Gun shop horror story.

[jsalcedo]

A gun dealer friend of mine that I've known for about 20 years has recently
given up working retail gun shops.

He and his family have now been selling at gun shows exclusively.

I asked him why he gave up the retail trade.

He told me a couple of years ago while working in a Houston gun shop
a young man had dropped off his SKS to be fitted with a 30 round mag.
After a day of messing with it he got it working and called the owner to come pick it up.

The guy pays the bill, takes the SKS outside, opens the trunk and proceeds to load it and chamber a round.

Seeing this through the plate glass window my friend tells his wife and son
to get behind the row of gun safes and pulls his .44 mag snubbie.

He also tells his co-worker to get ready.

The youth with the SKS, carrying the rifle with his finger on the trigger turns and walks back to the door of the gunshop with the rifle pointing straight ahead.

With the wife and child safely behind the safes, my friend and his partner steel themselves for the seemingly inevitable shoot out.

The youth pushes the door open and swings the rifle around
casually leveling it at the men behind the counter.

Just as my friend is about to raise his revolver and fire the kid yells out:

"I just wanted to thank you again for doing such a great job on my rifle, it works great" and proceeds to turn around and get back in his car and drive off.

This was the final straw so he gave up the retail business for good.

He has been shot once, shot at 3 times and has been repeatedly burglarized.

One time a truck rammed through the front tof the building late at night while he was working in the office. The robbers begain firing at him immediately and did not retreat until they were met with 8 shots of 00 buck.


I never realized that working in a gun shop could be so dangerous

 

[Rockrivr1]

WOW!! Your friend showed a lot of constraint by not shooting the guy when he walked through the door. If it was me, I would of never let him swing the barrel in my direction. He would of been met with lead the second he walked in the door if it was leveled and his finger was still on the trigger. Guess it's a good think I don't own a gun store.

 

[Hellbore]

Wow... I noticed a little nervously that all the employees at my local gun store carry a big ugly gun prominently displayed at their hip, COCKED and LOCKED... I guess this kind of thing is why!

In fact, I remember talking to an employee of a local PAINTBALL gun store... This guy carries a Sig at all times in the store ready to fire... He says someone shot up the paintball store (with real guns) and he was hit and almost killed, so he decided to carry ever since then.

 

[Standing Wolf]

He would of been met with lead the second he walked in the door if it was leveled and his finger was still on the trigger.

Yep. As far as I'm concerned, there's only one of me; there's not, however, anything even remotely like a shortage of criminals and damned fools.

 

[pezo]

I like the part about the .44 mag snubbie.

 

[OH25shooter]

Isn't it amazing how an employee of a gunstore (of all places) has to be armed behind the counter. One would think, who in the world would walk into a gunstore, with all those guns, and have the balls to rob such a store. I can't think of another business that has such a problem. Strange...

 

[orangeninja]

Interesting story.... This is in S.A. you say?

 

[Hellbore]

One would think, who in the world would walk into a gunstore, with all those guns, and have the balls to rob such a store.

Well I think there are a lot of men who have more balls than brains

 

[w12code3]

And jewlery stores too

At jewlery store I used to go to, all the employees openly carried sidearms. It was a really nice, up-scale store too, not a pawn shop.

I guess they wanted to send a message to people who might be doing more than "just looking"

 

[Bear Gulch]

It is scary, because you never know who will show up at your shop. I have a clearing barrel in front of mine with a big sign indicating that all firearms must be cleared before entry.

 

[jsalcedo]

Interesting story.... This is in S.A. you say?

This particular event happened in Houston.

The one with the truck crashing through the store happened in SA.

I like the part about the .44 mag snubbie.

That's what he carries in one form or another....not sure what ammo he uses.

 

[secluded]

I managed a gunshop in CA for a while during the mid-90's. We had a few occassions where folks tried plowing cars and or trucks through the doors after close. It happened on time the day I was to take charge of one of the stores. I showed up about 7:30 to start my new position and the head of security and the district manager where by the back door where some gang bangers (later caught) tried to ram a vehicle through it. We had a steel door/a sliding gate and a post that we would drop into a hole on the inside. It destroyed the door but the post and sliding gate held up. No entry. It happened about an hour before I showed up. Nice to see on your first day . We were not permitted to carry in the store (corp policy) but we had a combo of "store guns" close at hand. There was a pistol behind the firearms counter and a HD style shotgun hanging above the door frame to the "gun room".

I also got to spend one New Years day (about 8 hours) sitting inn the gunshop with one of our security guys. The power was out in the area and our alarm system was non-functional. He parked his truck right in front of the doors and had a power cord that we ran inside to plug the tv in to watch the football games. We also decided hell with "corp policy" and grabbed a few of the nicer guns and loaded them up. I had a H&K P7M8, AR and an M1A resting comfortable beside me

 

[R.H. Lee]

Man that's stupid. I never walk into a gunshop with a gun unless it's in a box or a paper bag, which I then sit on the counter and let the guy open himself.

 

[The Rabbi]

Gun stores are obvious and well-known targets of crime. Not allowing employees to go armed is imo beyond stupid.

At the store I worked at we had an NFA semi auto shotgun nearby and a .357 Taurus by the cash register.
Of course the previous owner was just whacko. One time a group of "the brothers" came in looking suspicious. The owner took a whole wad of money from the cash register and threw it out on the counter and then stood there with the shotgun at the ready.

 

[PATH]

How many times have people pulled out firearms without telling me they were about to do so. It can shorten your life all this stress. My SIG is with me at all times in the store along with my lil ol' Kel-Tec P32. The loaded shotgun also makes me feel a bit better.

Stupid people come witht territory in the firearms business.

 

[chris in va]

The guys at the local gun store here always look around you to see who's coming in the door when it chimes. I don't blame them. They all open carry.

 

[Wildalaska]

I have my Seecamp 32


OK OK, we have a 45 Colt Taurus near the register (those silvertips look so nasty in the cylinder) and strategic access to a few other goodies


WildbutigottheseecampAlaska

Actually if we are short staffed, I carry my BHP cocked and locked

 

[RoyG]

As far as carrying in a gun shop one of the ones I frequent the guys working behind the counter always open carry. Well the other night I was in there talking to one of them and one of the other guys is showing another customer something. Then the clerk pulls out his sidearm and drops the magazine and then racks the slide back and locks it. Then he shows the customer something on it. He then lets the slide go forward and then inserts his magazine. Puts it back in his holster.

I comment to the guy I'm talking to that he didn't have one in the chamber. He then tells me that the owner doesn't feel it's safe to keep one in the chamber so that's how they all carry. They all carry semiautomatics though. Several of them carry 1911s which are cocked and locked.

 

[guy sajer]

Most of our employees are retired cops and military or active cops . Most of them carry a sidearm under a store supplied 5.11 vest . However , they are not permitted to draw unless a threat is perceived . If they need to demonstrate , we have more than enough guns around for this . We require they step out the back door if they need to chamber a round unless they're carrying a revolver .

20-25 yrs ago in a local gun shop / range no longer in business , a gunshop employee was asked how the grip safety worked on the 1911 he was carrying . Carelessly , he had a negligent discharge and fired one though the front wall ... directly into the radiator of a Caddy out front ... the customers wife was sitting in it at the time . :banghead:

 

[cstreu1026]

oops.

 

[cstreu1026]

Mitch,

Not only are the vests functional but they look quite snazzy as well. Oh yeah and you have a very nice store with very knowledgable employees.

Of the other two stores I visit Most of the employees open carry. To me it only makes sense when you consider the value of the merchandise and the potential problems that may arise. To a sensible person a gun shop would be the last place you would try to rob...especially during business hours. However, as one would imagine most criminals are lacking in the common sense department.

 

[gvass]

Sad story

A Hungarian hunting/guns shop owner was killed last friday morning.

He was stabbed several times.

Only 3 firearm (2 shotguns, 1 Taurus .357 Mag revo) was stolen.

He reportedly not carried.

 

[guy sajer]

Not only are the vests functional but they look quite snazzy as well. Oh yeah and you have a very nice store with very knowledgable employees. ...

Thank you we're definately not perfect , but we try to give it our best effort .

A Hungarian hunting/guns shop owner was killed last friday morning...

How tragic . I'm very sorry to hear this .

 

[JohnKSa]

Seems like I posted this before, but a gun shop down the street from where I grew up was robbed by a guy with a knife. (Should say attempted...)

He asked for something up on a shelf behind the counter and stabbed the proprietor severely with a bayonet when he turned his back. When the guy turned back around, the attacker slashed him, nearly removing some fingers, cutting the side of his face (knocking off his glasses) and continuing down into a long cut in his upper chest. The store owner fell down and as he did so, he drew his PPK. The attacker followed him as he fell and was standing over him preparing to stab him again when he emptied the PPK.

The attacker said "Please don't shoot me again." and expired on top of the owner. He managed to extricate himself from under the body but was too weak to stand to reach the phone. He crawled to the shop next door and they called for help.

Interesting points:

The attacker didn't threaten, he just attacked. He was clearly doing everything in his power to kill the owner and very nearly succeeded. Yet when he was injured, the first thought in his mind was to ask for mercy.

The gun store owner was able to instantly stop a determined attacker with a mousegun even after being severely injured, and although he was nearly blind without his glasses.

A well-prepared person armed with a firearm was attacked with a knife and very nearly didn't survive the attack.

 

[gvass]

"Yet when he was injured, the first thought in his mind was to ask for mercy.
"

NO MERCY. PERIOD.

I have a gun shop. NO MERCY is our policy.