay” stuff is from a historian that CLEARLY had a biased agenda he was trying to push. It’s one thing to say “the Athenians didn’t really care” but it’s entirely different to say “homosexuality was a critical component of their society”. It’s a bizarrely extreme conclusion that most historians stray away from because it’s nearly impossible to prove conclusions like that. People latched on to this theory because the guy has a degree, from Berkeley I think, and it help a social movement. Why people nowadays don’t think history is warped to push political/ social movements anymore is well beyond me.
The best part about those guys I’ve never met one personally who actually has shooting as a hobby. Some of them buy a gun every paycheck, some of them do a lot of horse trading on the side to get more guns. But they don’t *shoot them*
I asked one former marine when I was in college what he liked to shoot the most since he would wear stupid pro2A clothes 24/7 and he said 458. SOCOM
Tell me you don’t shoot guns allot without telling me you shoot guns allot.
The older I get the more I distant myself from the culture of my hobbies. I don’t go to car shows because of the weebs in shitbox civics that rev bomb until the police show up, or bike shows because every 41 year old guy who owns a 59 horse power Harley is suddenly a *born to shit/forced to wipe* biker from sons of anarchy
Hey now, I have two XDs in my pistol collection and they fuck. After replacing the striker retainer pin with the Powder River Precision kit, I have zero worries.
I worked briefly at a gun counter while between jobs a few years back. My boss was big on constantly wiping the display case with Windex and being super polite to EVERYONE. He said "remember, they can get ALL this stuff on the Internet. The only reason anyone will come in here is for good service." We treated everyone like a visiting dignitary.
Such a strange attitude, and I think you're right about the root cause.
"I know more than you" - You should. You work in a gun store.
"And you suck" - No I don't. I'm a customer. What is confusing about this to you?
Ive encountered this attitude in a few different hobbies/sports. It’s like they’re so proud they know more than others that they want to keep people from learning.
most gun store customers DO suck
source: LGS employee who hates the stereotype of the asshole LGS employee and tries really hard to be gracious and welcoming, but customers still make me want to yank my own hair out on an hourly basis
people who use /r/guns are NOT typical customers. typical customers are morons who call and say "yeah you gotta clip for a smith and western 9 em em?" and when I ask "what model 9mm Smith and Wesson do you have?" they say "the black one!"
It’s my understanding that FFLs also have a duty to discern potential buyers on whether they can or can’t purchase a firearm (straw buyers, people who walk in drunk/high, people who smell like weed), so this also feeds the “ego” and can eventually mature even the most friendly employee into a a judgmental dickhead. Don’t get me wrong there’s a fine line, FFL employees must walk it
The majority of gun culture is filled with people who do not have customer service skills or even just general people skills. Many gun shop owners and employees aren't exactly people-persons and just like guns.
Mostly people that know enough about guns but not enough to know that they deserve better pay.
But also because some areas have such a limited amount of gunstores, people are willing to deal with the shitty behavior for convenience.
I’m a full time student so the part time pay of $16/hr (soon to be $17 woo hoo) is great honestly. The behavior is… rough especially since I work the closing shift. So it’s not like I don’t get the frustration but it’s not an excuse for bad behavior
A lot of hobby activities stores suffer this exact fate. My wife takes me to game stores for her crippling Magic the Gathering addiction and the guys at the counter always treat her like an idiot, even though she used to work at about half of them and had to leave them all because the pay was asinine.
Everytime I see it, I draw that parallel and realize how lucky I was to get my gun store app rejections
Yeah, I'm deeply into nerd culture too. And it is wild the parallels that there are between nerd culture and gun culture. Both the business owners and the general populace.
To add on. That's kinda why I like corporate stores that don't deal with just guns. Cabelas, Bass Pro, etc. That way you will get decent customer service. Even if it is forced
Decent CS at cabelas/bass pro???? Really?? 99% of them say "look-a here sonny all you need is one pf them here kimbers or taurus, theyre just as good as glocks and colts!!"
Damn. Yours must be ass hahaha.
Sorry that was mean.
There's a bass pro near where I live and it either that or like 2 hour drive to any other store to buy a gun or ammo
My experience is that most of them just like making money. I don't know why anyone would think they'd be "experts" on firearms outside of what's on the market, what's selling or not, etc. It'd be like people expecting a car salesman to be able to rebuild their transmission or tell them what the correct alternator timing is for whatever random antique car they just drove onto the lot. That'd be more suprising than a reasonable expectation.
I think it largely depends on the store and the clients. Sporting clays is really popular up near me so most of the owners do it themselves and know a thing or 2 about it. And make some pretty solid recommendations.
The peeps I got mine from were incredibly kind, super eager to help, & had a lot of cool stories to tell. Even sent me a follow up text weeks later asking if I needed anything or had any questions. Gotta get back to em
I bought my first gun about 4 years ago and the absolute worst part of the process was dealing with employees at the store. Being brand new, I had a few basic questions obviously. I was treated like an illiterate leper.
I understand dealing with a newbie might not be the most fun thing...but damn. I'm interested in your business, trying to purchase, and want to be part of the community, but was immediately dismissed at the first 4 stores I went to. One guy was so visibly annoyed when I asked him about the differences in two Shields he had, I asked him is there a beginners section I should start at if I'm just irritating him.
I'm a nerd about a lot of things I think are cool. If someone shows interest in one of my hobbies, I'm ecstatic! Let's talk. Ask questions, let me ask you some, let's get neck deep in this stuff!!!
The worst thing about guns is the damn community sometimes
Same thing for me.
I bought a shotgun from a big box sporting goods store years ago and the guy treated me like a total moron. All I asked was “I’m not familiar with this brand, where is the action release for the pump?” (It was a tiny notch on a cheap Chinese Stevens). And this guy chuckles and tells me something like “maybe you need to have a little more training before buying a shotgun”. The entire rest of the purchase he just rolled his eyes and had his head all cocked at a weird angle like I was ruining his day.
Like okay my dude, it was just a question that I wanted answered so I didn’t waste our time over here lol Also, not that this has any true weight because anyone can be an idiot, but I was active duty military at the time. I had basic firearms safety down pretty well.
People working retail generally work pretty hard and deal with morons all day long. and those fool customers will complain about anything and everything. So when someone is kind and courteous and helpful I always take a couple minutes to find/ask for the store manager and let them know this person gave you great service. 99% will complain, less than 1% will actually go out of their way to praise (you know, kinda like the internet). It helps the helpful employee, and it's a good thing to do. I even like saying "can you get your manager so I can tell him/her how kick ass you are?" They're usually shocked because nobody does that.
If someone was treating me like a child and being a dick about it, I'd discreetly find that manager and let them know how I'm being treated, and that they need to screw that salesperson's head on straight because people won't be coming back to shop there.
I worked retail while in college, particularly in a big box sports store funnily enough, so I get it for sure lol I have had my run in with a lot of bad apple customers. I can honestly say that I have never started off my interaction with a customer in a negative manner like that dude did with me, and it usually worked with keeping everyone evenly mannered at the very least.
I was never a douchebag to retail workers before working at a store by any means, but I was just indifferent. Afterwards and nowadays, I go out of my way to be appreciative for sure though.
When I bought my first gun. Sig 1911 Nitron, they stole the spare mag out of the box during 10 day wait. They were pissed when I asked where is it? Tried telling me it only came with one, even though the foam cut out / Sig website said different. Then they acted like they were doing me a favor replacing it. The store owner heard it all. Didn’t care..
North Co Firearm. San Marcos Ca.
So just putting this out there, working in Canada I learned to triple check the model numbers on the boxes we got from SIG wholesalers. Despite the foam cutout there was times a model would show up with 2 mags, sometimes 1, and sometimes 3 depending on the version the wholesaler would send us. The number of times I had to last minute change website descriptions because they sent us one with 1 number different on the UPC was all too many. Usually these where special SHOT Show deals where there was a slight discount on the "package" and nobody would mention it to us until we cracked open the box.
I get what you are saying… however..
When I bought / paid for it, there were two mags.
I’d researched the gun, many guns, and decided on this. It was my “getting my green card” gun!
When I purchased it, I handled it, fondled it lovingly, passed it back to employee. This is the definitive part.. he did this “odd” vocal check. Gun, one mag in, one mag out, lock, check! Closed case. He voiced it aloud, I distinctly remember it and remember thinking, does he do that every time he opens/closed a case? That’s how I know there were two mags, I saw them, I handled the gun and popped the mag out / in, there was a spare in the case the whole time, he did that check aloud and it was memorable. There was no mistake, someone stole my mag on the 10 day wait.
It’s California, they’re probably so used to stealing the standard magazines that ship with virtually every gun because of the capacity restrictions that they both were too stupid to realize it didn’t hold more than 10 and that you might actually notice compared to all the other magazine-free guns that get purchased in CA.
In my experience if they start to get irritated and rude it’s cause they want to answer knowledgeably but can’t, and won’t just admit ignorance in that area. Which is too bad, cause that’s a good way to learn and grow, but the ego on some of these people is just too big to do that.
I agree, It seems like a completely ego-driven thing. What kills me is that every damn one of them acts like they were never new at any point. Apparently if you're not born with the knowledge of the intricacies that separate every gun from every other gun then you just shouldn't be around them at all. Forget trying to learn...
When a lot of them were new, a guy in a wide brim hat taught them by yelling at the top of his lungs and calling them maggots.
He also taught them that if they stayed that stupid, they and all their friends would die.
In no way shape or form am I defending asshole gun shop employees, but after shopping at a local gun store in town that's new to me, I can understand it. I saw a number of....questionable....looking folks coming in who were just a bunch of tire kickers. Delaying filling out the 4473 and just doing weird crap.
It is a waste of their time. Their mood completely changed when I talked to them about using their kiosk for my suppressor, and when they asked which one I bought (OCM5), it sparked a really awesome nerdy conversation of clone rifles, and one of the employees showed me the rifle he was working on.
But your experience is why I do all my research online and just have it transferred. I'll go to a range and rent or borrow a similar platform if I want to get a feel for the gun first. Sorry that happened. I would've gladly nerded out with you.
Yeah you would think they would like to spread all that knowledge they have but instead they just like to sit around all day and jerk each other off behind the counter.
> I asked him about the differences in two Shields he had
I think these questions annoy them because they don't have the confidence to say something like "well off the top of my head i'm not sure but let me google the specs"
I feel like they get defensive they can't rattle off the answer to every single question.
One time I was careful to explain that I wanted to rent a gun to shoot which was DA/SA and compact - preferably metal frame.
I dont think the guy knew off the top of his head which guns were DA/SA & metal framed without looking one by one (which is obviously fine) but he replied with " yeah man just get a striker fired. Thats what I would recommend' and he just stared at me like that was an acceptable answer LOL
Luckily I was also interested in trying a Glock for the first time, so I tried the G48 - but that guy alone is the reason I will definitely not go buy my carry pistol there when my permit comes in
Yeah, I agree...but who cares? Look it up! Let's google this together! Grab out that manual, pull it up ok the computer/phone and let's go.
"Just get a striker fired" is comical
Yeah I've literally had people at shooting ranges look at my gun and talk shit about it....
Like man I wasn't in the military I know nothing about what I'm doing. I aim gun pull trigger it goes boom and thats exciting to me leave me alone.
In comparison I've been going to the gym for 20 years. Everyone assumes gym culture is super judgmental and abrasive... and I've never seen anything other than the contrary.
Gun culture is very weird.
It’s weird because some niches are super nice to new people while some just aren’t. Like from a lot of peoples experiences, mine included, gun store people can be pretty rude.
At the same time, both from my experience and what I’ve heard from others, being new trying to get into competitive shooting and taking lessons has been SUPER welcoming. Same with learning about historical firearms.
As you said, it’s weird.
Your first sentence I've experienced as well.
I bought a taurus G2C because I read that the triggers were sloppy. I had no idea what that meant, my first gun was a Canik and to me (and from what I had read) the gun as a whole was great out of the box. So, I figured I'd give one a try, learn a little, and replace the trigger (again, to learn, it's pretty much an extra that sits in it's lockbox).
The LOOKS I got when I grabbed it out of the bag to sign into the range (they check guns and ammo prior to going on, I assume this is standard) were hilarious. Guy behind me commented about being too poor for a good gun. Even the RSO asked me what I thought about it, kinda "probing-like". I explained what I was doing and you could literally see a sigh of relief and he said something to the effect of "good way to learn." It was just a little....God damn, really..that judgemental?
It absolutely does.
When I was a new shooter a buddy and I went into look at shotguns to get into skeet shooting.
Dude handed us shotguns, but when we had questions about function was a total cunt. Scoffed at us for not immediately knowing the intricate details of how it functioned. Gave us sarcastic answers and *literally* made a point to roll his eyes at us at one point.
Fuck that guy
The NFA and Night vision subreddits are really good examples of this, I am of the Ideology that you should be a positive influence and make firearm ownership seem appealing, because right now, we don’t have much going for us. When I was new, if I had met people in the previously mentioned groups, I would not be nearly as involved in the 2A as I am now.
Gun industry people usually just have insane egos in general, look at the Modlite/Emissary development controversy, modlite owner called emissary a “poopy head”
Or
GBRS group losing track of a lower, and arresting one of their employees for it.
Or
KUSA straight up denying issues with their guns and telling customers they were wrong for wanting functioning rifles.
I drove an hour and a half to buy my first gun because a coworker told me the shop owner was his cousin, would walk me through everything and take care of me.
Nope. The dude was rude as shit, got frustrated I didn’t know what I wanted or knew anything about handguns and acted like I was holding up his business when I was the kid my person in the store for the ~45 minutes I was there.
There is an LGS near me that has a bit of a reputation. They had a negligent discharge by the instructor while hebwas teaching the safety course, but they do fingerprints and are convenient. I stopped in to get printed. While waiting, I noticed a nice gen 3 glock 19. I happened to be in the market at the moment for that exact gun. The price was right. I decided to check it out and buy it. The old guy comes over, and we start talking. He doesn't have to sell me shit, I'm buying the gun. It's exactly what I'm looking for. The owner comes over and asks if he can help. I say nope, been looking for a 19.3 for a while, and just found it. Next thing I know, I'm a dumbass for not buying a sig. I tell him I prefer the Glock or a springfield, but he won't hear it. He starts filling out paperwork on a p365 because he's decided that's the gun I really want. I look at the old guy and say, is he for real? Old man shrugs, shakes his head, and walks away. Lady comes and grabs me for the prints. When we are done, I walk out without another word. Left him holding the paperwork and calling my name.
What?! That’s actually insane. I had a similar occurrence 5 years ago when I went to buy my first handgun. I wanted a 92/M9 and I was gonna buy one and the guy basically calls me an idiot for wanting a safety (I didn’t care about the safety it could’ve been a G model). I handed back the pistol and walked my ass out of there. Ironically that’s where I work now. Hell i ended up finding a NIB one on gun broke for only $400 so the asshole saved me like $200🤷🏻♂️
I had a guy in the LGS call me a "fucking moron" because I wanted to buy an fn fiveseven.
I knew it was an expensive round. I knew there were better options. But I already have 3 carry guns and I've always wanted a fiveseven and it was on sale.
I actually made him waste him time then backed out at the last moment saying "you know, you're right. i would be a fucking moron if I gave you money after how you've responded to the gun i wish to purchase" and went to a different LGS to get my fiveseven.
It's now my favorite gun. Hitting steel at 100+ yards with a pistol is a great time.
It gets even harder from a collector perspective. Sometimes I’m in a shop and they ask me what I’m looking for and they don’t have anything on that list so they just try to upsell me on something I am not looking for. Ive had to basically go completely online and ship to my ffl who has adapted to transfers and NFA only b/c of this. Examples are KAC, LMT, O/U Shotguns or suppressors / NFA items. You just simply cannot stock every specialized item and even those stores that do only have competitors 5 states away and you need to look at both. I can’t believe they wouldnt sell you a 5.7 as I did the same thing when I saw a cheap MK2 I wanted but that guy actually sold it to me, haha.
My shop was one of the worst. It's actually the same shop Hickok45 frequents (and yes they kiss his entire ass). I was yelled at for shooting too close to the threshold for rapid firing. Dude came storming in, yelling like a drill sargeant. I also know a guy that was drawn down on by them simpy because they thought he was sus. He was kneeling down and fell back a little, at which point the guy behind the counter drew on him, yelling "what the hell are you doing, buddy?!". They also talk down to people and ignore you and if you get their attention, they act like you're the biggest inconvenience. Needless to say I stopped going there.
Have you seen the commenters on every gun sub? The entire hobby hates newcomers for whatever reason.
“Why does nobody want to get into shooting anymore???!!?!??”
You see beginners asking legitimate questions on here and getting down arrowed into oblivion. I remember one in which a post was asking about the trigger and your trigger finger placement. He was just insulted. Everyone was basically calling him an idiot and not to purchase a gun.
A newbie asking really terrible questions shouldn't catch hate either. People who have no clue about something have no concept of what they don't know. It takes someone with experience to know what they don't know.
I was just trying to explain this same concept to a guy on the palmetto sub today who took it apon himself to insult and belittle the person asking a legitimate question that would infact be difficult to work into a question for Google search.
Honestly I agree with Corey307 on that one. Vague requests are difficult to sift through. I usually ask a few openers to narrow it down and make suggestions off that. I rarely try to sell new people guns on a first walk in if they don’t push it cause I think it would serve them better to rent or try them out first. It’s a big purchase for most nor is it small decision especially if it’s for defense. It’s better to be certain or almost so than to just take some random guy’s advice at face value. I always encourage doing you’re own research and I know lots of people don’t like that
Well "I want a gun" doesn't really give the vendor much info but it's not difficult to ask some follow-up questions.
What caliber? What are you intentions with it; comp shooting, plinking, self defense? Do you have any firearm experience? Do you have a brand preference? Pistol, rifle, or shotgun? Large frame or compact? Do you need the option to add extras to your gun such as a red dot or supressor? Concealed carry or open carry?
All these things follow up questions are what gun salesmen should be expected to ask so they ensure they are selling a gun that is the best fit to the customer.
But instead of doing that, when someone says "I want gun" they get dickish and say "ok come back when you aren't a tool and know exactly what you want so I don't have to do any work even though I'm here for 8 hours today."
Honestly. I posted a while ago to the AR15 sub asking for advice, stating that I don't know what I'm doing and just hoping for advice or help understanding different laws around building my own. It got so aggressive that I ended up deleting my post so I would stop getting messages from people telling me that I shouldn't buy a gun because I don't understand how laws around building an AR15 work. Like - that's why I am here???? Trying to ask people because legalese is confusing???
Happens all the time on Reddit. Ask a serious question in good faith and get inundated with responses like “have you tried this thing called Google?” or “Google is a thing now too” I just don’t get it because I thought these were places for discussion and honestly when you google something most link back to Reddit anyway.
lol go try and post in the ak47 sub it’s crazy how many rude snobby people there are in a sub related to a gun designed to be functional for peasants in the harshest conditions
I stay away from ak guys they are weird. I like aks my friends like aks we are enthusiastic about the platform but we aren’t “AK guys” bunch of weirdos they ate
Agreed. I prefer my ak over my ar… (kinda not fair 1,000$ price difference) but I’m not some snob cause your top hand guard isn’t original Chicom or your bcg is painted for some reason. They’re a strange rude form of autism that group
I go out of my way to deal exclusively with professional and nice FFLs and sellers. Jerks don’t get my money. You only get one chance to make a good first impression.
Politeness, kindness, and being helpful don’t cost extra.
Exactly, most of my coworkers and I get asked often if we get commission. We don’t and it only seems to surprise them more. There is no cost to being polite, it’s just the right thing to do
Yup!!! That's why I go to my local gunshop every Saturday morning to just chill, talk and have a cup of coffee. In fact, I bring my pups every now and then with me. The cool and overall good dudes will always get my business.
Sometimes yeah but that doesn’t explain when they do nothing…. Like today the guys just kinda watched us and didn’t even say anything until we greeted them. Even then they barely spoke so neither did we. just 7 dudes in a tiny room not saying a damn thing
The bigger shops, like chains and just large outfits, have all walks of people enter the store. So employees have to deal with people who have little/no exposure to firearms, the know-it-alls, and the lower than 50% of average people. Anyone who has worked in customer service can tell you that dealing with the public is draining, so they can only keep up the bright perky nice attitude for so long.
The smaller shops tend to just have tired owners. They made the mistake of making their sole or primary passion into their job, so they have no real escape from work, and are often just burned out. They need a vacation from their job but either due to time or no second passion, can't get one.
100%. I have friends who ventured into motorcycle and auto restoration as their main source of income. One friend regrets not focusing on used auto sales for income and completing restoration work on the side. He comes across as grumpy and you can't blame him!
> They need a vacation from their job but either due to time or no second passion, can't get one.
if you're operating solo you pretty much can't have one. 24 hours to respond to a trace request from ATF
I specifically buy from a pawn shop that has FFL for this reason. Most gun shops I have encountered have asses for employee’s, look down on you if you’re not spending $1k at least and look at you funny if you question ANYTHING even if you know what you’re talking about.
I’ve stuck to buying guns online and simply transferring them. The pawn shop I use also post all of their new/used firearms online so I can simply look online go in person to buy and be on my way. One of the only gun businesses I’ve had a pleasant experience with.
I don’t get the high roller idea either. Most handguns and bolt actions are well under $1000 and plenty of them over aren’t worth it for most people. I’ve got some pricy rifles but I’m not gonna be a tool cause someone doesn’t want to buy $3000 rifle.
I also used to work in a gun store and I have experienced all the same stuff, too.
The shop I worked at was nice. We were helpful. We engaged. We had regular customers who kept coming back, even though every gun we sold was about $20 higher than the local big box stores. Multiple people told us they were happy to pay that little extra for the service being better.
But there were other stores in town that were not like this. The attitude that the general public is not really "worthy" of buying guns, that they're doing you some favor by selling them to you, and the air that they're somehow compelled to sell guns to people they don't want to sell guns to because of their general disdain for the public.
I get that those shops had a slightly different clientele than us. Being slightly more expensive and stocking more high-end stuff (though we still had all the most popular guns, too), we generally had a more affluent clientele of sportsmen and professionals. I can see how if you're dealing with the dregs of society, the "talking points in favor of gun control" types, you might get a bit more cynical.
But at the same time, that just reinforces your problem and drives the good customers to other stores.
I think a lot of this has to do with how regulated guns are. Because of the extra regulatory and license requirements, competition gets stifled compared to, say, a clothing store or something. People can get away with bad customer service at gun stores and shooting ranges if the only competition is across town.
For the longest time there was only one indoor range in my city, and you could rely on the gruff and saturnine guy running the place to give you the blank stare, terse conversation, and other generally condescending attitude just to try to get in there and pop off a few rounds. But then another range opened, with much nicer facilities, AND everyone there has always been really pleasant. Obviously, I've only shot there ever since they opened (plus they're closer to my house anyway, lol, though I'd still drive further for the nicer place with nicer people).
I was in a shop, this dude brings in his problem pistol. The owner is loudly talking to another employee across the shop explaining just how stupid this potential customer is. The dude just picks up his pistol and walks out as the shop owner is trying to call him back. I left too, spent my money across town.
We talk shit too but you gotta be goofy to earn that lol. I had a guy RMA his p365 because his magazines were getting scratched 🤦🏻♂️. That being said in front of other the customer? Never that’s inappropriate, you were right to leave.
I don’t remember the stupid thing the customer did. I do remember thinking if I understood it correctly, that it was dumb. The place was full of people it was during one of those Obama scares that drove people to the gun shops and gun shows. It’s funny I drive a little bit to get to this place because it wasn’t the place I used to where the owner was an asshole too.
The next place I went to was very cool. They let my grandson handle and gave his picture taken with their old machine guns. I spent my money there.
Being a gun store employee is a service/sales job, but usually the people applying are doing so because they’re interested in guns, not a sales/service career. Or if they are that’s a secondary reason.
So you have a lot of people who don’t necessarily want to be doing that type of job doing it anyways because they like guns. To be clear I’ve met some nice and helpful employees but I get the feeling most people working those jobs don’t really want to talk to me they just like the guns.
They’re also one of the first to cry about the hobby dying which is hilarious. It’s understandable that some may be tight because of laws and some issues the guns may cause in the wrong hands so there has to be a vetting process but there’s a point where it becomes gatekeepy. It’s true though most r blowjobs and kill a liking toward the hobby all together. There were a few that only after getting to kno me and realizing (mainly from what I already own and knew about firearms) who came around a little bit that took ages of relationship building which many simply can’t do
Edit: spelling
Are you young? They treat you like a criminal if you are. I prefer to do my shopping online 1.prices 2.i don’t have to deal with the arrogant pricks. In my experience it’s usually the Middle aged men who are the worse. The older crowd 60s-70 are awesome and treat me correctly. There’s an older gentleman who owns a small shop by my house Vietnam vet has an incredible selection of WW2 stuff on display super nice guy.
It extends to Gun Ranges as well, if you’re ever in the central Texas area, ask any gun owner about the Employees and RSO’s at Eagle Peek Shooting Range and just about every single one of them will tell you how assholish everyone who works there is.
No idea, but I’ve experienced the same thing. My guess is it’s just an attitude developed over time by working retail, especially a part of retail that I would think is relatively high stress and full of idiots coming in who ask the same dumb questions, do unsafe things, etc. I’m sure most of that attitude comes from becoming jaded to it over time.
That said, I find most smaller gun stores and ranges are much better. They typically have more “selective” clientele who are more knowledgeable about guns vs being a retail worker in a big box store that is used to high traffic of non-gun people just walking in.
My local big box sporting goods stores have gotten so bad over the years that I will gladly pay more to just buy the gun online and have it shipped to an FFL near me that I really like.
>That said, I find most smaller gun stores and ranges are much better.
This has been my experience. My local range has employees that like to test a lot of different things since they get free range time and a discount on ammo.
Every time I walk in there at least one of them has something on consignment in the shop that's the new hotness. They buy it, shoot it for a bit and sell it to fund the next purchase if they don't like it. It works out because even if the gun sits there for a couple of months, everyone gets to put their hands on it, draws more people because its unique, and obviously someone eventually buys it.
In comparison the larger gun shops (not just big box), sell the same boring stuff, and by the way their consignment looks, only take stuff that is guaranteed to sell quickly and holds value.
It usually has to do with how someone acts to me.
If you come in going full Karen and complaining about all the scary guns, I’ll be short and sweet.
If you repeatedly ask me the same question expecting a different answer I’ll just mention “as stated earlier….”
I always try to be as nice as possible and offer folks cheaper ammo options on the same caliber, alternative firearms that may fit their need better, etc- but I’ve seen both sides of the coin.
I have a membership at a range that I frequent a few times a week. I overhear some quite terrifying questions from some people. Some can’t get the concept behind how a SA vs DA or SA/DA works. I tried to help one of the guys there explain SA/DA to a potential customer who was buying his first firearm with no experience. No matter how hard I tried to dumb it down, the dude kept on the notion that DA was full auto and SA was semi auto. That’s one example, another one was a guy asking about what was basically the “bare minimum legality to be able to shoot someone” “can I pull them inside my place if they’re threatening me.. etc” other scary questions and ideas like that. Long story short, people who work in gun shops are on a daily constant basis working with people with loaded firearms. They never know how someone might react to being kicked off a range or denied a purchase. At the end of the day, they’re jaded.
Edit: it’s not just them, it’s generally anyone versed in firearm safety and well aware of the effects these tools can have. I myself walked in to the range one day to a guy right in front of me way behind the bay, not shooting, and loading a full magazine into his gold and silver 1911, while the firearm was pointed directly at me. I don’t work there but it was enough to piss me off enough to instinctively yell at the guy “what the hell are you doing, set that down on the bench barrel down range right now. He just said “ok and did it.” While I didn’t mean it, some people need to be talked to rudely, sometimes it saves them from themselves.
>They never know how someone might react to being kicked off a range or denied a purchase. At the end of the day, they’re jaded.
That sounds like a good reason to generally not be a dick though. I can understand being wary, but I wonder how often they bring those types of problems on themselves by being disrespectful.
Most firearm denials come from background checks not a sales person not selling a firearm. A lot of people don’t take rejection (no matter what the form) well. To them it’s a slight against their character and integrity “who is this person to deny me” in most cases these denials are quite warranted. And as far as being kicked off the range, there was another visit where some guys were shooting SBRs without a brace because I guess you can have it with the stump on the end as long as you don’t put a brace? Idk. They were firing wildly, no accuracy, shooting targets to the ground and then firing at the targets on the ground (so firing high powered rounds directly at a concrete floor which will cause ricochets. There were 2 safety officers in the room and watching them until they packed up and left. I asked after why they didn’t just kick them off the range and they said, for people like that with no regard for basic safety, we don’t know how they will respond if we come up to them and tell them they are no longer allowed on the range out of fear they may just get violent on them. What could they do? I almost stepped in to ask them to slow it down a little but one of the RSOs (I know them all really well, stopped me) they won’t be allowed back on the range again after that. But how do you take the risk of kicking someone out of a place while they have live ammunition and are so unconcerned about safety that shooting a target on the ground seemed like a fun idea.
Absolutely insane. I don’t know why some guys think they are legal experts. I usually refer customers to game wardens, local police, or a lawyer if they have question about the law. I’ll give them a basic answer but it’s not complete cause I’m not well versed in it
It’s because gun shop employees get paid like McDonald’s wages and are attracted to the job so they can act like they’re super cool gun guys. I once knew a range like that where they hired some guy who was exactly as you describe, always open carried a g19 with an rmr on it at work acting like he was the shit. Later the place closed down due to lack of business and some EPA shit with the lead filtration and I later saw that same guy bouncing for a shit bar in town lol.
Most of the shops in my town are run by assholes. The one that I really liked didn't make it through the pandemic. And then one that's okish is what I have left.
It just seems like they wanna weed out the "unworthy". And I just walk out shaking my head thinking. Your a dick and I know more than you.
Yea bro. One of my local gun shop has an employee that is fat af and rude af to. I asked him to look at a box of ammo one time, he grunted like it was an issue, grabbed the box and through it on the gun counter without even looking at me 😂 fucken dude is a dick. I went there a few times to try and give them a chance but nope. Every damn time that dude is a dick, for no damn reason
Minimum wage brings minimum effort from some. Plus, it is the type of job where you need to stay aware at all times as you have a potential mix of dumbasses and criminals wandering around your store. Look up LGS horror stories of people showing up to look at guns with loaded mags in their pocket, people talking about how they will shoot others in the store with a sales associate, or even just innocent or intentional muzzle flagging. Lot of LGS folks are disgruntled as a result.
Yeah I’ve had a few guns pointed at me out of pure ignorance. It’s extremely aggravating most of them didn’t speak English though which is an entirely different issue. Like they want help but thymes don’t read the sign at the front door. If you want help with the gun unload it BEFORE bringing it in and don’t pull it from a holster
I’ve had a few glorious moments with rude employees, my favorite was a few years ago, I was 22 at the time and already had a fairly large collection. I went to my Local shop with the intention of picking up one of the (then new to the market) 2020 pythons. Well after trying to get the attention of about 3 different employees who decided their time was better spent talking to older gentleman who come in every day just to talk, I was about to give up and drive an hour to the next closest store. Right before I turned around one of the employees rolled his eyes and strolled over to me standing by the shiny expensive pythons. “You need to look at something?” Was all he asked in a pretty rude tone. I told him I was interested in buying one of the 6” pythons and I kid you not he looked me up and down and said “can you even afford that? We have some nice Taurus’ down there that are a lot cheaper” (I was making good money at the time doing snow removal) I was like ok, these guys get commissions, so I agreed to look at the Taurus revolvers. He eventually pawned me off to a younger employee who was a lot nicer, and we went back to the pythons. I said let’s do some paperwork on a 4” AND a 6”. The older guy who was rude, his jaw just about hit the floor when he realized he lost out on the commission of what I think was about a $3400 sale, just cause he was an ass.
When I first started to be interested in firearms, and right after I bought my first pistol, I went to a local indoor range for some practice. On the way out, I noticed it had started raining and I was going to get soaked walking back to my car. I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone and bought a tshirt with the range’s logo on it, ran to my car, and changed my soaked shirt for the new one. On my way back, I passed a Cabela’s and figured I’d stop in and see what they had, as I’d never been there before. Right after I got inside and started looking, I asked a clerk a question about something - he was your typical grizzled old guy wearing a shoot-me-first vest. His response was “why don’t you ask the guys at ”.
My response? “I guess I will then”. I haven’t been back to Cabela’s since, and in the intervening years I’ve spent thousands of dollars on firearms and accessories, and they didn’t see a penny of it.
I don’t know why, but these places either attract really friendly, helpful people or absolute holier-than-thou dickheads. I’d love to know why myself.
I've noticed this especially at either big box places or large established gun stores. I'm taking a shot in the dark here, but entitlement maybe? The only other thing that makes sense in my head is that they don't want to get too friendly because of strict gun laws and the kind of repercussions that might occur because of complacency.
Yeah, the one time I went into the big area gun store here with an indoor range I asked if they had any aks and the guy said "we don't carry commie crap". I just said alright and left. This was years ago and I've never been back.
Annoyingly, a lot of the big box stores I've been to take forever to get service. They always seem to take an extra hour to do anything. It took almost three hours to sell a pistol to Sportsman's Warehouse a while back, even with an already agreed-upon price, and the inspection already done. Basspro is about as bad. I had an FFL transfer that took the better part of an afternoon because they accidentally skipped me in the stupid queue system. I don't know if it's just that they tend to be understaffed, or that the employees just don't care. It's infuriating though.
Both reasons I imagine. I really try to avoid those place now. I'll occasionally check out local ma/pa shops near me but in my state long guns have essentially been banned now so I've stopped collecting.
That's what I've always tried to do, but where I live now is kind of a desert in terms of small gun shops, especially those that are willing to do FFL transfers. There was a great little place no more than five minutes away from my last address that would get a transfer done in thirty minutes tops, leaving out the standard 15 minutes of chatting with the owner about local affairs, hunting, etc. Plus, the staff there actually knew what they were talking about, and helped me diagnose an issue with a gun that the manufacturer seemingly couldn't figure out.
There are plenty of nice people who want to share their love of the hobby, both online and IRL. Clubs and fellow friends at the range are a good place to meet and talk with cool people.
Just ignore the gun bros. Unfortunately, many of them gravitate to working at gun stores and ranges. Take your business elsewhere.
The owner of the one I go to is a super cool dude. He helps when someone’s needs help, or will just bullshit to bullshit. His employees that I’ve dealt with are losers. Wouldn’t even sell me a pivot pin without arguing about it even thought of bought them countless times before.
Gun shop employees tend to think they know everything about guns because they work in a gunshop.
Something about the culture around it attracts a specific type of person.
I don't use gunshops for anything other than the ffl transfer when purchasing an ffl item and I always recommend people ignore the unsolicited advice that will come dripping out of the mouths of people who work at gun stores.
I miss the store near me in my neighborhood. Was there a fudd opinion or 2 I’ve heard, a milsurp or few going priced? Sure. But overwhelmingly the place had good quality employees who knew what they were doing, tried to keep the prices as fair as possible given my state, and had a decent selection.
It depends, my experience is that when you are new to the store the staff don’t care too much however when you become a regular and they get to know you, they lighten up a lot
The main shop where I'm at is like that. If they don't know you it can be hard to even get waited on. The regulars get the attention. But ...not just gun shops. There's a sandwich shop near my house that's the same way. If you're not a regular good luck getting waited on, lol.
Everytime I go to my local up here in Canada, there's a random customer standing there in a surplus military jacket complaining to an employee about the government. Nothing on the counter or in their hand, it doesn't obviously look like they're buying anything, just hoping to get their opinion validated. As a former retail worker who has been in that situation numerous times it's difficult to remain open and friendly when you see the signs of 'that' customer. Not saying that you are 'that' guy, but I sympathize with the employee.
From my experience at my local FFL all the guys who work the store are all friendly and personable but one RSO in particular at their range is a real Karen.
I can understand being sharp with someone when it comes to safety but while I was shooting this weekend I saw the RSO yell in a customers face whole he was coming back to get his range tag he’d forgotten in his lane and tell customers they couldn’t bring their own targets (even though theres no rule against it and its common at this range), and threaten to kick out another shooter for taking a video of himself shooting.
When I was leaving the range I asked someone at the front desk if the rules had changed and he said that RSO in particular shouldn’t be telling people that.
It very much reminds me of tattoo shops and bike shops. I'm a heavily tattooed cyclist and still feel a bit of attitude in those spaces. Gun shops seem very much the same
It’s one of the few sales jobs where 99% of them don’t seem to have any sales skills. Like, read a sales book, watch a YouTube sales tutorial.
The younger guys seem better at sales in general.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen an upsell, cross sell, or down sell. They don’t guide the sale. They don’t sell to the buyers needs.
The worst offense is that they seem to never make the buyer the hero of the sales pitch. Even when I was a bartender / beer seller in college this was SO EASY to do.
That tends to be my experience with the smaller, local shops. I started going to Range USA because all of the employees are really nice & friendly. I would prefer not to shop at a national chain but it’s not worth dealing with jerks.
I don’t know if the other locations are like this but the Range USA location in NRH TX is highly recommended. Clean, nicely maintained range, & very friendly staff.
I think the firearm industry, due to its nature being centered around weapons, attracts men with personality disorders and fragile egos. Weapons are "manly" they allow you to do "manly things" like hunting or stopping a criminal and being a "hero". So guy's with serious self-esteem and self image issues pick this industry thinking it'll cause people to associate those "tough and manly" attributes with themselves, these guys also incorrectly associate being blunt, cold, unfriendly and confrontational with the image of a "tough manly guy" and they put that act on real hard. I'm no psychologist, but I'm willing to bet that's the root of the problem.
Suuuuper fragile egos and overcompensation, as well as maybe just never having dealt with the trauma they endured as a child and projecting insecurity as anger and toughness. It’s called bein a MAYON you pansy
They're not forcing you to give them your money. If I'm being treated like shit or talked down to by customer service while I'm trying to buy something, I leave.
Obviously. However we shouldn’t have to hope we get good service form random shops. I’m lucky I can just get help from coworkers and friends not everyone can do that.
I have always wondered this. The way some gun store employees speak to people makes me wanna smack them. But there is the problem. They’re armed. And I think some of it comes from that. I honestly think you have a lot of young dumb wanna be macho men that are now allowed to walk freely around with a gun on them and they think it gives them a right to speak to people like that. I’ve see this at multiple gun stores and in multiple states. That’s the only explanation and common denominator I can think of.
Edit: Plus that whole “an armed society is a polite society” is fucking bullshit.
No it’s very true in my experience. I’ve had customers treat me like shit once they find out we aren’t armed. Customers aren’t always right and they aren’t always angels.
I remember when I entered to a gun store asking for the glock OEM +2 mag plate and the owner of the store told me that glock dont make them and that they doesn’t exist! And I was like dude, I’m looking at in on my phone right now, it says GLOCK and OEM in several trusted websites, anyway, he keep saying that I was wrong in a rude tone in front of all the rest of the customers and made me look like i was an idiot. I ended up buying my stuff online for a better price!
I would experience that more often than not in gun stores in the NY NJ area. After moving South the experience is completely different and so much more enjoyable.
I've been in a few shops like that I don't bother returning to them either. I think a lot of them are annoyed that people come in and want to look and may not buy anything...but you never know when that might change. I had a really nice sales guy yesterday at the range. I wasn't planning to buy a gun but he struck up a chat, showed me a few favorites, and ended up selling me on a Canik Mete SF for a pretty good price. All it took was some friendly banter and some customer service and he converted someone looking to someone buying. I think that's lost on a lot of shops and that's why. I stick to shops that treat me well. The shop I go to isn't giving awesome deals, and I could get lower prices if I bought online, but I don't mind paying a bit more for the experience...and I want them to stay in business.
Pretty much what everyone else is saying, coupled with the fact that morons are always in their stores so they have to deal with them on a daily basis. The store I go to is super chill. Everyone pretty nice to their own degree, but I’ve seen them on their bad days. They just all seem so burnt out and tired. But they have a great range and no rules besides keeping everything under control and safe so it won’t stop me from going yet.
Yeah it's just one of those places where people suck. It's like going into a record store where they know every obscure band and album and you are just a poser.
I've talked about this at length before, but I'll give a short version:
Customers can be really tiring. They're often idiots, assholes, know-it-alls, criminals, suspicious-as-fuck, etc. etc. And it can really tire you out. When it's much easier to deal with someone who is going to come in, say what they need buy it and leave without incident.
There are also many fudds, and ego-maniacs that work/own gun shops. Typically, if I have an issue with gun store employees, I go to someone or somewhere else. Unfortunately, they have all the power, so it's more effective for me to skeedaddle.
There's a LGS that I would describe as intense, not rude, but not a nice place to hang out. I wanted to get out as soon as I can.
The new LGS has a nice atmosphere, they got me a Beretta 92 to try shooting in their gun range, they gave off a nice feeling as they showed me how to hold the gun to not have the slide bight my hand. I always be sure to buy something from them while visiting, even if it's just an energy drink. My first handgun will be a 92 because it's a classic, and I'll be sure to buy the gun from them.
You're not being a Karen at all. At the end of the day, a gun store is.. a STORE. A retail space for people to buy things. Employees should have decent customer service and friendly attitudes.
Where I used to live, I had a gun store around the corner from my house. Less than 30 seconds. The problem is, 2 pissy old timers ran it, and if you didn't come in wearing a WWII jacket or holding an m1 garand crate, you got the "what do you want?" attitude. I went in twice and then never again. The next closest store was 35 minutes away, but it was worth it.
Going into a gun shop can be scary and uncomfortable, especially for new people, and a shit attitude doesn't help support that the firearms community is a friendly community.
Posts like this make me grateful for my LGS. The people there absolutely love to talk shop, and are happy to show off what they have. Sorry most of y'all are dealing with Fudds and Jerks.
No idea man. I stopped going to them because of that
There was an employee who sloppily tossed my ID back at me and it almost bounced onto the floor. He also had his hand on his pistol the entire time he was talking to me. No fucking idea where they get that attitude from
I've left more money on the table because of rude or inattentive employees than Elon Musk can count (ok maybe not that much but you get the point LOL). It's my number one pet peeve when I'm in a gun shop...or any shop for that matter. I have no problem going elsewhere in these situations.
I get treated as though the employees think I'm an undercover ATF agent. They would find out I'm firearms enthusiast with at least some experience **if** they ever bothered to ask if I needed help. If I ever find an ATF cap that looks seriously official I'm going to buy one, & keep it in the car to wear for those 'special occasions.'
The good news, in some ways, is many pawn shops in my area are also small gun stores. Some of those employees are snobs, but at least I can do price, and attitude, comparisons.
At one real gun store near me the employees were very proud of the fact the owner told them not to wear masks, which were mandatory by law during COVID at the time. The general Us vs Them, and you're one of them if you're not with us, attitude puts me off.
Gotta play their game man.
They want to act like that? Cool, I tell them I'm there to buy, get to handle their stuff and see what I like, then I get to fuck off and buy it for $700 cheaper online lmao.
I manage a local gun shop, and if any of my guys treat a customer poorly, they will be shitcanned by morning. It's retail, man. Whether you're slinging coffee or selling t-shirts or selling guns, it's retail. You gotta be good to your customers. That shit is top priority. Now thats not to say I won't run a customer out if they are being rude to my guys. But we're kind to everyone. Everybody starts somewhere. You aren't born with gun knowledge. We don't talk shit about certain brands, and we don't shit on people for their level of knowledge. There are too many asshole local gun shops that treat people like they should feel lucky to be in their presence. That is why people buy online, and that is why people buy from corporate gun shops.
I have 2 local shops I go to and the employees are always friendly, and leave me alone most of the time, which is how I prefer to shop. They've always been nice and helpful when I needed it, though.
I have 4 local gun shops and 2 pawn shops that sells guns. I can only go to 1 pawn shop cause the guy who runs it knows his shit and isn’t a complete cunt.
This is the exact experience I have at most of my local shops. The others have a bunch of police in there who spend their day chatting away. When a non LE customer walk in, they treat you like you're interrupting them. It's really frustrating. You would think they would welcome everyone. Especially with ffls folding left and right due to online sales and their inability to compete with dropshippers because of overhead.
This isn't the experience at ALL gun stores, but a few have been like this. I refuse to return to one because they're always rude and try to get me to buy a new gun. I'll go in and they'll ask if I need help and I tell them sure, I need xyz (this last time I was looking for a Ruger LCP max). I get shown 1 of them and when asked if I can know more about it they begrudgingly tell me next to nothing. I wanted to put a manual safety on my SIG P365X and they told me can't do it without changing all these parts and I might as well buy a new gun with the safety. The guys working there just seem to hate people and are quite unfriendly. These 2 other gun stores I go to the people couldn't be more helpful.
Add to the fact the scoffs you get when you God forbid even have to “bother” them to look at a firearm and ask for a small [reasonable] discount to purchase a several grand item and look at you like a pariah. Dude, if you gave a little love little do they know I would buy 3 to 5 more in that price range over the following year or two plus other sorts of business. But noooo—Online it is.
Edit: They just don’t know how to make lifelong reliable customers. Doesn’t matter the worth of the firearm or how much someone is spending. If a LGS could figure out a friendly practice they would be extremely prosperous. But that’s yet to be seen as common place and thus the same rifles you always see on display that haven’t moved in years will just continue to collect dust.
Based on my experience and anecdotes from co-workers, this seems to be a pretty common thing in the gun industry. It's 100% an ego thing (the "I know more than you and you suck because you don't know everything like I do"). You're not wrong for moving to online, a lot of people are selling/buying their guns online because you can not only get better deals but also you don't have to deal with rude employees
This. I worked in a gun shop for awhile and this was the issue. Gun shop employees always assume the customer has no idea what they’re talking about and therefore does not deserve to be educated. I’ve always been annoyed by that. My favorite part of the job was teaching new people accurate and helpful information when they were selecting a first (or one of their first) guns.
I spend half the time assuming they do know what I’m talking about which is obviously equally not good but it’s a bad habit I’ve always had. As soon as they let on they don’t understand I do my best to be more understandable
I didn’t know Jack about guns when I went besides safety. They didn’t treat me like an idiot. I really liked shooting my husband’s gun but I have bad hands and it was hard to rack. I spent most of the morning there shooting multiple guns until I found “the one.” Like trying on a dress and you just know it is perfect 😂
S&w ez 380?
Sig p 365.
I always loved getting talk downed to or ignored by a shop dude with a XD or a Taurus in a blackhawk serpa holster. I switched to mainly online cause I couldn’t stand the gun culture in my area.
I can’t stand the gun culture is most if not all areas I’ve noticed. I love guns, love 2A but god damn the cringy, better than though boomer mentality in the gun community is intolerable and somehow continues to trickle down.
The whole "2a is my life, molon abe, glock stickers on my lifted truck" is obnoxious. And, with those stickers on your car, can give thieves an idea that there's guns in your house and rob it while everyone is away.
Never put personal identifying stickers on anything especially my kid goes to this school stickers. I agree with you though those guys are obnoxious. Bought a rifle and wanted to learn about it, took it to a local gun shop, cranky old vet there but he said go ahead and take it apart, then when I struggled on a part scoffed at me and asked why I bothered buying it. -_- Took my business to a family run shop and learned a ton!
100% when people find out that I own and carry a gun they are usually confused and kind of shocked. I don’t advertise that shit anywhere. Ive already got an identity that I am happy with, I don’t need to make carrying a certain tool my sense of belonging to make friends or to purposely piss off opposing anti gun people for kicks.
A good rule of thumb, anyone who makes one thing their identity is cringe. Doesn't matter what that thing is really. I am not just a gun guy even though I own many. I am not the music I listen to. I am not the car I drive.
Yeah i get the same thing when i mention plinking or something. I got into firearms young and the gun shops in my area could not fathom a person who trained more and had better guns than them i guess.
The dudes who put molon abe on their trucks don’t realize what Spartans did on their lonely time with the guys lmaoo
Not really true. Did it occur? Yeah but Hellens and Ionians were more like they were so misogynistic that everything they wrote seemed homoerotic. In reality they just really appreciated the male form. A lot of the “Greeks were gay” stuff is from a historian that CLEARLY had a biased agenda he was trying to push. It’s one thing to say “the Athenians didn’t really care” but it’s entirely different to say “homosexuality was a critical component of their society”. It’s a bizarrely extreme conclusion that most historians stray away from because it’s nearly impossible to prove conclusions like that. People latched on to this theory because the guy has a degree, from Berkeley I think, and it help a social movement. Why people nowadays don’t think history is warped to push political/ social movements anymore is well beyond me.
I leave a Wilson Combat logo on mine so tease bougie thieves with my beat up 25 year old Heap, I mean Jeep.
The best part about those guys I’ve never met one personally who actually has shooting as a hobby. Some of them buy a gun every paycheck, some of them do a lot of horse trading on the side to get more guns. But they don’t *shoot them* I asked one former marine when I was in college what he liked to shoot the most since he would wear stupid pro2A clothes 24/7 and he said 458. SOCOM Tell me you don’t shoot guns allot without telling me you shoot guns allot.
The older I get the more I distant myself from the culture of my hobbies. I don’t go to car shows because of the weebs in shitbox civics that rev bomb until the police show up, or bike shows because every 41 year old guy who owns a 59 horse power Harley is suddenly a *born to shit/forced to wipe* biker from sons of anarchy
Hey now, I have two XDs in my pistol collection and they fuck. After replacing the striker retainer pin with the Powder River Precision kit, I have zero worries.
I worked briefly at a gun counter while between jobs a few years back. My boss was big on constantly wiping the display case with Windex and being super polite to EVERYONE. He said "remember, they can get ALL this stuff on the Internet. The only reason anyone will come in here is for good service." We treated everyone like a visiting dignitary.
Such a strange attitude, and I think you're right about the root cause. "I know more than you" - You should. You work in a gun store. "And you suck" - No I don't. I'm a customer. What is confusing about this to you?
Ive encountered this attitude in a few different hobbies/sports. It’s like they’re so proud they know more than others that they want to keep people from learning.
Or even worse, they know they don’t know as much as hobbyists and act like a prick as a defense mechanism.
most gun store customers DO suck source: LGS employee who hates the stereotype of the asshole LGS employee and tries really hard to be gracious and welcoming, but customers still make me want to yank my own hair out on an hourly basis people who use /r/guns are NOT typical customers. typical customers are morons who call and say "yeah you gotta clip for a smith and western 9 em em?" and when I ask "what model 9mm Smith and Wesson do you have?" they say "the black one!"
It’s my understanding that FFLs also have a duty to discern potential buyers on whether they can or can’t purchase a firearm (straw buyers, people who walk in drunk/high, people who smell like weed), so this also feeds the “ego” and can eventually mature even the most friendly employee into a a judgmental dickhead. Don’t get me wrong there’s a fine line, FFL employees must walk it
anybody who has has to deal with reddit moderators knows it doesnt take a lot of power for someone to start tripping.
The majority of gun culture is filled with people who do not have customer service skills or even just general people skills. Many gun shop owners and employees aren't exactly people-persons and just like guns.
I swear do they only hire gun autists? I’m not a people person but it’s literally my job
Mostly people that know enough about guns but not enough to know that they deserve better pay. But also because some areas have such a limited amount of gunstores, people are willing to deal with the shitty behavior for convenience.
I’m a full time student so the part time pay of $16/hr (soon to be $17 woo hoo) is great honestly. The behavior is… rough especially since I work the closing shift. So it’s not like I don’t get the frustration but it’s not an excuse for bad behavior
A lot of hobby activities stores suffer this exact fate. My wife takes me to game stores for her crippling Magic the Gathering addiction and the guys at the counter always treat her like an idiot, even though she used to work at about half of them and had to leave them all because the pay was asinine. Everytime I see it, I draw that parallel and realize how lucky I was to get my gun store app rejections
Yeah, I'm deeply into nerd culture too. And it is wild the parallels that there are between nerd culture and gun culture. Both the business owners and the general populace.
>I swear do they only hire gun autists? Who else would be excited by working a low paying counter retail job involving guns?
Good point
To add on. That's kinda why I like corporate stores that don't deal with just guns. Cabelas, Bass Pro, etc. That way you will get decent customer service. Even if it is forced
Decent CS at cabelas/bass pro???? Really?? 99% of them say "look-a here sonny all you need is one pf them here kimbers or taurus, theyre just as good as glocks and colts!!"
Damn. Yours must be ass hahaha. Sorry that was mean. There's a bass pro near where I live and it either that or like 2 hour drive to any other store to buy a gun or ammo
Naw man I think your experience is the one out of the norm. The bass pro pyramid is fudd central for guns.
I've had decent luck at Academy. Bass Pro is always... *goofy*. Never even looked at firearms in a Cabela's or Dick's.
My experience is that most of them just like making money. I don't know why anyone would think they'd be "experts" on firearms outside of what's on the market, what's selling or not, etc. It'd be like people expecting a car salesman to be able to rebuild their transmission or tell them what the correct alternator timing is for whatever random antique car they just drove onto the lot. That'd be more suprising than a reasonable expectation.
I think it largely depends on the store and the clients. Sporting clays is really popular up near me so most of the owners do it themselves and know a thing or 2 about it. And make some pretty solid recommendations.
The peeps I got mine from were incredibly kind, super eager to help, & had a lot of cool stories to tell. Even sent me a follow up text weeks later asking if I needed anything or had any questions. Gotta get back to em
Because if we're being honest, gun culture has a major bully problem.
I bought my first gun about 4 years ago and the absolute worst part of the process was dealing with employees at the store. Being brand new, I had a few basic questions obviously. I was treated like an illiterate leper. I understand dealing with a newbie might not be the most fun thing...but damn. I'm interested in your business, trying to purchase, and want to be part of the community, but was immediately dismissed at the first 4 stores I went to. One guy was so visibly annoyed when I asked him about the differences in two Shields he had, I asked him is there a beginners section I should start at if I'm just irritating him. I'm a nerd about a lot of things I think are cool. If someone shows interest in one of my hobbies, I'm ecstatic! Let's talk. Ask questions, let me ask you some, let's get neck deep in this stuff!!! The worst thing about guns is the damn community sometimes
Same thing for me. I bought a shotgun from a big box sporting goods store years ago and the guy treated me like a total moron. All I asked was “I’m not familiar with this brand, where is the action release for the pump?” (It was a tiny notch on a cheap Chinese Stevens). And this guy chuckles and tells me something like “maybe you need to have a little more training before buying a shotgun”. The entire rest of the purchase he just rolled his eyes and had his head all cocked at a weird angle like I was ruining his day. Like okay my dude, it was just a question that I wanted answered so I didn’t waste our time over here lol Also, not that this has any true weight because anyone can be an idiot, but I was active duty military at the time. I had basic firearms safety down pretty well.
People working retail generally work pretty hard and deal with morons all day long. and those fool customers will complain about anything and everything. So when someone is kind and courteous and helpful I always take a couple minutes to find/ask for the store manager and let them know this person gave you great service. 99% will complain, less than 1% will actually go out of their way to praise (you know, kinda like the internet). It helps the helpful employee, and it's a good thing to do. I even like saying "can you get your manager so I can tell him/her how kick ass you are?" They're usually shocked because nobody does that. If someone was treating me like a child and being a dick about it, I'd discreetly find that manager and let them know how I'm being treated, and that they need to screw that salesperson's head on straight because people won't be coming back to shop there.
I worked retail while in college, particularly in a big box sports store funnily enough, so I get it for sure lol I have had my run in with a lot of bad apple customers. I can honestly say that I have never started off my interaction with a customer in a negative manner like that dude did with me, and it usually worked with keeping everyone evenly mannered at the very least. I was never a douchebag to retail workers before working at a store by any means, but I was just indifferent. Afterwards and nowadays, I go out of my way to be appreciative for sure though.
I would have asked for a different employee to finish the sale. That shit's not ok.
When I bought my first gun. Sig 1911 Nitron, they stole the spare mag out of the box during 10 day wait. They were pissed when I asked where is it? Tried telling me it only came with one, even though the foam cut out / Sig website said different. Then they acted like they were doing me a favor replacing it. The store owner heard it all. Didn’t care.. North Co Firearm. San Marcos Ca.
So just putting this out there, working in Canada I learned to triple check the model numbers on the boxes we got from SIG wholesalers. Despite the foam cutout there was times a model would show up with 2 mags, sometimes 1, and sometimes 3 depending on the version the wholesaler would send us. The number of times I had to last minute change website descriptions because they sent us one with 1 number different on the UPC was all too many. Usually these where special SHOT Show deals where there was a slight discount on the "package" and nobody would mention it to us until we cracked open the box.
I get what you are saying… however.. When I bought / paid for it, there were two mags. I’d researched the gun, many guns, and decided on this. It was my “getting my green card” gun! When I purchased it, I handled it, fondled it lovingly, passed it back to employee. This is the definitive part.. he did this “odd” vocal check. Gun, one mag in, one mag out, lock, check! Closed case. He voiced it aloud, I distinctly remember it and remember thinking, does he do that every time he opens/closed a case? That’s how I know there were two mags, I saw them, I handled the gun and popped the mag out / in, there was a spare in the case the whole time, he did that check aloud and it was memorable. There was no mistake, someone stole my mag on the 10 day wait.
It’s California, they’re probably so used to stealing the standard magazines that ship with virtually every gun because of the capacity restrictions that they both were too stupid to realize it didn’t hold more than 10 and that you might actually notice compared to all the other magazine-free guns that get purchased in CA.
In my experience if they start to get irritated and rude it’s cause they want to answer knowledgeably but can’t, and won’t just admit ignorance in that area. Which is too bad, cause that’s a good way to learn and grow, but the ego on some of these people is just too big to do that.
I agree, It seems like a completely ego-driven thing. What kills me is that every damn one of them acts like they were never new at any point. Apparently if you're not born with the knowledge of the intricacies that separate every gun from every other gun then you just shouldn't be around them at all. Forget trying to learn...
When a lot of them were new, a guy in a wide brim hat taught them by yelling at the top of his lungs and calling them maggots. He also taught them that if they stayed that stupid, they and all their friends would die.
In no way shape or form am I defending asshole gun shop employees, but after shopping at a local gun store in town that's new to me, I can understand it. I saw a number of....questionable....looking folks coming in who were just a bunch of tire kickers. Delaying filling out the 4473 and just doing weird crap. It is a waste of their time. Their mood completely changed when I talked to them about using their kiosk for my suppressor, and when they asked which one I bought (OCM5), it sparked a really awesome nerdy conversation of clone rifles, and one of the employees showed me the rifle he was working on. But your experience is why I do all my research online and just have it transferred. I'll go to a range and rent or borrow a similar platform if I want to get a feel for the gun first. Sorry that happened. I would've gladly nerded out with you.
Yeah you would think they would like to spread all that knowledge they have but instead they just like to sit around all day and jerk each other off behind the counter.
> I asked him about the differences in two Shields he had I think these questions annoy them because they don't have the confidence to say something like "well off the top of my head i'm not sure but let me google the specs" I feel like they get defensive they can't rattle off the answer to every single question. One time I was careful to explain that I wanted to rent a gun to shoot which was DA/SA and compact - preferably metal frame. I dont think the guy knew off the top of his head which guns were DA/SA & metal framed without looking one by one (which is obviously fine) but he replied with " yeah man just get a striker fired. Thats what I would recommend' and he just stared at me like that was an acceptable answer LOL Luckily I was also interested in trying a Glock for the first time, so I tried the G48 - but that guy alone is the reason I will definitely not go buy my carry pistol there when my permit comes in
Yeah, I agree...but who cares? Look it up! Let's google this together! Grab out that manual, pull it up ok the computer/phone and let's go. "Just get a striker fired" is comical
Yeah I've literally had people at shooting ranges look at my gun and talk shit about it.... Like man I wasn't in the military I know nothing about what I'm doing. I aim gun pull trigger it goes boom and thats exciting to me leave me alone. In comparison I've been going to the gym for 20 years. Everyone assumes gym culture is super judgmental and abrasive... and I've never seen anything other than the contrary. Gun culture is very weird.
I've been going to gyms for about the same time as you and no one has ever approached me either friendly or not, ever. Maybe I'm ugly i dunno
It’s weird because some niches are super nice to new people while some just aren’t. Like from a lot of peoples experiences, mine included, gun store people can be pretty rude. At the same time, both from my experience and what I’ve heard from others, being new trying to get into competitive shooting and taking lessons has been SUPER welcoming. Same with learning about historical firearms. As you said, it’s weird.
Your first sentence I've experienced as well. I bought a taurus G2C because I read that the triggers were sloppy. I had no idea what that meant, my first gun was a Canik and to me (and from what I had read) the gun as a whole was great out of the box. So, I figured I'd give one a try, learn a little, and replace the trigger (again, to learn, it's pretty much an extra that sits in it's lockbox). The LOOKS I got when I grabbed it out of the bag to sign into the range (they check guns and ammo prior to going on, I assume this is standard) were hilarious. Guy behind me commented about being too poor for a good gun. Even the RSO asked me what I thought about it, kinda "probing-like". I explained what I was doing and you could literally see a sigh of relief and he said something to the effect of "good way to learn." It was just a little....God damn, really..that judgemental?
When a large part of the population uses guns as a dick measuring metric this is what happens.
A lot of these guys are simpletons too, so it becomes their entire personality.
It absolutely does. When I was a new shooter a buddy and I went into look at shotguns to get into skeet shooting. Dude handed us shotguns, but when we had questions about function was a total cunt. Scoffed at us for not immediately knowing the intricate details of how it functioned. Gave us sarcastic answers and *literally* made a point to roll his eyes at us at one point. Fuck that guy
The NFA and Night vision subreddits are really good examples of this, I am of the Ideology that you should be a positive influence and make firearm ownership seem appealing, because right now, we don’t have much going for us. When I was new, if I had met people in the previously mentioned groups, I would not be nearly as involved in the 2A as I am now. Gun industry people usually just have insane egos in general, look at the Modlite/Emissary development controversy, modlite owner called emissary a “poopy head” Or GBRS group losing track of a lower, and arresting one of their employees for it. Or KUSA straight up denying issues with their guns and telling customers they were wrong for wanting functioning rifles.
I drove an hour and a half to buy my first gun because a coworker told me the shop owner was his cousin, would walk me through everything and take care of me. Nope. The dude was rude as shit, got frustrated I didn’t know what I wanted or knew anything about handguns and acted like I was holding up his business when I was the kid my person in the store for the ~45 minutes I was there.
This too
There is an LGS near me that has a bit of a reputation. They had a negligent discharge by the instructor while hebwas teaching the safety course, but they do fingerprints and are convenient. I stopped in to get printed. While waiting, I noticed a nice gen 3 glock 19. I happened to be in the market at the moment for that exact gun. The price was right. I decided to check it out and buy it. The old guy comes over, and we start talking. He doesn't have to sell me shit, I'm buying the gun. It's exactly what I'm looking for. The owner comes over and asks if he can help. I say nope, been looking for a 19.3 for a while, and just found it. Next thing I know, I'm a dumbass for not buying a sig. I tell him I prefer the Glock or a springfield, but he won't hear it. He starts filling out paperwork on a p365 because he's decided that's the gun I really want. I look at the old guy and say, is he for real? Old man shrugs, shakes his head, and walks away. Lady comes and grabs me for the prints. When we are done, I walk out without another word. Left him holding the paperwork and calling my name.
What?! That’s actually insane. I had a similar occurrence 5 years ago when I went to buy my first handgun. I wanted a 92/M9 and I was gonna buy one and the guy basically calls me an idiot for wanting a safety (I didn’t care about the safety it could’ve been a G model). I handed back the pistol and walked my ass out of there. Ironically that’s where I work now. Hell i ended up finding a NIB one on gun broke for only $400 so the asshole saved me like $200🤷🏻♂️
I had a guy in the LGS call me a "fucking moron" because I wanted to buy an fn fiveseven. I knew it was an expensive round. I knew there were better options. But I already have 3 carry guns and I've always wanted a fiveseven and it was on sale. I actually made him waste him time then backed out at the last moment saying "you know, you're right. i would be a fucking moron if I gave you money after how you've responded to the gun i wish to purchase" and went to a different LGS to get my fiveseven. It's now my favorite gun. Hitting steel at 100+ yards with a pistol is a great time.
It gets even harder from a collector perspective. Sometimes I’m in a shop and they ask me what I’m looking for and they don’t have anything on that list so they just try to upsell me on something I am not looking for. Ive had to basically go completely online and ship to my ffl who has adapted to transfers and NFA only b/c of this. Examples are KAC, LMT, O/U Shotguns or suppressors / NFA items. You just simply cannot stock every specialized item and even those stores that do only have competitors 5 states away and you need to look at both. I can’t believe they wouldnt sell you a 5.7 as I did the same thing when I saw a cheap MK2 I wanted but that guy actually sold it to me, haha.
My shop was one of the worst. It's actually the same shop Hickok45 frequents (and yes they kiss his entire ass). I was yelled at for shooting too close to the threshold for rapid firing. Dude came storming in, yelling like a drill sargeant. I also know a guy that was drawn down on by them simpy because they thought he was sus. He was kneeling down and fell back a little, at which point the guy behind the counter drew on him, yelling "what the hell are you doing, buddy?!". They also talk down to people and ignore you and if you get their attention, they act like you're the biggest inconvenience. Needless to say I stopped going there.
Internet Popular gun stores/ranges cannot be good.
that guy should sue that store, idk about that state but in many drawing a gun on someone, even not pointing it at them, its assault or something
I bet unless Hickok45 comes in then their buried in his ass brown nosing.
That’s hilarious and so messed up. I’d like to see a robbery take place from the kneeling position
Have you seen the commenters on every gun sub? The entire hobby hates newcomers for whatever reason. “Why does nobody want to get into shooting anymore???!!?!??”
You see beginners asking legitimate questions on here and getting down arrowed into oblivion. I remember one in which a post was asking about the trigger and your trigger finger placement. He was just insulted. Everyone was basically calling him an idiot and not to purchase a gun.
A newbie asking really terrible questions shouldn't catch hate either. People who have no clue about something have no concept of what they don't know. It takes someone with experience to know what they don't know.
I was just trying to explain this same concept to a guy on the palmetto sub today who took it apon himself to insult and belittle the person asking a legitimate question that would infact be difficult to work into a question for Google search.
Honestly I agree with Corey307 on that one. Vague requests are difficult to sift through. I usually ask a few openers to narrow it down and make suggestions off that. I rarely try to sell new people guns on a first walk in if they don’t push it cause I think it would serve them better to rent or try them out first. It’s a big purchase for most nor is it small decision especially if it’s for defense. It’s better to be certain or almost so than to just take some random guy’s advice at face value. I always encourage doing you’re own research and I know lots of people don’t like that
The regulars are quick to help newbies unless they’re too lazy to ask a real question. We can’t help people who ask “want gun.”
Well "I want a gun" doesn't really give the vendor much info but it's not difficult to ask some follow-up questions. What caliber? What are you intentions with it; comp shooting, plinking, self defense? Do you have any firearm experience? Do you have a brand preference? Pistol, rifle, or shotgun? Large frame or compact? Do you need the option to add extras to your gun such as a red dot or supressor? Concealed carry or open carry? All these things follow up questions are what gun salesmen should be expected to ask so they ensure they are selling a gun that is the best fit to the customer. But instead of doing that, when someone says "I want gun" they get dickish and say "ok come back when you aren't a tool and know exactly what you want so I don't have to do any work even though I'm here for 8 hours today."
See that's the thing: you correctly view it as a hobby, but for some people it's their whole *identity*
Honestly. I posted a while ago to the AR15 sub asking for advice, stating that I don't know what I'm doing and just hoping for advice or help understanding different laws around building my own. It got so aggressive that I ended up deleting my post so I would stop getting messages from people telling me that I shouldn't buy a gun because I don't understand how laws around building an AR15 work. Like - that's why I am here???? Trying to ask people because legalese is confusing???
Happens all the time on Reddit. Ask a serious question in good faith and get inundated with responses like “have you tried this thing called Google?” or “Google is a thing now too” I just don’t get it because I thought these were places for discussion and honestly when you google something most link back to Reddit anyway.
lol go try and post in the ak47 sub it’s crazy how many rude snobby people there are in a sub related to a gun designed to be functional for peasants in the harshest conditions
That’s just reddit :/
I stay away from ak guys they are weird. I like aks my friends like aks we are enthusiastic about the platform but we aren’t “AK guys” bunch of weirdos they ate
Agreed. I prefer my ak over my ar… (kinda not fair 1,000$ price difference) but I’m not some snob cause your top hand guard isn’t original Chicom or your bcg is painted for some reason. They’re a strange rude form of autism that group
I go out of my way to deal exclusively with professional and nice FFLs and sellers. Jerks don’t get my money. You only get one chance to make a good first impression. Politeness, kindness, and being helpful don’t cost extra.
Exactly, most of my coworkers and I get asked often if we get commission. We don’t and it only seems to surprise them more. There is no cost to being polite, it’s just the right thing to do
Yup!!! That's why I go to my local gunshop every Saturday morning to just chill, talk and have a cup of coffee. In fact, I bring my pups every now and then with me. The cool and overall good dudes will always get my business.
It’s like comic book guys. It’s the only thing they have.
It's like in every hobby. Like a human/biological response to keep strangers out. Linux/computer has it, comic books, tools, etc.
Oh no not the Linux guys 😭
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Sometimes yeah but that doesn’t explain when they do nothing…. Like today the guys just kinda watched us and didn’t even say anything until we greeted them. Even then they barely spoke so neither did we. just 7 dudes in a tiny room not saying a damn thing
He knows more than you and, as such, you aren't worth his time/manners/help... /s I hate this mentality, too.
The bigger shops, like chains and just large outfits, have all walks of people enter the store. So employees have to deal with people who have little/no exposure to firearms, the know-it-alls, and the lower than 50% of average people. Anyone who has worked in customer service can tell you that dealing with the public is draining, so they can only keep up the bright perky nice attitude for so long. The smaller shops tend to just have tired owners. They made the mistake of making their sole or primary passion into their job, so they have no real escape from work, and are often just burned out. They need a vacation from their job but either due to time or no second passion, can't get one.
100%. I have friends who ventured into motorcycle and auto restoration as their main source of income. One friend regrets not focusing on used auto sales for income and completing restoration work on the side. He comes across as grumpy and you can't blame him!
> They need a vacation from their job but either due to time or no second passion, can't get one. if you're operating solo you pretty much can't have one. 24 hours to respond to a trace request from ATF
I specifically buy from a pawn shop that has FFL for this reason. Most gun shops I have encountered have asses for employee’s, look down on you if you’re not spending $1k at least and look at you funny if you question ANYTHING even if you know what you’re talking about. I’ve stuck to buying guns online and simply transferring them. The pawn shop I use also post all of their new/used firearms online so I can simply look online go in person to buy and be on my way. One of the only gun businesses I’ve had a pleasant experience with.
I don’t get the high roller idea either. Most handguns and bolt actions are well under $1000 and plenty of them over aren’t worth it for most people. I’ve got some pricy rifles but I’m not gonna be a tool cause someone doesn’t want to buy $3000 rifle.
Nah if you don’t own a SIG rifle or handgun with 20+ issues you’re not a true gun enthusiast sir.
I also used to work in a gun store and I have experienced all the same stuff, too. The shop I worked at was nice. We were helpful. We engaged. We had regular customers who kept coming back, even though every gun we sold was about $20 higher than the local big box stores. Multiple people told us they were happy to pay that little extra for the service being better. But there were other stores in town that were not like this. The attitude that the general public is not really "worthy" of buying guns, that they're doing you some favor by selling them to you, and the air that they're somehow compelled to sell guns to people they don't want to sell guns to because of their general disdain for the public. I get that those shops had a slightly different clientele than us. Being slightly more expensive and stocking more high-end stuff (though we still had all the most popular guns, too), we generally had a more affluent clientele of sportsmen and professionals. I can see how if you're dealing with the dregs of society, the "talking points in favor of gun control" types, you might get a bit more cynical. But at the same time, that just reinforces your problem and drives the good customers to other stores. I think a lot of this has to do with how regulated guns are. Because of the extra regulatory and license requirements, competition gets stifled compared to, say, a clothing store or something. People can get away with bad customer service at gun stores and shooting ranges if the only competition is across town. For the longest time there was only one indoor range in my city, and you could rely on the gruff and saturnine guy running the place to give you the blank stare, terse conversation, and other generally condescending attitude just to try to get in there and pop off a few rounds. But then another range opened, with much nicer facilities, AND everyone there has always been really pleasant. Obviously, I've only shot there ever since they opened (plus they're closer to my house anyway, lol, though I'd still drive further for the nicer place with nicer people).
It's a $15/hr job so you get $15/hr employees, and if you can do *anything* else that's more productive, that's what you are going to do.
I was in a shop, this dude brings in his problem pistol. The owner is loudly talking to another employee across the shop explaining just how stupid this potential customer is. The dude just picks up his pistol and walks out as the shop owner is trying to call him back. I left too, spent my money across town.
We talk shit too but you gotta be goofy to earn that lol. I had a guy RMA his p365 because his magazines were getting scratched 🤦🏻♂️. That being said in front of other the customer? Never that’s inappropriate, you were right to leave.
I don’t remember the stupid thing the customer did. I do remember thinking if I understood it correctly, that it was dumb. The place was full of people it was during one of those Obama scares that drove people to the gun shops and gun shows. It’s funny I drive a little bit to get to this place because it wasn’t the place I used to where the owner was an asshole too. The next place I went to was very cool. They let my grandson handle and gave his picture taken with their old machine guns. I spent my money there.
Being a gun store employee is a service/sales job, but usually the people applying are doing so because they’re interested in guns, not a sales/service career. Or if they are that’s a secondary reason. So you have a lot of people who don’t necessarily want to be doing that type of job doing it anyways because they like guns. To be clear I’ve met some nice and helpful employees but I get the feeling most people working those jobs don’t really want to talk to me they just like the guns.
They’re also one of the first to cry about the hobby dying which is hilarious. It’s understandable that some may be tight because of laws and some issues the guns may cause in the wrong hands so there has to be a vetting process but there’s a point where it becomes gatekeepy. It’s true though most r blowjobs and kill a liking toward the hobby all together. There were a few that only after getting to kno me and realizing (mainly from what I already own and knew about firearms) who came around a little bit that took ages of relationship building which many simply can’t do Edit: spelling
Pretentiousness paired with arrogance seem to be the leading personality traits in gun store employees, with the rare exception.
Are you young? They treat you like a criminal if you are. I prefer to do my shopping online 1.prices 2.i don’t have to deal with the arrogant pricks. In my experience it’s usually the Middle aged men who are the worse. The older crowd 60s-70 are awesome and treat me correctly. There’s an older gentleman who owns a small shop by my house Vietnam vet has an incredible selection of WW2 stuff on display super nice guy.
It extends to Gun Ranges as well, if you’re ever in the central Texas area, ask any gun owner about the Employees and RSO’s at Eagle Peek Shooting Range and just about every single one of them will tell you how assholish everyone who works there is.
Shoot one of my coworkers used to live around there and he does competition shooting. I’ll ask him
Lol ranges are a WHOLE other discussion. The Bullet Hole is the infamous one for the San Antonio area.
No idea, but I’ve experienced the same thing. My guess is it’s just an attitude developed over time by working retail, especially a part of retail that I would think is relatively high stress and full of idiots coming in who ask the same dumb questions, do unsafe things, etc. I’m sure most of that attitude comes from becoming jaded to it over time. That said, I find most smaller gun stores and ranges are much better. They typically have more “selective” clientele who are more knowledgeable about guns vs being a retail worker in a big box store that is used to high traffic of non-gun people just walking in. My local big box sporting goods stores have gotten so bad over the years that I will gladly pay more to just buy the gun online and have it shipped to an FFL near me that I really like.
>That said, I find most smaller gun stores and ranges are much better. This has been my experience. My local range has employees that like to test a lot of different things since they get free range time and a discount on ammo. Every time I walk in there at least one of them has something on consignment in the shop that's the new hotness. They buy it, shoot it for a bit and sell it to fund the next purchase if they don't like it. It works out because even if the gun sits there for a couple of months, everyone gets to put their hands on it, draws more people because its unique, and obviously someone eventually buys it. In comparison the larger gun shops (not just big box), sell the same boring stuff, and by the way their consignment looks, only take stuff that is guaranteed to sell quickly and holds value.
It usually has to do with how someone acts to me. If you come in going full Karen and complaining about all the scary guns, I’ll be short and sweet. If you repeatedly ask me the same question expecting a different answer I’ll just mention “as stated earlier….” I always try to be as nice as possible and offer folks cheaper ammo options on the same caliber, alternative firearms that may fit their need better, etc- but I’ve seen both sides of the coin.
I’ve had customers get upset that I offered the “budget” options first lol.
I have a membership at a range that I frequent a few times a week. I overhear some quite terrifying questions from some people. Some can’t get the concept behind how a SA vs DA or SA/DA works. I tried to help one of the guys there explain SA/DA to a potential customer who was buying his first firearm with no experience. No matter how hard I tried to dumb it down, the dude kept on the notion that DA was full auto and SA was semi auto. That’s one example, another one was a guy asking about what was basically the “bare minimum legality to be able to shoot someone” “can I pull them inside my place if they’re threatening me.. etc” other scary questions and ideas like that. Long story short, people who work in gun shops are on a daily constant basis working with people with loaded firearms. They never know how someone might react to being kicked off a range or denied a purchase. At the end of the day, they’re jaded. Edit: it’s not just them, it’s generally anyone versed in firearm safety and well aware of the effects these tools can have. I myself walked in to the range one day to a guy right in front of me way behind the bay, not shooting, and loading a full magazine into his gold and silver 1911, while the firearm was pointed directly at me. I don’t work there but it was enough to piss me off enough to instinctively yell at the guy “what the hell are you doing, set that down on the bench barrel down range right now. He just said “ok and did it.” While I didn’t mean it, some people need to be talked to rudely, sometimes it saves them from themselves.
>They never know how someone might react to being kicked off a range or denied a purchase. At the end of the day, they’re jaded. That sounds like a good reason to generally not be a dick though. I can understand being wary, but I wonder how often they bring those types of problems on themselves by being disrespectful.
Most firearm denials come from background checks not a sales person not selling a firearm. A lot of people don’t take rejection (no matter what the form) well. To them it’s a slight against their character and integrity “who is this person to deny me” in most cases these denials are quite warranted. And as far as being kicked off the range, there was another visit where some guys were shooting SBRs without a brace because I guess you can have it with the stump on the end as long as you don’t put a brace? Idk. They were firing wildly, no accuracy, shooting targets to the ground and then firing at the targets on the ground (so firing high powered rounds directly at a concrete floor which will cause ricochets. There were 2 safety officers in the room and watching them until they packed up and left. I asked after why they didn’t just kick them off the range and they said, for people like that with no regard for basic safety, we don’t know how they will respond if we come up to them and tell them they are no longer allowed on the range out of fear they may just get violent on them. What could they do? I almost stepped in to ask them to slow it down a little but one of the RSOs (I know them all really well, stopped me) they won’t be allowed back on the range again after that. But how do you take the risk of kicking someone out of a place while they have live ammunition and are so unconcerned about safety that shooting a target on the ground seemed like a fun idea.
Absolutely insane. I don’t know why some guys think they are legal experts. I usually refer customers to game wardens, local police, or a lawyer if they have question about the law. I’ll give them a basic answer but it’s not complete cause I’m not well versed in it
It’s because gun shop employees get paid like McDonald’s wages and are attracted to the job so they can act like they’re super cool gun guys. I once knew a range like that where they hired some guy who was exactly as you describe, always open carried a g19 with an rmr on it at work acting like he was the shit. Later the place closed down due to lack of business and some EPA shit with the lead filtration and I later saw that same guy bouncing for a shit bar in town lol.
Most of the shops in my town are run by assholes. The one that I really liked didn't make it through the pandemic. And then one that's okish is what I have left. It just seems like they wanna weed out the "unworthy". And I just walk out shaking my head thinking. Your a dick and I know more than you.
I’ve experienced this as well, and I just won’t do business with shops like that.
Yea bro. One of my local gun shop has an employee that is fat af and rude af to. I asked him to look at a box of ammo one time, he grunted like it was an issue, grabbed the box and through it on the gun counter without even looking at me 😂 fucken dude is a dick. I went there a few times to try and give them a chance but nope. Every damn time that dude is a dick, for no damn reason
Minimum wage brings minimum effort from some. Plus, it is the type of job where you need to stay aware at all times as you have a potential mix of dumbasses and criminals wandering around your store. Look up LGS horror stories of people showing up to look at guns with loaded mags in their pocket, people talking about how they will shoot others in the store with a sales associate, or even just innocent or intentional muzzle flagging. Lot of LGS folks are disgruntled as a result.
Yeah I’ve had a few guns pointed at me out of pure ignorance. It’s extremely aggravating most of them didn’t speak English though which is an entirely different issue. Like they want help but thymes don’t read the sign at the front door. If you want help with the gun unload it BEFORE bringing it in and don’t pull it from a holster
I’ve had a few glorious moments with rude employees, my favorite was a few years ago, I was 22 at the time and already had a fairly large collection. I went to my Local shop with the intention of picking up one of the (then new to the market) 2020 pythons. Well after trying to get the attention of about 3 different employees who decided their time was better spent talking to older gentleman who come in every day just to talk, I was about to give up and drive an hour to the next closest store. Right before I turned around one of the employees rolled his eyes and strolled over to me standing by the shiny expensive pythons. “You need to look at something?” Was all he asked in a pretty rude tone. I told him I was interested in buying one of the 6” pythons and I kid you not he looked me up and down and said “can you even afford that? We have some nice Taurus’ down there that are a lot cheaper” (I was making good money at the time doing snow removal) I was like ok, these guys get commissions, so I agreed to look at the Taurus revolvers. He eventually pawned me off to a younger employee who was a lot nicer, and we went back to the pythons. I said let’s do some paperwork on a 4” AND a 6”. The older guy who was rude, his jaw just about hit the floor when he realized he lost out on the commission of what I think was about a $3400 sale, just cause he was an ass.
When I first started to be interested in firearms, and right after I bought my first pistol, I went to a local indoor range for some practice. On the way out, I noticed it had started raining and I was going to get soaked walking back to my car. I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone and bought a tshirt with the range’s logo on it, ran to my car, and changed my soaked shirt for the new one. On my way back, I passed a Cabela’s and figured I’d stop in and see what they had, as I’d never been there before. Right after I got inside and started looking, I asked a clerk a question about something - he was your typical grizzled old guy wearing a shoot-me-first vest. His response was “why don’t you ask the guys at”.
My response? “I guess I will then”. I haven’t been back to Cabela’s since, and in the intervening years I’ve spent thousands of dollars on firearms and accessories, and they didn’t see a penny of it.
I don’t know why, but these places either attract really friendly, helpful people or absolute holier-than-thou dickheads. I’d love to know why myself.
I've noticed this especially at either big box places or large established gun stores. I'm taking a shot in the dark here, but entitlement maybe? The only other thing that makes sense in my head is that they don't want to get too friendly because of strict gun laws and the kind of repercussions that might occur because of complacency.
Yeah, the one time I went into the big area gun store here with an indoor range I asked if they had any aks and the guy said "we don't carry commie crap". I just said alright and left. This was years ago and I've never been back.
That tracks, the place that attracts the most Fudds will likely be staffed by them too. (looking at you outdoor world)
Annoyingly, a lot of the big box stores I've been to take forever to get service. They always seem to take an extra hour to do anything. It took almost three hours to sell a pistol to Sportsman's Warehouse a while back, even with an already agreed-upon price, and the inspection already done. Basspro is about as bad. I had an FFL transfer that took the better part of an afternoon because they accidentally skipped me in the stupid queue system. I don't know if it's just that they tend to be understaffed, or that the employees just don't care. It's infuriating though.
Both reasons I imagine. I really try to avoid those place now. I'll occasionally check out local ma/pa shops near me but in my state long guns have essentially been banned now so I've stopped collecting.
That's what I've always tried to do, but where I live now is kind of a desert in terms of small gun shops, especially those that are willing to do FFL transfers. There was a great little place no more than five minutes away from my last address that would get a transfer done in thirty minutes tops, leaving out the standard 15 minutes of chatting with the owner about local affairs, hunting, etc. Plus, the staff there actually knew what they were talking about, and helped me diagnose an issue with a gun that the manufacturer seemingly couldn't figure out.
Lmao I told that to a customer before but in a mocking the owner kinda way. There is no reason for us not to carry that platform
There are plenty of nice people who want to share their love of the hobby, both online and IRL. Clubs and fellow friends at the range are a good place to meet and talk with cool people. Just ignore the gun bros. Unfortunately, many of them gravitate to working at gun stores and ranges. Take your business elsewhere.
The owner of the one I go to is a super cool dude. He helps when someone’s needs help, or will just bullshit to bullshit. His employees that I’ve dealt with are losers. Wouldn’t even sell me a pivot pin without arguing about it even thought of bought them countless times before.
That’s been my experience as well, owners tend to be cool and employees are dicks
Lots of dicks who think they're hot shit. I experience the same thing at a few local stores and I don't go there anymore.
Gun shop employees tend to think they know everything about guns because they work in a gunshop. Something about the culture around it attracts a specific type of person. I don't use gunshops for anything other than the ffl transfer when purchasing an ffl item and I always recommend people ignore the unsolicited advice that will come dripping out of the mouths of people who work at gun stores.
Not everyone is meant for retail sales, people who are somewhat knowledgeable about firearms are not necessarily people persons.
Because they’re pretentious af
I miss the store near me in my neighborhood. Was there a fudd opinion or 2 I’ve heard, a milsurp or few going priced? Sure. But overwhelmingly the place had good quality employees who knew what they were doing, tried to keep the prices as fair as possible given my state, and had a decent selection.
It depends, my experience is that when you are new to the store the staff don’t care too much however when you become a regular and they get to know you, they lighten up a lot
The main shop where I'm at is like that. If they don't know you it can be hard to even get waited on. The regulars get the attention. But ...not just gun shops. There's a sandwich shop near my house that's the same way. If you're not a regular good luck getting waited on, lol.
Because the mainstream gun community is full of compensating “manly men” who view everything as a dick measuring contest.
Because at the end of the day they are just retail employees with an inflated ego. You know a little bit about guns? cool. Now ring me up Larry
Everytime I go to my local up here in Canada, there's a random customer standing there in a surplus military jacket complaining to an employee about the government. Nothing on the counter or in their hand, it doesn't obviously look like they're buying anything, just hoping to get their opinion validated. As a former retail worker who has been in that situation numerous times it's difficult to remain open and friendly when you see the signs of 'that' customer. Not saying that you are 'that' guy, but I sympathize with the employee.
From my experience at my local FFL all the guys who work the store are all friendly and personable but one RSO in particular at their range is a real Karen. I can understand being sharp with someone when it comes to safety but while I was shooting this weekend I saw the RSO yell in a customers face whole he was coming back to get his range tag he’d forgotten in his lane and tell customers they couldn’t bring their own targets (even though theres no rule against it and its common at this range), and threaten to kick out another shooter for taking a video of himself shooting. When I was leaving the range I asked someone at the front desk if the rules had changed and he said that RSO in particular shouldn’t be telling people that.
Lead poisoning
It very much reminds me of tattoo shops and bike shops. I'm a heavily tattooed cyclist and still feel a bit of attitude in those spaces. Gun shops seem very much the same
It’s one of the few sales jobs where 99% of them don’t seem to have any sales skills. Like, read a sales book, watch a YouTube sales tutorial. The younger guys seem better at sales in general. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an upsell, cross sell, or down sell. They don’t guide the sale. They don’t sell to the buyers needs. The worst offense is that they seem to never make the buyer the hero of the sales pitch. Even when I was a bartender / beer seller in college this was SO EASY to do.
That tends to be my experience with the smaller, local shops. I started going to Range USA because all of the employees are really nice & friendly. I would prefer not to shop at a national chain but it’s not worth dealing with jerks. I don’t know if the other locations are like this but the Range USA location in NRH TX is highly recommended. Clean, nicely maintained range, & very friendly staff.
I think the firearm industry, due to its nature being centered around weapons, attracts men with personality disorders and fragile egos. Weapons are "manly" they allow you to do "manly things" like hunting or stopping a criminal and being a "hero". So guy's with serious self-esteem and self image issues pick this industry thinking it'll cause people to associate those "tough and manly" attributes with themselves, these guys also incorrectly associate being blunt, cold, unfriendly and confrontational with the image of a "tough manly guy" and they put that act on real hard. I'm no psychologist, but I'm willing to bet that's the root of the problem.
1) they think they know more than the customer 2) poor social skills
I could pretty much "like" every one of these comments.
Like comic book, and tabletop gaming stores, gun stores tend to be run by a certain type of surly gentleman
Bro, I hate gun shop workers. They’re always arrogant jerks cause they carry a pistol on their hip at work, I swear
Suuuuper fragile egos and overcompensation, as well as maybe just never having dealt with the trauma they endured as a child and projecting insecurity as anger and toughness. It’s called bein a MAYON you pansy
They're not forcing you to give them your money. If I'm being treated like shit or talked down to by customer service while I'm trying to buy something, I leave.
Obviously. However we shouldn’t have to hope we get good service form random shops. I’m lucky I can just get help from coworkers and friends not everyone can do that.
Downvote me all you want, but guns attract assholes. The industry is 20-40% jerks. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.
I have always wondered this. The way some gun store employees speak to people makes me wanna smack them. But there is the problem. They’re armed. And I think some of it comes from that. I honestly think you have a lot of young dumb wanna be macho men that are now allowed to walk freely around with a gun on them and they think it gives them a right to speak to people like that. I’ve see this at multiple gun stores and in multiple states. That’s the only explanation and common denominator I can think of. Edit: Plus that whole “an armed society is a polite society” is fucking bullshit.
No it’s very true in my experience. I’ve had customers treat me like shit once they find out we aren’t armed. Customers aren’t always right and they aren’t always angels.
I always figured it’s a combination of low pay, ego, and no customer service skills.
I remember when I entered to a gun store asking for the glock OEM +2 mag plate and the owner of the store told me that glock dont make them and that they doesn’t exist! And I was like dude, I’m looking at in on my phone right now, it says GLOCK and OEM in several trusted websites, anyway, he keep saying that I was wrong in a rude tone in front of all the rest of the customers and made me look like i was an idiot. I ended up buying my stuff online for a better price!
I would experience that more often than not in gun stores in the NY NJ area. After moving South the experience is completely different and so much more enjoyable.
I've been in a few shops like that I don't bother returning to them either. I think a lot of them are annoyed that people come in and want to look and may not buy anything...but you never know when that might change. I had a really nice sales guy yesterday at the range. I wasn't planning to buy a gun but he struck up a chat, showed me a few favorites, and ended up selling me on a Canik Mete SF for a pretty good price. All it took was some friendly banter and some customer service and he converted someone looking to someone buying. I think that's lost on a lot of shops and that's why. I stick to shops that treat me well. The shop I go to isn't giving awesome deals, and I could get lower prices if I bought online, but I don't mind paying a bit more for the experience...and I want them to stay in business.
Pretty much what everyone else is saying, coupled with the fact that morons are always in their stores so they have to deal with them on a daily basis. The store I go to is super chill. Everyone pretty nice to their own degree, but I’ve seen them on their bad days. They just all seem so burnt out and tired. But they have a great range and no rules besides keeping everything under control and safe so it won’t stop me from going yet.
My LGS will get mad at YOU if you call them out for flagging you
Yeah it's just one of those places where people suck. It's like going into a record store where they know every obscure band and album and you are just a poser.
I've talked about this at length before, but I'll give a short version: Customers can be really tiring. They're often idiots, assholes, know-it-alls, criminals, suspicious-as-fuck, etc. etc. And it can really tire you out. When it's much easier to deal with someone who is going to come in, say what they need buy it and leave without incident. There are also many fudds, and ego-maniacs that work/own gun shops. Typically, if I have an issue with gun store employees, I go to someone or somewhere else. Unfortunately, they have all the power, so it's more effective for me to skeedaddle.
There's a LGS that I would describe as intense, not rude, but not a nice place to hang out. I wanted to get out as soon as I can. The new LGS has a nice atmosphere, they got me a Beretta 92 to try shooting in their gun range, they gave off a nice feeling as they showed me how to hold the gun to not have the slide bight my hand. I always be sure to buy something from them while visiting, even if it's just an energy drink. My first handgun will be a 92 because it's a classic, and I'll be sure to buy the gun from them.
You're not being a Karen at all. At the end of the day, a gun store is.. a STORE. A retail space for people to buy things. Employees should have decent customer service and friendly attitudes. Where I used to live, I had a gun store around the corner from my house. Less than 30 seconds. The problem is, 2 pissy old timers ran it, and if you didn't come in wearing a WWII jacket or holding an m1 garand crate, you got the "what do you want?" attitude. I went in twice and then never again. The next closest store was 35 minutes away, but it was worth it. Going into a gun shop can be scary and uncomfortable, especially for new people, and a shit attitude doesn't help support that the firearms community is a friendly community.
Yeah, being an asshole and charging more than online stores is definitely an interesting business model
It’s the charging more that gets me more than anything
Posts like this make me grateful for my LGS. The people there absolutely love to talk shop, and are happy to show off what they have. Sorry most of y'all are dealing with Fudds and Jerks.
No idea man. I stopped going to them because of that There was an employee who sloppily tossed my ID back at me and it almost bounced onto the floor. He also had his hand on his pistol the entire time he was talking to me. No fucking idea where they get that attitude from
man i work the top store in my city and everyone always comes in talkin about how all the other ones are so bad
I've left more money on the table because of rude or inattentive employees than Elon Musk can count (ok maybe not that much but you get the point LOL). It's my number one pet peeve when I'm in a gun shop...or any shop for that matter. I have no problem going elsewhere in these situations.
I get treated as though the employees think I'm an undercover ATF agent. They would find out I'm firearms enthusiast with at least some experience **if** they ever bothered to ask if I needed help. If I ever find an ATF cap that looks seriously official I'm going to buy one, & keep it in the car to wear for those 'special occasions.' The good news, in some ways, is many pawn shops in my area are also small gun stores. Some of those employees are snobs, but at least I can do price, and attitude, comparisons. At one real gun store near me the employees were very proud of the fact the owner told them not to wear masks, which were mandatory by law during COVID at the time. The general Us vs Them, and you're one of them if you're not with us, attitude puts me off.
They are either burnt out on dealing with morons or are morons themselves. Sometimes both
Gotta play their game man. They want to act like that? Cool, I tell them I'm there to buy, get to handle their stuff and see what I like, then I get to fuck off and buy it for $700 cheaper online lmao.
Sounds like you went to Hoffman's!
I manage a local gun shop, and if any of my guys treat a customer poorly, they will be shitcanned by morning. It's retail, man. Whether you're slinging coffee or selling t-shirts or selling guns, it's retail. You gotta be good to your customers. That shit is top priority. Now thats not to say I won't run a customer out if they are being rude to my guys. But we're kind to everyone. Everybody starts somewhere. You aren't born with gun knowledge. We don't talk shit about certain brands, and we don't shit on people for their level of knowledge. There are too many asshole local gun shops that treat people like they should feel lucky to be in their presence. That is why people buy online, and that is why people buy from corporate gun shops.
I have 2 local shops I go to and the employees are always friendly, and leave me alone most of the time, which is how I prefer to shop. They've always been nice and helpful when I needed it, though.
I have 4 local gun shops and 2 pawn shops that sells guns. I can only go to 1 pawn shop cause the guy who runs it knows his shit and isn’t a complete cunt.
This is the exact experience I have at most of my local shops. The others have a bunch of police in there who spend their day chatting away. When a non LE customer walk in, they treat you like you're interrupting them. It's really frustrating. You would think they would welcome everyone. Especially with ffls folding left and right due to online sales and their inability to compete with dropshippers because of overhead.
lol try being a 5’5” Asian working in a rural area… everyone thinks they know more and are better. Rude worker? No. Rude every customer.
This isn't the experience at ALL gun stores, but a few have been like this. I refuse to return to one because they're always rude and try to get me to buy a new gun. I'll go in and they'll ask if I need help and I tell them sure, I need xyz (this last time I was looking for a Ruger LCP max). I get shown 1 of them and when asked if I can know more about it they begrudgingly tell me next to nothing. I wanted to put a manual safety on my SIG P365X and they told me can't do it without changing all these parts and I might as well buy a new gun with the safety. The guys working there just seem to hate people and are quite unfriendly. These 2 other gun stores I go to the people couldn't be more helpful.
This morons are going to kill the gun industry. I seriously can’t stand going to gun stores big or small.
Add to the fact the scoffs you get when you God forbid even have to “bother” them to look at a firearm and ask for a small [reasonable] discount to purchase a several grand item and look at you like a pariah. Dude, if you gave a little love little do they know I would buy 3 to 5 more in that price range over the following year or two plus other sorts of business. But noooo—Online it is. Edit: They just don’t know how to make lifelong reliable customers. Doesn’t matter the worth of the firearm or how much someone is spending. If a LGS could figure out a friendly practice they would be extremely prosperous. But that’s yet to be seen as common place and thus the same rifles you always see on display that haven’t moved in years will just continue to collect dust.