Muzzle-swept in a gun shop - should I be PO'd?

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We ARE talking about a gun shop, the chances that there was a loaded gun in the display case are vanishing small.

Context is key to this situation I personally don't think I'd give it a second thought.
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True. but the first rule says...

and the second rule says...

and so on..

I guess my point is that if the shoe were on the other foot, I'd likely gotten my butt chewed over it or worse...

As far as expecting it or being non-chalant about it, I guess that's one's own perogative but I have always had a visceral reaction to any gun being pointed at me whether I knew it to be unloaded or not... Even if I know with 100% certainty that the weapon is unloaded, I still get a creepy feeling looking down the working end of a firearm, particularly if someone else is holding it. I suppose it comes back to the type of behavior you expect out of people vs. the type of behavior you accept out of people..
 
I don't know whether you should get PO'd or not - that sort of depends on whether or not you want to be PO'd - and only you can know that.

Do I expect you're getting PO'd to have any practical consequence? Other than shortening your life by raising you blood pressure, none at all.

I stay out of shops where clerks and/or customers don't practice good gun control.

There is one local shop I just won't frequent under any circumstances. Neither the clerks or the customers even bother to try to practice muzzle control.

I was at a Dick's this weekend, looking for something else, and a bunch of guy were looking at, or trying to strike cool poses with, a shotgun. On the second muzzle sweep, I left.

Mike
 
I don't know whether you should get PO'd or not
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Maybe PO'd isn't the term or sentiment of choice.. suppose what I was asking was is whether such is justfiable grounds for not wanting to spend any money in their store. I guess PO'd is just a generic term for coming away with a bad impression...
 
suppose what I was asking was is whether such is justfiable grounds for not wanting to spend any money in their store
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I'd vote 100% yes to that one. However, if this was one employee one time, and you would be able to speak to the employee when on one else is around, it might be worth one calm explanation of muzzle control.

Mike
 
Once upon a time at a local gun shop a local police officer was looking at a Kimber 1911 when the customer next to him down the gun counter "muzzled" the officer with a Mossberg 835 12 gauge. The officer told the customer, "If you muzzle me again, I am going to muzzle you with mine, and mine is loaded".

The other customer apologized about half a dozen times to the officer, bought the Mossberg, and left in a big hurry :).

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
I think you can spend your money anywhere you want. But i also think if this is reason enough for you to boycott a store after one visit, you should switch to decaf.

heck, if they actually shoot you, you're rich anyways so you can thank them.
 
suppose what I was asking was is whether such is justfiable grounds for not wanting to spend any money in their store
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Sure is. Them not giving you a Coke Icee when you walked in is justifiable reason for not going there. Not being greeted by the Swedish bikini team is sufficient reason. If you decide not to go there, call 'em up and say why.
 
Would you say the employee was lacking respect for the gun? I've been in large stores where the sheer number of people looking at guns at once couldn't help but result in a sweep or two.
To me its the level of respect given to the gun. If it's just carelessly bandied about like that guy with the Glock on the first page, I'd be ticked, loaded or not. But if the person shows a genuine respect of clearing the gun, I would hold my tongue over a sweep or two, as it happens. Three might make me edgy, and has before. I can only take so much bobbing and weaving to avoid the shotgun sweep.

Other customers, by far, are more frightening. I try to keep my head up around others looking at guns.
 
I think you do have a right to be angry, and I would be too. What is the golden rule about gun safety? Always point the gun in a safe direction. Loaded, unloaded - it doesn't matter! Whether it was cleared and even if you both knew it was "safe" is besides the point.
 
... She dumped the mag, pulled open the slide turned to hand it to me and proceeded to sweep me with the muzzle not once, not twice but three times. I didn't freak out or make a big deal of it but I did notice this breach of hangun etiquette on her part. and it didn't make positive impression on me. ...
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I would have quietly pointed out what she had done and why it was a Bad Thing ... I would neither get mad nor boycott the place because of her lapse or ignorance.
 
I get P/O'd when I'm swept in a gun shop.

It's not acceptable as far as safety goes. Most of the time I don't say anything, but I'm still annoyed at the least.
 
I say get over it. As stated earlier you are going to get swept inevitably and often at gun shows and gun counters if you hang around long enough. Too much handing weapons back and forth, however it should be checked and cleared at every presentation. The chances of a loaded weapon in the case or on a sale table are very, very small.

Now getting swept at the range where the chances of a loaded weapon is very high is a different matter. That draws a comment from me or immediate exit and complaint to the management if the offender does not look amiable.
 
conwict I think it's important. Today, at college, a Criminal Justice class was outside and I got swept with a BLACK fake gun, and someone pretended to fire it at me. I was STEAMED, and went to administration over it. I am getting in touch with the teacher, who is actually an ex-cop, to get an apology.

I would have brought it up at the time if I were you, because it's important and it's a personal safety issue. You can't very well bring it up later, because it would make you seem passive-aggressive and just kind of odd. I think it's the kind of thing that has to be discussed then and there.

If I were you and I had a reason to go back, I'd go back, but mention it if it happens again. Politely of course
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well it was a plastic training gun after all, innapropriate yes, but plastic training guns havent shot anyone yet, when we train, we clear our guns , show all team members all clear and red tape them , and proceed to take each other at gun point all day long, it unnerved me at first , but after eight years ive gotten used to having unloaded guns pointed at me, what worries me, are the anti media making us so paranoid we no longer can differintiate a real threat from a training device, or a childs toy cap gun for that matter. while i do think he should appologize ,,,,
conwict, just saw your full post about this incident, the fact you didnt know it was a training gun and not part of whatever they were doing, changes things, sorry i didnt see it before making a response.
 
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My preference is for good gun handling practices by everyone.

That said - if you are going to be around a gun store ,or a gun show, get used to being swept by the muzzle of a gun. No one can keep this from happening some of the time - that's why there are more than just one rule in safe handling of firearms.
 
Was at Bass Pro just the other day. Someone was buying A S&W 500. The clerk opens up the box and proceeds to point it straight at me. I moved out of the way and let him know that I was not happy since he had to unseal the box and had not verified the fact it was empty before waving it around. He just did not get it and didn't understand at all why I was upset. Before leaving I had a little discussion with the store manager. Hopefully he will do something about it but I will not hold my breath.
 
This kinda reminds me of a time I was at my local shop recently. I took a friend of mine that I'm trying to get to do some shooting - I had her handle a gun I was thinking of getting for her to try, and she turned away from the counter toward the rest of the store with it, so I told her she shouldn't do that, and should make sure she wasn't pointing it at anyone.

Well, She told me the gun wasn't loaded, but before I could kindly explain that you always treat a gun like it's loaded, the guy at the counter jumped in, and told her. Well... she was kinda ticked when after I handed the gun back to him, he absentmindedly had it pointed right at her head.

Accidental pointings shouldn't happen, but do at gun stores - but there's no way someone should be pointing a gun at a girl's head moments after giving her the "don't point guns" lecture.
 
You said in your original post that she had dumped the mag and cleared the slide. I would not make a big deal out of being swept by a gun in this condition. You are over reacting. :eek:
 
Make a 'Teaching Point'

I'd definitely say something, but more along the line of a 'Reminder' rather than a PO'd harangue. The unintentional nature of it and the carelessness of the employee in sweeping you is one thing, and doing it intentionally is another.

It's a reminder that people who are around firearms a lot sometimes get careless with their 'assumptions'. So we need other people on the same side to remind us now and then. This is one of those time.
 
She dumped the mag, pulled open the slide turned to hand it to me and proceeded to sweep me with the muzzle not once, not twice but three times.
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So the slide was locked back and not in battery when this happened?

If that's true, then you were not 'swept', at least by my defintition.
 
Posts #45 & #47, refer to post #5.

I suppose my whole purpose in this thread was to 1) tell of my recent experience and 2) to determine the level to which I shouls expect lax gun handling in gun shops. I've been in gun shops since I was a kid when my dad would take me to Carter's Country to look at hunting rifles and shotguns. Ceratainly, I'm not the world's foremost authority on the subject but most shop clerks I've encountered have been very deliberate in their handling. It shows the customer who may not be familiar with the proper handling of firearms and it establishes a certain amount of credibility and a baseline of communication with the experienced customer that [he] knows what [he]'s doing around a firearm.

If the first thing I see you do with a gun gun in your hand is sweep me with the barrel, you've already lost me.. and it'll take a great deal of high level salesmanship to get a dollar out of me..

That's all I'm sayin'. I'm not PO'd, per se (please refer to post #29). I'm just wondering how much this happens in peoples' experience around here.

To clarify, she pulled it out of the case. She was holding the gun in a horizontal position, as it had come out of the case, with her trigger finger underneath the pistol and the butt toward her belly. I was standing to her left and the barrel was pointed straight at my gut. To this point, she hadn't released the mag or worked the slide. That was one. She turned a little to her right to close the case. When the case was closed, she turned back to her left as she released the magazine and swept me again. That was two. She then pulled the slide and locked it back, the barrel came across me again as she did this. Then she proceeded to hand me the pistol with her hand on the grip..
 
Should you be PO'd...??

You have to take a poll to determine what your emotional state should be in a given circumstance?

:scrutiny:

Geez.... if I did that every time my wife did something that might/might not tick me off, I'd never get off the computer.


All in favor of my being PO'd, raise your hand.

All against, same sign.


:D
 
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