He pulled a pistol out of his pocket

Microgunner · February 13, 2010, 12:52 PM

It just happened again. I can't even remember how many times this has happened to me in the course of my pawn broker duties. A guy just walked in, looked me in the eye, reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pistol to pawn. The urge to defend myself was almost overwhelming. How stupid can people get? The funny part, if there can be one, is he thinks he's being cool, in the know, a gunslinger. This is what happens when people receive their training at the movies. Idiot!

SpookBoy · February 13, 2010, 01:32 PM

i'm glad you didn't jump the gun

lol

seirously,dumb! im sorry brother, i would've been just as nervous. i mean i know you prob have a sign out front,like 100% of every gun/ pawn and gun stores.Luckily you wernt shot

Doc Intrepid · February 13, 2010, 01:44 PM

I believe if I were in your line of work, I'd wear a kevlar vest.

And I'd prominently mount a sign somewhere so that all but the illiterate could not miss it; something along the lines of "bring your guns in in a paper bag - pull a gun on me and you won't do it twice", or something to that effect.

It's actually a wonder that more dumbasses don't get shot pulling that sort of stunt...

Brian Pfleuger · February 13, 2010, 01:48 PM

My response would be "That's a good way to get shot, idiot. Now get out of my business and don't come back."

Microgunner · February 13, 2010, 01:55 PM

Quote:

It's actually a wonder that more dumbasses don't get shot pulling that sort of stunt...

I severely reprimanded him and told him I was more mad at myself for waiting to see what he intended to do with that pistol instead of shooting him. I informed him that, right now, I should be on the phone to 911 trying to get someone here to save his life. Then Stanley Steemer to try to get his blood out of the carpet. He apologized and we conducted our business.

retiredcoasty · February 13, 2010, 04:26 PM

I would have told him the following:

It is company policy to NOT purchase firearms from complete morons as they probably did not properly care for the firearm. And you are obviously a moron because you don’t even realize that you nearly reached room temperature when you pulled that pistol out without proper warning.

Microgunner · February 13, 2010, 05:32 PM

Quote:

And you are obviously a moron because you don’t even realize that you nearly reached room temperature when you pulled that pistol out without proper warning.

LOL!

fastforty · February 14, 2010, 02:37 AM

He should have been staring down a barrel before he got his hand halfway out of his pocket. Next time, it could well be a loaded gun- you have every right to defend yourself.

I *never* take a gun into a gun store without going in and talking to someone about doing so FIRST. In one of the stores that I frequent, they have a big 12"x12" wooden post floor to ceiling at the end of the glass counter. It never rang a bell what it was there for (or why the salesman always stood next to it) until one day when a couple of clowns came walking through the door with a shotgun in their hands. Salesman was behind that post in an *instant*, ready to clear leather.

Double Naught Spy · February 14, 2010, 10:53 AM

Quote:

It just happened again. I can't even remember how many times this has happened to me in the course of my pawn broker duties. A guy just walked in, looked me in the eye, reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pistol to pawn.

We had this happen several times over the years in our pawnshops. Often, the guns were loaded as well. The funny thing is that they wanted to pawn loaded guns so that they would have a loaded guns when they reclaimed them. As a matter of safety and reduced hassle, we did not take ammo, either loaded or separate, in with the gun.

old bear · February 14, 2010, 12:36 PM

1-Make sure that weapon is unloaded.
2-With an auto loader lock slide open. If a revolver keep cylinder open.
3-Hold weapon by the barrel or slide in LEFT hand with the butt pointing away from your body.
4-Clearly announce, don’t yell, that you have a weapon that needs service or you wish to sell, or whatever the case may be.

The above should eliminate any confusion as to your intentions.

rbernie · February 14, 2010, 12:53 PM

Seen in a pawn shop in NoVA that did a heavy business in guns - "Don't draw on us, and we won't draw on you.."

raftman · February 14, 2010, 02:58 PM

Quote:

1-Make sure that weapon is unloaded.
2-With an auto loader lock slide open. If a revolver keep cylinder open.
3-Hold weapon by the barrel or slide in LEFT hand with the butt pointing away from your body.
4-Clearly announce, don’t yell, that you have a weapon that needs service or you wish to sell, or whatever the case may be.

Yep. Although some semi-autos don't have a means by which to lock the slide open, and some revolvers are neither swing-out or break-top.

One thing I've always done when bringing a pistol into a shop either for service or for sale/trade is to bring it in a hard case. If possible, keep it in the case with the magazine out, action open, etc. I feel it's less threatening than just about any other means of coming in with a gun in hand.

ratrodfink · February 14, 2010, 03:10 PM

A case wouldn't kill ya or get you killed.

Wagonman · February 14, 2010, 11:30 PM

When I bring a gun in for any reason it is in a hard case and I ask the clerk to handle it.

DanimalFL · February 15, 2010, 12:05 AM

I'm sure in the pawn business you need a certain mentality.
Just like in the Leo community, when some officers come across someone with CCW they make them get out of the car disarm them and make a huge deal out of nothing. Then on the other hand you have a Game & Fish officer who everybody he comes in contact with is armed and usually 4-5 to one and
back up is an hour away. Most of the first kind of officers don't have the mentality to be a G&F officer. So if you are going to pawn guns you need put up a huge sign because not everybody is going to know what pawnshop protocol is.

hogdogs · February 15, 2010, 12:24 AM

Only a couple weeks after I had to do a gun transaction at a pawn shop, he changed his signage.

Seems my initial walk in and tell him I was there with weapons in the truck was something he thought about and liked and now has a hand written sign saying something like...
"If you are here to pawn or sell a firearm, leave it in the vehicle and come in first with your ID then return for weapon."

I went in first without the gun as I did not know his protocol and just went the safest route.
Brent

Stevie-Ray · February 16, 2010, 01:34 PM

Simple sign: All guns must be cased. Neither of the pawn shops in my area have those.

dberry · March 5, 2010, 05:18 AM

I miss working in a pawn shop it was extremely interesting. We had some situations like that. I always carried when I worked at the pawn counter. Alot of people who came in and were acting unsafe with their firearms when questioned were found to be wanting to pawn a firearm that was not theirs in the first place. We always got a kick out of people who brought something in that they said was theirs and it works perfectly when asked but when going to test it out they had no idea how to even turn the item on.

Microgunner · March 5, 2010, 09:01 AM

Yeah, watching the thief trying to figure out how to start the gasoline powered tool they're wanting to pawn always gives us a chuckle. Of course this automatically disqualifies them from pawning at our shops.

Skans · March 5, 2010, 11:39 AM

Why don't you just post the procedure for bringing guns in for pawn right on your door? Something like:

WARNING

1. All guns for pawn must be BOXED and UNLOADED.

2. Flashing any firearm, loaded or unloaded, will be presumed to be an armed robbery and cause a loaded firearm to be aimed at you.

3. Do not draw any gun from a holster, pocket or other place on your body while in this shop.

Just wondering if something like that might work?

Microgunner · March 5, 2010, 03:18 PM

Very well thought out.

TenRing · March 5, 2010, 04:05 PM

Since this has happened to you before, I'm surprised that you haven't put up a warning sign before now. You can never tell what an idiot might do. Even with the sign, you could still have some folks claim that they didn't see it. You should also have a pictorial along with the wording for those who aren't so literate. I'm thinking a picture of a gun in a circle with a red line through it.

howwie · March 5, 2010, 04:12 PM

WOW this guy is nuts. I know a few pawn shop owners

The one time I carried an uncased gun into a shop to have it looked at for a friend. (who didnt have a case) I went in, talked to the guy, told him what I was about to bring in and that it would be locked open unloaded... and i was still uncomfortable. People really just don't think sometimes...

ritepath · March 5, 2010, 09:12 PM

Well I'm sure he need the drugs pretty bad....Did he ask you what you'd give him for a NIB flatscreen if he went and charged it at Wal-Mart.

jad0110 · March 5, 2010, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Well I'm sure he need the drugs pretty bad

Well, that would explain the scrambled eggs inside is cranium, wouldn't it?

Frickin' idiot.

February 13, 2010, 12:52 PM	#1
Microgunner Senior Member Join Date: March 6, 2006 Location: Central Florida Posts: 3,324	He pulled a pistol out of his pocket It just happened again. I can't even remember how many times this has happened to me in the course of my pawn broker duties. A guy just walked in, looked me in the eye, reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pistol to pawn. The urge to defend myself was almost overwhelming. How stupid can people get? The funny part, if there can be one, is he thinks he's being cool, in the know, a gunslinger. This is what happens when people receive their training at the movies. Idiot! __________________ *Proud NRA Benefactor Member*

February 13, 2010, 01:32 PM	#2
SpookBoy Senior Member Join Date: January 29, 2006 Location: mid tennessee Posts: 430	i'm glad you didn't jump the gun lol seirously,dumb! im sorry brother, i would've been just as nervous. i mean i know you prob have a sign out front,like 100% of every gun/ pawn and gun stores.Luckily you wernt shot __________________ We all love gun prn, weather shes skinny,fat,short or tall, God made a man to love them all! "Once you familiarize yourself with the chains of bondage , You prepare your own limbs to wear them." - Abraham Lincoln Last edited by SpookBoy; February 13, 2010 at 10:04 PM.*

February 13, 2010, 01:44 PM	#3
Doc Intrepid Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2009 Location: Washington State Posts: 1,037	I believe if I were in your line of work, I'd wear a kevlar vest. And I'd prominently mount a sign somewhere so that all but the illiterate could not miss it; something along the lines of "bring your guns in in a paper bag - pull a gun on me and you won't do it twice", or something to that effect. It's actually a wonder that more dumbasses don't get shot pulling that sort of stunt... __________________ *Treat everyone you meet with dignity and respect....but have a plan to kill them just in case.*

February 13, 2010, 01:48 PM	#4
Brian Pfleuger Moderator Emeritus Join Date: June 25, 2008 Location: Austin, CO Posts: 19,578	My response would be "That's a good way to get shot, idiot. Now get out of my business and don't come back." __________________ Nobody plans to screw up their lives... ...they just don't plan not to. -Andy Stanley

February 14, 2010, 02:37 AM	#8
fastforty Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 1999 Location: In a kornfield in kalifornia Posts: 1,161	He should have been staring down a barrel before he got his hand halfway out of his pocket. Next time, it could well be a loaded gun- you have every right to defend yourself. I never take a gun into a gun store without going in and talking to someone about doing so FIRST. In one of the stores that I frequent, they have a big 12"x12" wooden post floor to ceiling at the end of the glass counter. It never rang a bell what it was there for (or why the salesman always stood next to it) until one day when a couple of clowns came walking through the door with a shotgun in their hands. Salesman was behind that post in an instant, ready to clear leather. __________________ When Banjos are outlawed, only Outlaws will have Banjos The Bible is my lawbook. I turn the other cheek when applicable, and spend the rest of my days resisting evil at every front, until I have breathed my last breath.

February 13, 2010, 04:26 PM	#6
retiredcoasty Senior Member Join Date: December 19, 2009 Location: Central Massachusetts Posts: 139	I would have told him the following: It is company policy to NOT purchase firearms from complete morons as they probably did not properly care for the firearm. And you are obviously a moron because you don’t even realize that you nearly reached room temperature when you pulled that pistol out without proper warning.

February 14, 2010, 12:36 PM	#10
old bear Senior Member Join Date: November 3, 2009 Location: Not close enough to the beach Posts: 1,477	Suggestions for caring a handgun into a store: 1-Make sure that weapon is unloaded. 2-With an auto loader lock slide open. If a revolver keep cylinder open. 3-Hold weapon by the barrel or slide in LEFT hand with the butt pointing away from your body. 4-Clearly announce, don’t yell, that you have a weapon that needs service or you wish to sell, or whatever the case may be. The above should eliminate any confusion as to your intentions.

February 14, 2010, 12:53 PM	#11
rbernie Senior Member Join Date: August 10, 2004 Location: Plain Ol', TX Posts: 713	Seen in a pawn shop in NoVA that did a heavy business in guns - "Don't draw on us, and we won't draw on you.." __________________ -A conclusion is not a destination, it's simply a convenient place to stop thinking.- -Reading a thing doesn't automatically make it so; repeating it doesn't necessarily make it any truer.- -Every Texan should be a member of the Texas State Rifle Association.

February 14, 2010, 03:10 PM	#13
ratrodfink Member Join Date: December 26, 2008 Location: PA Posts: 51	A case wouldn't kill ya or get you killed. __________________ Salvation or damnation are just a trigger pull away...

February 14, 2010, 11:30 PM	#14
Wagonman Senior Member Join Date: September 11, 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 1,014	When I bring a gun in for any reason it is in a hard case and I ask the clerk to handle it.

February 15, 2010, 12:05 AM	#15
DanimalFL Member Join Date: April 14, 2009 Posts: 63	I'm sure in the pawn business you need a certain mentality. Just like in the Leo community, when some officers come across someone with CCW they make them get out of the car disarm them and make a huge deal out of nothing. Then on the other hand you have a Game & Fish officer who everybody he comes in contact with is armed and usually 4-5 to one and back up is an hour away. Most of the first kind of officers don't have the mentality to be a G&F officer. So if you are going to pawn guns you need put up a huge sign because not everybody is going to know what pawnshop protocol is.

February 15, 2010, 12:24 AM	#16
hogdogs Staff In Memoriam Join Date: October 31, 2007 Location: Western Florida panhandle Posts: 11,069	Only a couple weeks after I had to do a gun transaction at a pawn shop, he changed his signage. Seems my initial walk in and tell him I was there with weapons in the truck was something he thought about and liked and now has a hand written sign saying something like... "If you are here to pawn or sell a firearm, leave it in the vehicle and come in first with your ID then return for weapon." I went in first without the gun as I did not know his protocol and just went the safest route. Brent Last edited by hogdogs; February 15, 2010 at 12:29 AM.

February 16, 2010, 01:34 PM	#17
Stevie-Ray Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: The shores of Lake Huron Posts: 4,783	Simple sign: All guns must be cased. Neither of the pawn shops in my area have those. __________________ Stevie-Ray Join the NRA/ILA I am the weapon; my gun is a tool. It's regrettable that with some people those descriptors are reversed.

March 5, 2010, 05:18 AM	#18
dberry Member Join Date: October 13, 2007 Posts: 48	I miss working in a pawn shop it was extremely interesting. We had some situations like that. I always carried when I worked at the pawn counter. Alot of people who came in and were acting unsafe with their firearms when questioned were found to be wanting to pawn a firearm that was not theirs in the first place. We always got a kick out of people who brought something in that they said was theirs and it works perfectly when asked but when going to test it out they had no idea how to even turn the item on.

March 5, 2010, 09:01 AM	#19
Microgunner Senior Member Join Date: March 6, 2006 Location: Central Florida Posts: 3,324	Yeah, watching the thief trying to figure out how to start the gasoline powered tool they're wanting to pawn always gives us a chuckle. Of course this automatically disqualifies them from pawning at our shops. __________________ *Proud NRA Benefactor Member*

March 5, 2010, 11:39 AM	#20
Skans Senior Member Join Date: November 20, 2008 Posts: 11,132	Why don't you just post the procedure for bringing guns in for pawn right on your door? Something like: WARNING 1. All guns for pawn must be BOXED and UNLOADED. 2. Flashing any firearm, loaded or unloaded, will be presumed to be an armed robbery and cause a loaded firearm to be aimed at you. 3. Do not draw any gun from a holster, pocket or other place on your body while in this shop. Just wondering if something like that might work?

March 5, 2010, 03:18 PM	#21
Microgunner Senior Member Join Date: March 6, 2006 Location: Central Florida Posts: 3,324	Very well thought out. __________________ *Proud NRA Benefactor Member*

March 5, 2010, 04:05 PM	#22
TenRing Senior Member Join Date: December 1, 2009 Posts: 427	Since this has happened to you before, I'm surprised that you haven't put up a warning sign before now. You can never tell what an idiot might do. Even with the sign, you could still have some folks claim that they didn't see it. You should also have a pictorial along with the wording for those who aren't so literate. I'm thinking a picture of a gun in a circle with a red line through it.

March 5, 2010, 04:12 PM	#23
howwie Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2009 Location: Georgia Posts: 188	WOW this guy is nuts. I know a few pawn shop owners The one time I carried an uncased gun into a shop to have it looked at for a friend. (who didnt have a case) I went in, talked to the guy, told him what I was about to bring in and that it would be locked open unloaded... and i was still uncomfortable. People really just don't think sometimes... __________________ "Whoever bleeds the least wins."

March 5, 2010, 09:12 PM	#24
ritepath Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2009 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,419	Well I'm sure he need the drugs pretty bad....Did he ask you what you'd give him for a NIB flatscreen if he went and charged it at Wal-Mart.