Gun store etiquette
What? Gun store etiquette? Does this mean you extend your pinky finger when you’re handed a gun? Sheesh. Aren’t we going a little too far with this etiquette thing?
No.
It’s not that Ann Landers is watching you as you enter your favorite gun shop, but guidelines for gun store behavior are for your safety, the safety of people at the store, and to help the store owner from acquiring (new) gray hairs.
Do you notice that the person behind the counter always dumps the magazine, racks the slide, and peers into the chamber before he or she hands you the gun? They do this right in front of you, so you can see too. This is to demonstrate that the gun is indeed unloaded.
Yep. Looks unloaded to you. So, when he passes the gun to you, what should you do?
First, you’ll remember to point the gun in a safe direction; not at any person. Yes, the sales person has demonstrated the gun is unloaded. But whether you’re at the range or anywhere else, point the gun in a safe direction. It becomes a good habit. It’s like extending your pinkie when holding a tea cup, right?
What will you do next?
The gun has settled between your thumb and forefinger (your thweb). Now that the gun is comfortably in your thweb, you’ll want to point the gun in that safe direction (always) and look down the sights. Do you like little white dots, big fat white dots, colorful fiber optics, or tritium sights? And what about those red dot sights or the new green red dot sights?
Ah, and how hard is it to pull the trigger? Stop! Stop!
You wouldn’t be holding a .22, .22 Magnum or a 17 HMR handgun, would you? These and any rimfire guns cannot be dry-fired. You could break the firing pin by doing so.
Center fired guns are different. You can usually dry-fire a center fired gun, like a 9mm, a .40 or a .45 caliber handgun. It doesn’t hurt, even when dry-firing a center fired handgun, to ask the salesperson if it is all right to do so. Mama brought you up with good manners.
And now you want to see how easy it is to fieldstrip this new gun. Stop! Stop!
In most cases, store personnel do not want you to perform any fieldstripping. Why? Well, often, when you’re reassembling the gun, an ejector is sticking upright in the path of the slide. Push hard enough to get the slide back in position and you may break the ejector. Allowing prospective buyers to fieldstrip a gun may result in costly repairs.
When you consider ammunition, you’ll notice more than one type will fit in your prospective gun. For instance, you’ve picked out a 9mm Sig Sauer. Do you want the 115, 124 or 147-grain rounds?
You might feel like a kid in a candy store and want to check out each one. Stop! Stop!
Don’t open the boxes of ammunition. If the box says 115-grain 9mm Luger then that’s what’s in the box. These different grained rounds won’t have a different appearance, so why open the box? And if you should pull the flap and take out a round, who is to know that you’ll return that round into the same place you found it?
Imagine what anxiety you’d put the gun store owner through if he had to open each box to ensure nobody played switcharoo with each round? Bottom line: never open ammunition boxes.
Planning on trading your handgun for a new one? Just like at a gun range, bring your gun in a pouch or its original package. If you’re swinging a “naked” gun, the other 38 people in the store may hit the floor or dash out the door. They don’t know what you’re planning. They only see the gun in your hands.
Speaking of bringing a gun into a gun store, if you have a concealed carry license, and are carrying your holstered gun under your shirt or in a deep pocket, that’s OK in almost any Florida gun store. Just make sure it’s well hidden so you don’t inadvertently cause a panic.
Remember the “Easy Rider” rifle racks that people used to carry in the back windows of their pickup trucks? No more! A lot of people are uneasy just to see a gun. In Florida, it’s not legal to show a “public display of a firearm.”
So, if you bring your unloaded gun to the store, bring it a pouch/package. When you bring it in your car or truck, put it in an unoccupied area, like the trunk if you don’t have your concealed carry license. Make sure it’s not visible. Miss Manners will be proud of you. You’re showing consideration for others as well as carrying legally.
Many people coming to a gun store are really enthusiastic about handguns. I’m pretty interested myself. Likely, the salesperson is intrigued by them as well and has a wealth of knowledge.
What fun it is to meet up with a person who appreciates the merits and differences between guns!
But, just like visiting an antique store and saying at great length how your grandmother had an antique rocking chair similar to the one on display, the antique store guy could probably care less. He doesn’t want to know about you have; he’s interested in selling his own wares.
The same is true about gun store owners. They don’t need to hear about every gun you own; they want to sell their own guns. They may be polite and listen, but Miss Manners is whispering in your ear that they’re chewing their hind leg off to get away from you.
Store personnel are selling to you. They are not selling to your neighbor, who figures you know more about guns than he, so he wants you to choose the right gun for him.
Oh, sure, it’s flattering that someone thinks so highly of you. But you can’t do it.
You cannot buy a gun for another person. You attest on the Firearm Transition Record Form 4473 that you are not purchasing the gun for someone else. That person must come to the store and fill out the paperwork himself. Yes, you can relate what you know about any gun he might buy, but he has to complete that 4473 form.
Gun store etiquette includes what is legal, what is safe, and what is considerate of others.
Oh, and when you’re holding a gun, don’t stick out your pinky finger. You’ll get a much better hold if all your fingers fit firmly on the grip.
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.
