Gander Mountain Firearm Safety Experience

[01ramoffroad]

I was in the Gander Mountain today and was witness to what could have been an ugly mistake by Gander Mountain and seriously put their customers in danger. I was patiently awaiting my turn at the counter behind an elderly gentleman I'm guessing to be in his 80's who was getting quotes on trading or selling two pistols, a shotgun and a rifle.

There were two Gander employees helping this guy. One looking up values in the book and one handling the firearms. The initial employee (less experienced) handling the firearms took all of the guns out of the cases, inspecting them and looking them all over while the second employee (more experienced) was still looking for values in the book. I did not feel comfortable with how the initial guy was handling the firearms, so I stepped back away from the counter. About this time the two employees switched what they were doing. Now the more experienced guy was looking over the firearms. This is when crap could have hit the fan. The more experienced guy picked up the pistol case and pulled out the first pistol. It was a Ruger 22 caliber target pistol. Here is where the initial guy looking over the firearms made a huge mistake. Can anyone guess what it was?

All of the sudden I see the more experienced guy pull the slide back and the next thing i heard was "Oh ****" this is loaded & out popped a 22lr round. The magazine in the pistol was full of 22lr rounds. The less experienced guy who was initially handling the firearms just kind of laughed it off as no big deal.

There is a sign on the door that says something along the lines that all firearms must be unloaded, locked and checked in at front counter. It mentions that this does not apply to those customers legally concealed carrying. I guess it's obvious that they aren't even following their own policy.

Another Gander gun counter employee didn't even know what a Ruger LC9 was until i told him it was the new Ruger compact 9 mm pistol. I just thought I would share my Gander experience.

[Dabears!]

go to a small local business next time. gander mountain hires cashiers not all of the know how to do things the right way when it comes to firearms

[tcb]

That's pretty crazy. Thanks for posting, makes me think twice about my next visit there.

[paramaster]

I've seen stuff like this before. ALWAYS speak up! If the counter folks get irrate contact the store Manager. He'll thank you for the heads up - and possibly saving G M litigation.

[AbsoluteCPL]

This is a lot like going to Home Depot and asking the 18 year old employee what amp breaker you need to run a dishwasher. They simply wont know. They just stock shelves.
Thanks for the post

[wishn-i-was-fishn]

No surprises here.

[cwo4uscgret]

Kind of a good news bad news situation; bad news is that someone doesn't know what to do when handling a firearm and could have killed someone because of his ignorance; good news is that the other clerk checked.

I'd do a couple of things if it happened in front of me; first I'd ask the experienced counter person to correct the other person right there on the spot, then I'd find the store manager (not the firearms counter manager but the overall person in charge) and let him know right away about how dangerous the situation was. If they aren't receptive then I'd call there corporate offices and report the situation.

[dpgperftest]

What you never seen a loaded gun before :facepalm: if someone hands be a gun I think they are all loaded

[CrimDoc]

Well, let me ask you a question: apart from not following their own policy, did either of the two GM employees actually DO anything unsafe with the firearms?

Did they sweep people with the muzzles? Did they put their fingers inside the trigger guards? Did they start handling the guns without clearing them? You said "The more experienced guy picked up the pistol case and pulled out the first pistol ... All of the sudden I see the more experienced guy pull the slide back and the next thing i heard was "Oh ****" this is loaded & out popped a 22lr round."

That sounds like he took the gun out of the case, and before he did anything else, he cleared it. Sounds pretty responsible to me (the fellow who brought the guns in was a Doofus for violating store policy and bringing a loaded firearm in to be appraised).

I guess what I'm driving at is if this had been a store without a "all firearms must be checked at the door" policy (which many stores don't have) ... would the employees behind the counter have done anything different?

I don't have any particular ties to Gander ... but I will say that the ones here in Grand Rapids seem to have some pretty knowledgeable employees. I really can't say anything bad about them (except for the high prices ... but obviously that's not the employees fault).


I was in the Gander Mountain today and was witness to what could have been an ugly mistake by Gander Mountain and seriously put their customers in danger. I was patiently awaiting my turn at the counter behind an elderly gentleman I'm guessing to be in his 80's who was getting quotes on trading or selling two pistols, a shotgun and a rifle.

There were two Gander employees helping this guy. One looking up values in the book and one handling the firearms. The initial employee (less experienced) handling the firearms took all of the guns out of the cases, inspecting them and looking them all over while the second employee (more experienced) was still looking for values in the book. I did not feel comfortable with how the initial guy was handling the firearms, so I stepped back away from the counter. About this time the two employees switched what they were doing. Now the more experienced guy was looking over the firearms. This is when crap could have hit the fan. The more experienced guy picked up the pistol case and pulled out the first pistol. It was a Ruger 22 caliber target pistol. Here is where the initial guy looking over the firearms made a huge mistake. Can anyone guess what it was?

All of the sudden I see the more experienced guy pull the slide back and the next thing i heard was "Oh ****" this is loaded & out popped a 22lr round. The magazine in the pistol was full of 22lr rounds. The less experienced guy who was initially handling the firearms just kind of laughed it off as no big deal.

There is a sign on the door that says something along the lines that all firearms must be unloaded, locked and checked in at front counter. It mentions that this does not apply to those customers legally concealed carrying. I guess it's obvious that they aren't even following their own policy.

Another Gander gun counter employee didn't even know what a Ruger LC9 was until i told him it was the new Ruger compact 9 mm pistol. I just thought I would share my Gander experience.

[eflint49]

Unless there is more to this story, I see no dangerous situation. We all handle loaded firearms regularly, why was this store clerk handling a loaded firearm a safety hazard? He pulled it out of the case and inspected it, finding that it was loaded. He didn't aim it at you or his coworker and pull the trigger to see if it was loaded, he racked the slide back just as any responsible gun owner would do when handling an unknown firearm.

[dpgperftest]

Unless there is more to this story, I see no dangerous situation. We all handle loaded firearms regularly, why was this store clerk handling a loaded firearm a safety hazard? He pulled it out of the case and inspected it, finding that it was loaded. He didn't aim it at you or his coworker and pull the trigger to see if it was loaded, he racked the slide back just as any responsible gun owner would do when handling an unknown firearm.

+1

It sounds like someone was disappointed that something didn't happen?

[MichiganShootist]

Jay's has the best policy. Guns are checked at the front counter (other than carried pistols)

[01ramoffroad]

Did they sweep people with the muzzles? Did they put their fingers inside the trigger guards? Did they start handling the guns without clearing them?

Did they sweep people with the muzzles?
-Yes, he did. He swept everyone at the gun counter including other employees until the experienced guy stopped him. The first guy has no business working at the gun counter.

Did they put their fingers inside the trigger guards?
-Yes, when he pulled it out of the case his finger was in the trigger guard, just not on the trigger. He actually pulled it out of the case by grabbing the front of the trigger guard.

Did they start handling the guns without clearing them?
- Yes, the first inexperienced guy didn't clear the guns first. It was the first thing the more experienced guy did. That's when the round ejected.

By the way, I did talk with the store manager and he was going to talk with the other gun counter employees about what happened and take disciplinary actions as needed.

[dpgperftest]

Unless there is more to this story, I see no dangerous situation. We all handle loaded firearms regularly, why was this store clerk handling a loaded firearm a safety hazard? He pulled it out of the case and inspected it, finding that it was loaded. He didn't aim it at you or his coworker and pull the trigger to see if it was loaded, he racked the slide back just as any responsible gun owner would do when handling an unknown firearm.

+1

It sounds like someone/OP was disappointed that something didn't happen?

[01ramoffroad]

+1

It sounds like someone/OP was disappointed that something didn't happen?


What are you getting at? You actually think I wanted to see something bad go down? If so, you're sick. If I misunderstood your post, I apologize.

Have you read my initial and most recent postings? The first guy handled all the guns violating nearly every gun handling rule. The second guy handled the guns properly.

[Professorwiz]

I may get flamed here, but I had good experiences at Gander Mountain. The staff both times I went there, once to purchase my Beretta 92sf, and the other to look for the wifes gun were professional. Knew what they sold, and told her to wait till she tried more out at the range rather than just ringing her one up. This is refering to the one in Novi.

[TAC]

This kind of thing can happen anywhere guns are sold. It's not exclusive to Gander Mountain. It comes down to the individual people. People will be people. Be aware of what others around you are doing anytime, anywhere guns are present!

[XD40SC]

If you felt the person handled the situation poorly....what you should have done is contact GM Corporate and have them review the situation. I am sure they have several cameras monitoring the gun counter and could easily review and addressed the situation. The only thing I would have done and do when handed a firearm is is immediately drop the magazine before opening the action. Seems to me the guy opened the action and cleared the weapon. The fact he said oh **** this is loaded might not have been the correct response from a person handling firearms for a living..... every gun he or anyone handles or touches should be considered loaded until proven otherwise.

[andrew]

Unless there is more to this story, I see no dangerous situation. We all handle loaded firearms regularly, why was this store clerk handling a loaded firearm a safety hazard? He pulled it out of the case and inspected it, finding that it was loaded. He didn't aim it at you or his coworker and pull the trigger to see if it was loaded, he racked the slide back just as any responsible gun owner would do when handling an unknown firearm.

Most gun folks would probably have dropped the magazine before racking the slide to clear the pistol. Which leaves me wondering if there was a round chambered after the the "more experienced" clerk had his "Oh ****" moment, and presumably let the slide return to battery before removing the full mag.

Kinda seems a bit unsafe to me too, glad I wasn't there.

[will.s]

The nearest Gander mountain is were I buy most of my firearms. If they don't have it, they can order it for ya. But I will say that unless you know what your looking for, I wouldn't go there and ask, "what gun should I buy" or "what's the best carry gun". They have the cheapest prices around on firearms. I could see that Loaded gun happening anywhere, but seems more likely to happen at a big corportion store, than a local gun shop. I'm willing to bet, most of the people checking the guns at the front desk as well as working the gun counter don't know too much on the subject. And probably an even smaller percentage don't like firearms, it's the only job that was open at the time. I can think of a couple guys and gals at the local sporting goods store that sigh in regret, when I ask to see a firearm.

Another story from local gander mountain, I took in an M1 carbine that had never been Re-arsenaled to see what they would give me for it. I said Dumbly, "well I know that most original guns don't have a push button safety its a lever". " The guy said, the push button safety was to convert it from full auto, all real military M1 carbines were full auto". This was there head gunsmith/gun manager.:twak:

Having fired a transferable M2 Carbine and dissassembled it I knew he was incorrect, I just walked out.:scholar:

[Intl1911]

Unfortunately this happens all too often. Gander Mountain should designate an employee that has been trained to check guns using a bullet trap.

I experienced almost the exact same thing at a bass pro shop.

[duck9191]

i went to gm with my dad when he was looking for new gun. he brought his 9mm to see if they would buy it, as soon as we walked in a guy at the counter asked to check the gun. he ask to see the breech was empty and looked at both mags. i was surprised that they checked honestly, glad that they did though.

i was there one time when some older guy decided to whip out his concealed weapon and try to hand it to the guy at the gun counter, they asked him to take it out of the store and clear it then come back in with it.

[mechredd]

i went to gm with my dad when he was looking for new gun. he brought his 9mm to see if they would buy it, as soon as we walked in a guy at the counter asked to check the gun. he ask to see the breech was empty and looked at both mags. i was surprised that they checked honestly, glad that they did though.

i was there one time when some older guy decided to whip out his concealed weapon and try to hand it to the guy at the gun counter, they asked him to take it out of the store and clear it then come back in with it.

This is how it is supposed to happen and is standard gander policy.

Many ganders in MI have such low gun sales that their employees have little experience properly handling a firearm during a transaction. Several of their firearm sales staff is also under educated about the various offerings on the market, and current training theories.

The main exception to this is the utica store. Their sales volume is so high and they are so busy that they can't afford not to be safe and up to date. Their manger also doesn't tolerate unsafe behavior when it comes to firearms. They actually just lost 2 employees for it. One was just replaced by a trainer.

[nrich1979]

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/gun-goes-off-twice-at-gun-and-knife-show-at-gibraltar-trade-center-20110624-wpms


Proof that it's not just box stores that are idiots with guns..

[mopedman]

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/gun-goes-off-twice-at-gun-and-knife-show-at-gibraltar-trade-center-20110624-wpms


Proof that it's not just box stores that are idiots with guns..

This is a line from your news story....... Awesome

"People forgot to follow the cardinal rule here. Whenever you're handling a firearm to make sure that it's empty before pointing it at anybody or pulling the trigger," said Roberts.

[Tyler]

This is a line from your news story....... Awesome

"People forgot to follow the cardinal rule here. Whenever you're handling a firearm to make sure that it's empty before pointing it at anybody or pulling the trigger," said Roberts.


The guy who said that was a LEO too.

[makman1]

The customer should not have handed the clerk a loaded weapon. Period. The fist clerk didn't perform due diligence. The second clerk did his job, but he should have removed the mag first, but at least he checked.

[91 Whiskey]

Doesn't just happen at Gander Mountain. I asked if I could dry fire a gun at Al & Bob's in Grand Rapids. The guy say okay but here, let's do this. He proceeds to point the gun at himself, put a finger in front of the hammer and then says okay now pull the trigger.

[Dabears!]

Doesn't just happen at Gander Mountain. I asked if I could dry fire a gun at Al & Bob's in Grand Rapids. The guy say okay but here, let's do this. He proceeds to point the gun at himself, put a finger in front of the hammer and then says okay now pull the trigger.
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


yeah
bwahahahaha