I joked with Bitter that every weekend she spends away from me, I will comfort myself by buying a gun. She’ll have to find out whether or not I’m actually joking. This weekend’s addition was a Ruger Mk.III Hunter 22/45. I got it at Cabela’s, which processes gun buyers with assembly line efficiency. I figured it was easier to get exactly what I was looking for there, rather than run around to 20 different gun stores to find it.
I was disappointed to see that Cabela’s is now requiring customers to check their firearms at the front desk. I’m happy that they at least provide a place to check, but do they have to state “For your safety, please be sure to check all firearms at the customer service desk”, or something very similar. It’s not for my safety. Maybe for the job safety of their lawyers or whoever insures Cabela’s, but certainly not for mine. Needless to say I paid the sign about as much attention as it deserved. Does anyone else’s local Cabela’s post signage? If you by a gun, they also escort you out with the purchase, and hand it to you after you exit the building. The whole experience certainly makes me more inclined to make my next purchases at the local gun stores, where not only do they allow customers to carry, but the people behind the counters are strapped as well.
Maybe Cabela’s should rethink their policy and ban their insurance company’s lawyers instead of guns. No insurance policy is worth pissing off your customers. Especially in a state like Pennsylvania where there are close to 700,000 people licensed to carry.
That’s just chickenshit.
Yep. It’s very corporate, which to say the same thing.
It’s not exactly corporate.
Long ago I had a gun store in Texas. It was before concealed carry, but it was primarily a cop shop and Class III operation, so we had a lot of customers packing.
You get a handful of guys talking guns and being shown pieces from the gun case and pretty soon someone wants to show someone else the mods on his 1911. He draws it, drops the mag and clears it and hands it over to the other guy. Then someone talks Glock and soon there is a Glock mag and a loose 9mm round on the glass as well. Your guns, their guns, maybe a few more pieces from the case are all being compared.
If you are real lucky, next time a clerk shows a piece to someone he will clear it and a live round will pop out onto the counter, maybe a full mag.
If you are unlucky, a clerk hands it to a customer ‘knowing’ it’s empty and you have an accidental discharge at the least.
And that is with only firearms professionals carrying.
A shop in the area I normally frequent posts signage that all personal firearms must remain cased or holstered, which I think is a reasonable way to deal with the problem mentioned above.
Several I used to deal with required the firearm to be unloaded prior to entry and the action remain open.
Sebastian:
I don’t believe that it’s a Cabela’s corporate policy but rather a store-specific one, since the last time I was at the Owatonna (MN) Cabela’s they had a sign saying “All firearms must be checked in at the Customer Service counter”. When I went up to the counter and asked if this applied to carry pistols, the very nice young lady told me, “No, we only mean that to apply to firearms being brought in for sale, or for service by the gunsmiths.” I mentioned that they might want to add a sentence to the sign that made this clear, and she sighed, and said that they were working on it.
The Gander Mountain store I visited yesterday (in Eden Prairie, MN) had a sign which contained almost identical phraseology, but included the next sentence, which said, “Concealed carry firearms must remain in their holsters.”, which I think (apropos of George H.’s comment) is completely appropriate. By the way, their selection of new and used firearms was simply outstanding, even though I didn’t have time to thoroughly peruse it to the extent that I’d have liked.
Regarding the Ruger, have you tried it yet? I was looking for one for my wife’s birthday present, and we couldn’t find one of the MkIII’s that had a decent trigger. We finally found a MkII version of their 5-1/2″ bull-barrel 22/45 in stainless, which had an excellent trigger. NONE of the MkIII’s that we tried, regardless of material (blued or stainless) or configuration (barrel length, etc.) had a trigger that didn’t feel creepy, gritty and heavy. Maybe it was just bad luck, but we couldn’t find a good one.
I tried it a little bit, and yes, the trigger on my Mk.II is better than on the III. Ruger is getting way way too politically correct with all the extra safety features, and all that adds mush to the trigger pull.
I need to shoot it more, though. Thanks for the info on Cabela’s. I always assume those signs don’t apply to people with a license :) I really have no problem with stores asking that the gun remain in the holster. Given there environment, it makes sense.
I agree with BlackWing1 that this sign typically only applies to non-CHL guns. They just don’t want people wandering the store openly with firearms, which makes perfect sense.
Here in Texas, I would see that sign and summarily ignore it. Texas has specific laws regarding disarming CHL holders, under the criminal tresspass 30.06 law. That law requires a specific sign with specific verbiage, and that isn’t it.
The worst that could happen under Texas law is they ask if your carrying, you indicate you are, they ask you to leave, and you do. As always, if you refuse to leave, they can press criminal trespass against you.
When I see those “no guns” signs, I ignore them. There is one on the front of the shared office building I work in. Those non “30.06” signs don’t apply to CHL holders.