So the first entry for this blog will be on what to expect when dealing with a gun dealer at his place of business. First off understand that a gun dealer is a business person trying to make a business. The trouble is most gun dealers don't realize this. In my experience, gun dealers fall into these categories
1) The brusque suspicious guy who resents you coming into his store. This gun dealer is taciturn with his speech to the point of rudeness and beyond. Why? Couple reasons come to mind. First off, he doesn't want you touching his guns. This gun dealer views all the guns as his/her personal property. He doesn't want you touching his stuff unless you are going to buy it right there, right now, with cash in hand. Period. Second reason is he hates it when people come into his store uninvited, looking at his stuff and don't buy. I had a gun dealer tell me he has this policy. "You can only look at 3 guns, cause if you look at any more you just ain't looking to buy and are wasting my time." I was looking to buy, and buy I did. Shame on me for not saying, "Dude, you really should looking into casting calls. I can see as the friendly bartender". They get into the gun dealer business to get their own guns at cost. These guys are pretty harmless and their store is usually pretty small and on the whole they are pretty useless. I say unless they have something you really want, don't bother.
2) The militant political activists. Hoo-boy, these guys are dead set about pushing their views onto you. No matter what. If you don't agree with them, they will just keep pushing their views and arguing one sided arguments or even get angry with you. Never mind that they might offend you based on their view of race, religion, politics or even life style. Don't get me wrong, I understand it is their store and they can do what they want. I get it, dude. Just understand that the sale of the AR-15 I was looking at just went out the window cause my kids happen to be one of those Latinos job stealing thugs you think you know something about. Best way to deal with these guys is either don't get into a debate with them or just agree with them by nodding your head and smiling. Or as an alternative invite your debate club friend over and have them go toe to toe. Hours of fun. These are most gun dealers, so learn to just walk in, do your business and get out. Personally, I don't give them my business. Anything else is a waste of time.
3) The shyster. Of all the previous gun dealers I have discussed, this guy is the worst. Another little tidbit ( remember at the beginning of the blog I talked about the reason for starting it was because of being a bore. Well, you where warned), I was buying my first deer rifle. I found one that looked good. It was a Marlin 336 but had a peep site instead of the regular ramp site. Guy told me it just came in from an earlier trade. I asked to look at it. I looked down the barrel and handed it to him. He then said,"that do you any good?". Can you say jerk? Well, I knew the barrel was worn but the price was right. I handed him the cash and filled the paper work. He then proceeded to take off the peep sight. I said, "Hold it, I bought that" to which he replied, "The price doesn't include the peep sight". Now, I was young and didn't know any better. He then told me sale final. When I got home, I noticed the cracked stock that had been repainted to hide the repair. Now, If I had a little bit of knowledge and some experience I would have said, "Guess again there, Wild Bill. Refund the money the deal is off or replace the peep site." but I didn't. I also did not go back and say, "Yo, Patton. What is up with the repair job". This guy got away with it. Why? because I didn't know better. I allowed myself to be bullied into forgetting this basic rule. If the deal isn't to your liking, walk away, there are other guns. The buyer should always beware, especially in this market, ( my next blog will be about my basic rules). Now, I don't want to be accused of slander or libel so I will not mention the gun dealer's establishment by name. I just know I do not buy guns in Conneaut Lake Pennsylvania area.
4) The honest to goodness decent retailer. These type of gun dealers are great. They treat every person that walks into the door as a customer, with no preferences. These people are into the business model of treating the customer decently. I mean, just because an off duty police officer walks into the store doesn't mean the gun dealer can say to you, "He is an important guy, you have to wait", even though you are next in line. That is how you lose a customer not build up a customer base. My favorite story about being in a decent gun dealer store was when a guy come in while i was being waited on and said, "Bill, I just got off duty, can you hurry up here. I don't feel like waiting for this guy." To which the gun dealer replied, "You can come back tomorrow, I am with this gentleman." This gun dealer got my business for over 12 years when I lived in Pennsylvania. I still stop by to say hello when I am in the area. Another story about this decent gun dealer, I bought a pistol that had a bad magazine. The gun was a surplus pistol and, really, there was no way to get a replacement at the time. This guy spent around 2 hours trying to fix it, and it kinda works. But, because of the problem he gave me a store discount and a holster. What a nice guy. Did it pay in the short run. No. But during the time I lived in Pennsylvania, I bought my guns from him, my brother bought his guns from him and we sent our friends to see him. Mauer's Sporting Goods, outside of Franklin Pennsylvania, gets the decent gun dealer title. I will be putting up a blog of other good guys in Rhode Island soon.
Okay, enough for one night. More to follow.
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