Was I unreasonable?

[Fox Mike]

FINALLY went to pick up my latest Super Bearcat from my FFL on Monday. This after the Md State Police lost my original paperwork and we had to resubmit it all AND wait another 7 days (14 total + weekends). The lady behind the counter normally doesn't deal with the firearms but they were busy so she waited on me. She pulled the revolver from her safe, wrapped it in bubble-wrap, stuck it in a bag, and handed it to me. I immediately removed it from the bag and started to unwrap it. She said "I though you had already looked at it." I told he that "I had but I NEVER take any gun, of any kind, from anyone, without personally making sure it is unloaded." She looked at me strangely and went to wait on another customer. Am I being paranoid?

 

[RonEgg]

I was looking for a small 38 for my sister. I bought a Model 60, but looked at a 36 first. This was at a gun show and the dealer disconnected the buzzer and handed me the gun. I broke it open to check it and found one round in it. Seems he had started carrying it in the last few weeks and had missed one when he unloaded it and put it on his table. I bought the 60, but not from him.

 

[graygun]

no

 

[snowman2]

No you where being responsible and safe.
Cheers Harv

 

[Cholo]

Unreasonable? Not at all...

12 years ago at the Gwinnette Co. Ga gun show, there was an incident involving a dealer, a customer, a gun, and a holster. It cost a young teen from Alabama his life. I'm so glad I wasn't there that day but heard about it the next day when I was there.

www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/716169/posts

 

[Pat-inCO]

Am I being paranoid?

Not at all. I think that the NRA needs to make that the fourth ALWAYS rule
of safe firearm safety. 8)

ALWAYS check the chamber of every firearm as you accept it from anyone else.

 

[ArmedinAZ]

He11 no! Some years back I bought a P93 off Gunbroker. It came to the FFL I was using then, a gunsmith who did the paperwork at his kitchen table. As he was filling in his book I took the pistol out of the case, gave it the once over then pointing away toward the floor and kind of under the edge of the table racked the slide and heard a clink hit the floor. I froze and he stopped, looked at me and said was that what I think it was? :shock: I said yes I think it was. Ashamed to say I hadn't dropped the mag first so there I was with a loaded pistol with the slide racked back under his table. I dropped the fully loaded mag in my lap, locked the slide back, put the pistol carefully in the case and took a walk outside. I felt sick. He never had a fully loaded firearm ship into his shop before. It was shipped from an FFL at the other end. I wanted to like that P93 and shot it well but it had a bad memory attached to it and I sold it soon after.

You can never ever be too careful.

 

[welder]

No, your checking again is what everyone should do. At my LGS one of the counter guys checks every gun every time and then watches patiently as the potential customer checks again. Sadly, he is the only guy who does this consistently. I never trust that someone with bad intentions hasn't put a round in.

 

[Ethang]

No you were not. My pet peeve is when they do check the weapon, but then close it up and hand it to you closed. I always open it back up and check myself even though I just watched them check it. I never hand over any firearm with the action closed.

If she didn't like that then it's just tough.

 

[wwb]

........ I never hand over any firearm with the action closed..........

+1

The only exception is a single action revolver; but after I check it, I hand it over with the loading gate still open.

 

[gramps]

You done good! Where was the box? Note: she didn't usually deal with the guns.
gramps

 

[Selena]

If that is unreasonable, I hope there is a sudden epidemic of unreasonableness throughout the nation. When I store my weapons the first and last things done is to unload it. When I take it out of storage the first thing I do is check to see if it is loaded. I take a number of things on faith, the status of a weapon is not now and never will be one of them.

 

[GunnyGene]

Likewise what everyone else said about checking/handling. Complacency kills.

 

[Pal Val]

Fox Mike, I would have done the same. I never take a poke from anyone without first checking out the pig in it. You never know how many hands got on it, and one of them could have loaded it.

Being safe is the way to go.

 

[TinkerDave]

Are you kidding - I rack the slide on any auto or open the cylinder on any revolver even though I may have just watched the counter person do the very same thing. Being safe and taking personal responsibility for it is neveer wrong. You did exactly right. Plus, I am sure you were double checking the serial # to ensure that you got the gun you bought - right? TD

 

[contender]

So far, nobody has felt you were being unreasonable. I will continue that train of thought. If more folks would do that all the time,,, we'd have even fewer accidents to discuss.
I could relate a few cases of where loaded guns were found when others thought they were unloaded.

 

[muzzleloader]

It only takes once. you were being very reasonable, I probably wouldn't even have explained my actions.

 

[98Redline]

Every gun that is handed to me is loaded until I personally check it out. No exceptions.
When the gun is handed to someone else, the action is open and the chamber is checked clear before I hand it off.

I make it part of my normal handling and nobody has ever given me guff about it. Seems like you are in keeping with that tradition.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

Unreasonable, no! Proper gun handling etiquette? Well, the way I was taught, absolutely correct!

Dunno how often I've been handed a gun that was closed, and I opened it right away to check. Have taught a couple of hunting buddies to do exactly the same thing even as we unload guns from the truck: "Every gun that goes thru your hands gets checked." Sooner or later I've seen them pass that lesson on to a "newbie." It's a good thing to see...

In contrast, some of the scariest gun handling I've seen happens in gun shops and on ranges.

Rick C

 

[ArmedinAZ]

In contrast, some of the scariest gun handling I've seen happens in gun shops and on ranges.

Rick C

I'll add gun shows. As much as I like to go to gun shows I walk around in condition orange looking for muzzles pointed at me. I've told more than one bonehead to point that weapon up or down. :evil:

 

[stevemb]

Not unreasonable at all. Your're an adult, the firearm is given over into your possesion. You are now responsible for it and need to KNOW if it's empty or loaded. Verification by visual inspection. A BIG +1. You now have a free pass to weird steve's redneck backyard range.

 

[Fox Mike]

Now I am faced with a personal dilemma. Do I say something to the lady that is actually in charge there? She is the daughter of the woman that waited on me. Or, do I just rack it up as one more "Oh crap." and move on?

 

[RKB]

Gunshows can be scary. My pet peeve at shows is the retards walking around with their finger firmly wrapped around the trigger and not caring where the gun is pointed.

 

[ArmedinAZ]

Now I am faced with a personal dilemma. Do I say something to the lady that is actually in charge there? She is the daughter of the woman that waited on me. Or, do I just rack it up as one more "Oh crap." and move on?

Don't understand the dilemma. You checked the pistol for safe and she looked at you funny and moved on. She's already forgotten about it in a day of waiting on other customers. Is there more to the story than you said in your OP?

 

[Fox Mike]

Now I am faced with a personal dilemma. Do I say something to the lady that is actually in charge there? She is the daughter of the woman that waited on me. Or, do I just rack it up as one more "Oh crap." and move on?

Don't understand the dilemma. You checked the pistol for safe and she looked at you funny and moved on. She's already forgotten about it in a day of waiting on other customers. Is there more to the story than you said in your OP?

Just was wondering if I should say something to preclude that happening again to someone that isn't as careful as I attempt to be. I have never seen a loaded pistol/revolver in the shop but that is not to say what she did was OK. Maybe I'll just continue to do what I do and let it go. I just hate to see unsafe practices occur and or reoccur.

 

[jimbo1096]

No, your checking again is what everyone should do. At my LGS one of the counter guys checks every gun every time and then watches patiently as the potential customer checks again. Sadly, he is the only guy who does this consistently. I never trust that someone with bad intentions hasn't put a round in.

This happened to my LGS. Had a potential customer looking at a rifle, he had others at the counter and when the guy handed it back to him he just put it on the rack behind him. A couple hours later he was putting things back in order and picked up the rifle and opened the breech to find a live round in the chamber. He never saw the guy before and hasn't since. No telling why the guy did it, just to cause trouble, maybe an anti-gunner looking to make negative publicity? we'll never know but we always check every gun when giving or recieving, and maybe you taught the counter lady something that she may remember in the future, especially with your explaination.

 

[graygun]

Antis will do anything to get guns/ammo outlawed for the general populace.