Stupid Customers @ MindSay

Some things I don't get about customers in a gun store.

1. Calling to ask dumb questions. Who calls a gun store and says, "What have you got in 9MM?" Well, let's see... how about every gun company that has made one! And then... hey, don't get pissed at me when I say in response, "Can you be more specific?" And seriously don't start naming every gun company you've ever heard of. If you want a 9MM and don't know what brand... try doing some research. It is a costly investment, and research would be in your best interest. Come on in! I'll show you what we have! But there are a lot of 9MM handguns out there, I can't list them all for you on the phone.

2. Coming into a gun shop and telling the person behind the counter, "I'm looking for something to use as home defense, but I really don't like guns" 20 minutes into being shown guns. Ok, how about a kitchen knife or a heavy lamp? It would save you some time and money. If you really don't like guns and don't want one in your house, don't come in and spend my time looking at them all, then telling me you hate guns and don't want one in the house. This is a gun store. When someone asks for home protection, I'm going to show them guns. Imagine that! If you want a taser, say so! If you want pepper spray, say so! Don't come in and grease up our guns with your dirty hands only to tell me twenty minutes later that you didn't really want a gun but something else. Come in and say, first thing, "I don't really want a gun, but I want something for home protection. Do you have anything?" I can show you tasers, pepper spray, batons, etc. and it won't waste the time of you or me by going through cases upon cases of guns.

3. Telling me you have kids who you refuse to tell anything about a gun you are going to have in your home, and expecting that a large amount of safeties on a gun will protect the kid when they find it. I had a guy in today who partly fits with the above rant, but he was interested kind of in guns. He wanted a gun that had as many safeties on it as possible, in case his kids found it. But he wasn't going to tell them the gun was in the house, nor was he going to teach them any gun safety, because "They aren't going to be using it."

My response? "I'm sorry, sir, I can't sell you a gun. Can I interest you in a taser instead?" My reason, and I gave it to him, is that a kid is going to find it. His sons were both still young enough that a gun unknown to them is still a toy if they know nothing about guns. But they were old enough that they could leave them home alone for an hour or so. Kids, being kids and all, will go through closets, drawers, etc. looking for things mommy and daddy have that they can play with (and we all know the hunt is on around Christmas and birthdays for presents in hiding places), or things they aren't supposed to touch. So what happens if they find daddy's gun and know nothing about gun safety or that this is even a real gun? "I won't keep the ammo anywhere near it." "So what do you do if, in the middle of the night, someone gets into your house? Are you going to ask him to stand there and wait a minute while you load your gun after you somehow find the ammo in the dark and in a half asleep and panicked stupor?"

I explained to him that before he buys a gun, he and his wife need to take a basic gun class so they can learn gun safety (there are plenty offered in the area), and then they have to teach it to their kids if they don't bring the kids to the class, too. I told him his idea of safety was actually more dangerous than he thought. If the kids know nothing about the gun, they can hurt themselves or kill themselves when they do find it... and they will find it, no matter what you do. Kids are good like that. But it was also dangerous to him if he put the ammo in a different room, because when you need it, an empty gun will just piss off an attacker. And in the middle of the night, when you've just been woken up by breaking glass or something of that nature, panic and sleepy headedness are mixing to such a degree that locating the gun safe (which he also wants one that takes his fingerprint, and we don't sell them if they even exist) is going to be hard enough, then finding the ammo and loading the magazine... he'll be dead before he gets the ammo. So I told him I would not sell him a gun until he and his wife have learned proper gun safety. It is an accident waiting to happen, and an accident that could be prevented if good intentions and good thoughts are replaced by actual gun knowledge. Until then, he and his wife need to consider something "non-lethal." I told him if the kids find the taser and get hit with it, it will hurt like hell but they will most likely survive and never do that again (I say "most likely" because there is always a chance death could occur, which is why we had to sign wavers when we were tased that time. Heart conditions, etc. are an example). But with a gun and no gun knowledge and safety basics, they were more likely to die or become a vegetable.

Yeah, I prefer a gun to a taser, because I don't trust the taser to put the guy down long enough for me to get away, no matter if he gets tased for 3 seconds or 30. If someone is hopped up on drugs or has been tased numerous times before, it may have no after effect when you run out of juice. And pepper spray is the same, especially if you have someone attack you that did time in the military. They've been gas chambered and sprayed so many times that they can keep going through it most likely. A gun will stop them from attacking. Either permanently or at least enough so they can't chase you. But in a house with kids, if you refuse to sit down with your kids and talk to them about this gun and the safety involved... you are asking for tragedy. I would be willing to bet that 9 out of 10 times, kids who have accidentally shot themselves or someone else were never taught proper gun safety. You can't expect the rest of the world to take the blame for something that falls on you. If you bring a gun into your house, kids or not, you should know how to handle it, respect it, care for it, and keep everyone safe. You are responsible for anything that gun does, because it won't do anything by itself. So if you refuse to do the above things, the blame can only be laid on you.