So I headed over to a gun shop I had never visited, “no loaded weapons, no exceptions� . . . I was surprised to see this at a gun store… anyone else seen it?

I have seen the Whooa,,,is it loaded?, not the same
Moderators: carlson1, Charles L. Cotton
I was at Red's in South Austin last month. No sign. When I went to the line, I calmly drew my carry piece, fired off 100 rounds of practice at varying ranges, reloaded, reholstered, and left. No one said a word to me about it.Snake Doctor wrote:I've often thought about this. There is no sign (I think) at Red's South Austin, but when I've talked to Red before, I know he is adamant about ALL guns coming in unloaded and with slides/bolts/actions/whatever in an open and locked position. I've never asked him specifically about whether he minds CHLs carrying into his range/store, but I know he has said in the past that his employees are not allowed to carry.
that would make sense. A CHL holder would still have his weapon concealed and secured.kingalls wrote:That is not uncommon at gun shops, they don't want you to walk in with a loaded gun in your hands...I saw that once and asked the owner, he said it wasn't for CHL, since he was in the business of selling guns to CHL holders...
txmatt wrote:I assume anyone posting a "no guns" sign is specifically refering to no unlicensed carry of firearms, which I happily comply with. At a gun store I imagine they don't want people bringing in loaded weapons to be serviced or whatever, or pulling out their concealed weapon for some reason. In particular, if a gun store doesn't want you to carry concealed I would think they would be knowlegeable enough to post a 30.06.
Not sure which range you are going to, but not all ranges that have CHL holding, open carrying clerks.Liko81 wrote:Very common. My range says "all firearms must be unloaded and in a case before entering the store". The reasons are several:
* Every person behind the counter is armed and holds a CHL. Thus even if nobody ELSE is allowed to draw and fire in the store you still have at least triple the concentration of people who can and will draw and fire for defensive purposes than any other place in the state.
* In a real-life shooting situation, your situational awareness is somewhere around your ankles. Any aid to situational awareness is preferable, and prohibiting guests from owning guns immediately makes it very simple: anyone holding a gun who is not wearing a store shirt is a BG.
* People can be stupid. A gun in its case has never UDed, unloaded or not. UD in a store full of armed clerks and you are in a world of pain even if nobody gets hurt by the UD.
* People can be careless. The guns in the store cases belong to the store. Start throwing guest-owned guns into the mix and particular attention must then be paid to the diffference, to avoid undesireable consequences like the store thinking a guest-owned weapon belongs to the store, a guest and the store mutually confusing the store's weapon with an identical guest weapon, and worst of all, a loaded weapon being mixed in with unloaded weapons.
* Even gun owners can get uncomfortable. If the store allows handguns out in the open not under the control of the staffers, you create a hostile environment for sport shooters such as the .22 plinker who purely punches paper or the deer hunter sighting in for the season, who don't carry handguns, much less openly, and could be nervous about the casual handling of guns in public. Ensuring guns are only handled under direct supervision of a staff member eases those fears and creates a friendly shopping and shooting environment for all guests.
Let me say this in defense of range and gun store owners…You really need to try not taking things so personally. And if you’ve seen the “Whoa, is it loaded?� conversation between range staff and customers then you really should understand why many if not most ranges ask customers not to enter the shop with a firearm in their hand and certainly not with a loaded firearm. It’s not about disrespecting or distrusting you…It’s about trying to prevent staff and customers alike from being “accidentally� shot by some idiot handling an “unloaded� gun.CJATE wrote:I understand the law, but choose not to pass a gun buster or improperly posted “no guns� sign, unless the sign specifically welcomes CHL’s. It’s there right to put the sign up, my right to shop elsewhere.
So I headed over to a gun shop I had never visited, “no loaded weapons, no exceptions� . . . I was surprised to see this at a gun store… anyone else seen it?![]()
I have seen the Whooa,,,is it loaded?, not the same
Red's holds CHL classes, so they most certainly KNOW what the requirements are. When I go, I normally take a couple of guns, shoot, and somewhere along the line I draw my carry piece, shoot a bit, reload and reholster.frankie_the_yankee wrote:I was at Red's in South Austin last month. No sign. When I went to the line, I calmly drew my carry piece, fired off 100 rounds of practice at varying ranges, reloaded, reholstered, and left. No one said a word to me about it.Snake Doctor wrote:I've often thought about this. There is no sign (I think) at Red's South Austin, but when I've talked to Red before, I know he is adamant about ALL guns coming in unloaded and with slides/bolts/actions/whatever in an open and locked position. I've never asked him specifically about whether he minds CHLs carrying into his range/store, but I know he has said in the past that his employees are not allowed to carry.
I did ask about CHL's there, and the answer was an enthusiastic yes, not from Red himself but from one of the old-timers, that they very supportive of CHLers carrying. Just asked that I not draw & shoot at the range, but that (dis)arming in the range was fine. I personally wouldn't disarm in the store though unless I asked specifically at the time.Snake Doctor wrote:I've often thought about this. There is no sign (I think) at Red's South Austin, but when I've talked to Red before, I know he is adamant about ALL guns coming in unloaded and with slides/bolts/actions/whatever in an open and locked position. I've never asked him specifically about whether he minds CHLs carrying into his range/store, but I know he has said in the past that his employees are not allowed to carry.