Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Answer from the gun store

A week and a half ago, I was at the Apopka location of the Shoot Straight gun range. They wanted to inspect my firearms before I entered the range. They have a sign on the door that reads: "No loaded weapons allowed inside. (Concealed carriers welcome, but concealed means concealed.)"

When the employee was shown my carry weapon, he had a cow. I sent an email to the store, to see if he was correctly following policy. This is what I got in reply:

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. In answer to your question, it is our store policy to make sure that firearms are unloaded while in the store. We visually inspect firearms to ascertain whether or not they are well-maintained and in a safe working condition. We also check ammunition to make sure that reloads are not used, and/or that range users are not using birdshot (which is not allowed in our ranges). We work hard to make Shoot Straight ranges safe for all users, and inspecting range user’s firearms and ammunition is just one part of the many steps we take to provide a pleasant, healthy and safe environment. Thank you once again for taking the time to write to us, and please let us know if you have any other questions, or if there is anything else with which we can help. 

 So, I am sending another email that reads:

Is it also policy to inspect lawfully carried concealed weapons? If so, it seems to me that the handling of a weapon always increases the chance of a negligent discharge, and therefore a weapon that remains holstered is much less likely to discharge than one that is being fumbled with. I assume that concealed weapons are not a part of the “no loaded weapons” policy you are alluding to, since the sign on the door says, “concealed means concealed.”
How can a gun store, a business that nominally supports gun rights, be as hypocritical as this. I can see not wanting people wandering around the store handling loaded weapons, but isn't asking CCW carriers to unholster INCREASING the risk of an ND?

3 comments:

  1. Probably caused by their dumbass insurance company.

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  2. Isn't Apopka the store that had two suicides in it, like one in '09 and one in '10?

    I can't see how this policy would do anything to address that, but maybe it is their insurance company?

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  3. Several of the Shoot Straight locations have had suicides at the gun range, most often with rental weapons. The Casselberry, Apopka, and Tampa locations have all had this happen over the years.

    http://libertymaxim.com/97-central-florida-shooting-range-suicides/

    ReplyDelete

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