It’s interesting to watch the dynamics of people involved in the ownership and sale of firearms. They hunker down in defense against the government, point to anti-gun politicians, warn of developing local and federal legislation, preach paranoia, and turn a blind eye to the industry’s basic problems; public apathy or ambivalence toward firearm ownership. Even the basic Hunter’s Safety Course addresses the need for support from people outside of the sport. The guide explains that only a small percentage of the population owns guns and hunts, and that we are very much dependent upon the rest of the population to keep our firearms related rights and privileges. Some retailers and manufacturers are their own worse enemy, and will eventually ruin it for the rest of us. Examples ?
Heavy barreled, high velocity centerfire rifles were always sold as target or varmint rifles. Today they’re routinely promoted in publications as sniper rifles. There’s a brilliant marketing strategy, for a time when every government agency and anti gun faction is looking for negative images to put in the news. If firearm manufactures succeed in convincing me that the core gun market really wants sniper weapons, guns designed to kill humans from a distant point of concealment, I’ll get rid of my guns to avoid the association and be the first person to get behind anti-gun legislation. Some industry problems aren’t so obvious and the damage is erosive.
Business operators need to take responsibility for getting people to develop an interest in firearms sports. If a person buys a rifle, they probably want to shoot it. I’ve had an experienced counter person, at a very large gun store, tell me they had not gone to the range in five years because, “after all, there are no local outdoor ranges that are open on weekdays” – In this area there are three such places, so I jotted the names and phone numbers on a piece of paper and gave it to him. As I was leaving, out of the corner of my eye, I watched him toss the paper into the trash. Unfortunately, this sport has more than its share of “Goobers”.
I called six stores to try to help a friend locate a Hunter’s Safety Course, the cornerstone of gun ownership and hunting for people coming into the sport – couldn’t find a store that knew where classes were held, or would offer help in locating one. Interesting enough, the California Department of Fish and Game won’t tell you where they are held either. Finally found one being held once each month, 45 miles away at an outdoor rifle range, with the class scheduled to run from 6 AM to 8 PM in the evening. The friend went back to playing golf on the weekends, and recently supported a local city ordinance to ban the sale of handguns. He thinks gun people are obnoxious and don’t deserve support.
When I started reloading, I couldn’t get any help or advice at any local outlet that sold equipment. I finally started participating in Usenet newsgroups and bought a bunch of books and studied. You know, contrary to popular opinion, it’s really easy and it’s fun. But what happens to people who have an interest, and don’t know where to look when a retailer won’t help them ? Well, they go away, and take their support of firearms with them. Even in my case, I still can’t buy components locally. The price of powder is marked up over retail, if the stores carry anything worth using, same for bullets and primers. Once again, stifled interest and product on the shelves.
Then there are the bottom feeder operations, like National Shooting Club, Santa Clara CA, operated by this little angry chipmunk of woman. I have never met such an ill mannered, ill bred, boorish person in all my life, and I’ve met some pretty jerky people. Example ? Sure. My wife and I went in to shoot the other day. The place was empty, as it usually is these days, and we walked up to the same check-in counter we have used for the past several years, loading the gun bags on the counter for empty chamber inspection. This brain trust watched us go through the routine, then walked to a spot literally two feet away, proclaiming it to be the new spot to register from – same empty counter, no other customers in the place. Okay, an anal retentive on a bad day. I loaded everything up and moved down two feet.
My wife asked if we could have two adjoining lanes. The answer, of course was, “no”. without an explanation, or hesitation. Well, one side of the range was completely empty, and there were only 4 people on the other side, that left 16 empty spots, I wasn’t a math major, but it seemed like we could be accommodated. We finally got two open spots, one on either side of a broken shooting lane. They don’t seem to fix broken equipment anymore. I kept wondering what the problem was, and why this person was behaving this way, overlooking the obvious, she’s an idiot, and she was acting the same way to everyone coming through the door. I couldn’t let it slide.
I just asked her why she was being so rude and, of course, she felt she wasn’t. Odd, considering I’m from NJ and I knew she was being rude. My wife and I really look like a couple of renegades who warrant abusive behavior from strangers; early 50’s, jeans and t-shirts, armed with pictures of grandchildren and .22 target pistols. How irrational was this person’s behavior ? We’ve been going to this place for years, most recently every other day. We buy ammo, we buy guns, two in the past three weeks – four or five in the past 4 months, our gunsmith works out of this storefront, and we sincerely like the other people there. In fact, we bought memberships for other family members and friends. Just the sort of trouble makers you want to get rid of when you operate a business.
The original relationship with National Shooting Club was based on interaction with pleasant, knowledgeable people, who use to handle the counters and are now almost all gone – apparently along with most of the customers. What’s left is this person, patrolling the counters with the skill and attitude of a refugee from the department of motor vehicles. No, that comparison is actually unfair to the department of motor vehicles. I kept thinking, we had gone there to shoot, how difficult should that have to be ?
In this case I figured, “don’t like us, no problem, don’t take our money”. We checked out and I dropped our membership cards on the counter and told her we were not coming back, we walked two feet and this wonderful person threw the cards at us. Now that was quite mature, and certainly the sort of even keeled behavior you like to see from a person trusted to sell firearms. I assume she frequently makes an ass of herself, she’s just not use to people telling her so. I wasn’t loud, vulgar or nasty, I asked her if she understood that people like her were killing the sport, and did she notice she was presiding over an empty store. She was still yapping to our backs like a parrot when we left. I admire independence, I’m just not real big on stupidity.
I can’t help but wonder where all of those people went that use to shoot there, buy guns and ammo and other supplies. I wonder what happened to all of the classes and training programs, the knowledgeable people at the counters and all of the positive public image that went away. That’s what happens, people lose interest in shooting sports. They run into these types of people and operations, go home, lock the gun up and take up tennis. Next thing you know, they’re being asked though local ballot to pass a measure to restrict gun ownership. They think of the last unpleasant experience, and how do you think they vote ?
When I run into operations like National, I try to take the long view and recognize that it’s sometimes necessary to set aside differences of opinion, inconveniences, and be more tolerant for the greater good. If I provide political support to local firearms related businesses, I’m also protecting my own interests. So when the local county board of supervisors was attempting to pass laws that would adversely effect the local firearms trade, my wife and I became politically active again; participating in letter writing campaigns, gathering support amongst friends, business associates and anyone else who would listen.
I surprised myself and rejoined the NRA with a multiple year membership, placed firearms related material on the front page of all of our Internet services, wrote pro gun editorials and posted legislation alerts on a routine basis. Our service took a lot of heat from anti-gun organizations, people were asked to drop links to our sites, stop recommending our news service, stop sharing information, and to stop doing business with us. That was okay, we felt we were in this community of people, sharing a mutual philosophy, but we learned this week, that isn’t always true.
What’s the solution ? First of all don’t do business with places that have no respect for customers or the sport, let them die off before they kill the rest of us. Just because a place sells guns, doesn’t mean it’s run by “gun people”, or fair people, credible people, or honest people. Find out what the gun shop’s involvement is in the community as a whole, not just narrow gun related issues. After all, their customers have to publicly support their existence, it wouldn’t hurt if they took steps to be seen as responsible members of the community. If you get an opportunity to speak with local politicians, I’ll bet you’ll find few who see gun shops as a community resource, which makes them an easy political target.
When you find a good organization, hang on to them and tell others about them. Don’t jump ship over small price differences or isolated problems. Companies like Brownells, Lock Stock & Barrel, Premier Reticles, E. Arthur Brown, Starline Brass, and Leupold are great organizations. If your in the SF Bay Area, try Kerley’s in Cupertino. They carry a full line of hunting, shooting and fishing equipment, including Weatherby, customs and some pretty interesting older used rifles. Reeds Sports Shop in San Jose in another decent place that stocks a lot of product. TriCity carries a pretty good selection of product, including reloading supplies, just before big game hunting season.
The next time you get a solicitation for contributions or legislative support, ask what sort of support the organization is giving you. Find out what the organization is doing to improve services and credibility of the industry, in other words, find out what’s in it for you, other than companies being able to profit from selling you guns. As an example, I haven’t been a big fan of the NRA over the years, but they offer the best protection against unfair anti-gun legislation, they run many training programs for adults and young people, they understand community service, and they are as close to respectability as any pro gun organization will ever get. They are well worth the price of membership.
The same applies to local NRA affiliates and friends of NRA organizations. They work their butts off keeping people informed and working on local issues that would otherwise go unnoticed. There are always opportunities for participation and/or low cost sponsorship ads.
Me, I’m going to get back to where I was before, my real firearms interests. I like guns, which is something quite different than having an interest in home defense or paramilitary weapons. I like quality wood and metal workmanship, the engineering and the science. I like custom accurate .45’s and long range target rifles. I like well made hunting rifles and pistols. I think old British doubles and quality modern customs are great. Old guns, black powder relics, lever actions and single shots offer interesting shooting and lessons in history.
But you know, I hate polymer pistols and stamped steel imitation assault weapons and other pieces of crap sold as firearms. I don’t want to know anybody that needs a 20 shot mag outside of a cop or a member of the military, and I don’t want to hang around with adults who still take shots at power line insulators. While I was growing up I was taught sportsmanship and safety, the ethics of hunting and responsibility to others. Maybe, politically, it’s time for me to sort those things out, because places like the National Shooting Club and my personal interests can’t coexist. I need to support my own firearms interests, without supporting people and issues I don’t believe in.
Thanks,
Joe
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