Firearms Problems in California - Not the obvious type

There are three gun stores on Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank.  Gun World is one of them.  The focus of this piece is on Gun World.

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Aegis is another store on the street.  I found no website for them.  They are helpful and have a good crew. They specialize in vintage, antique and military weapons from WWII.  They have a large consignment selection.

Guns Direct ( http://www.gunsdirectburbank.com/ ) is a great shop.  New gear, all the popular items but they only carry items that are good quality and reliable.  Very good prices and a staff that is second to none. 

Gun World.  They were closed in the last year for a while when the BATF or some other government agency shut them down due to illegal activities of some sort.  I was informed unofficially that this was not the first time.  I was also told that ownership among partners had changed more than once to refile the paperwork required to open a business of this type.

A  month or two ago I dropped by to browse.  I saw a Glock 34 and 35 for sale.  I checked the price as I had purchased one of these in the last year for myself from Guns Direct.  I was shocked at the price.  $849.95 on each.  Over $250 more than retail for these G3 models.  Did Glock have a massive price increase?  Were these now made of un-obtaninium?  No.

I was told that due to the magazine shortage of ten round magazines in  California Glock was not shipping pistols to California which included magazines.  Nonsense.  Glock does not sell incomplete pistols.  It seemed more likely to me that with the shortage of ten round magazines for Glock pistols in California these folks took one of the two magazines that came with the pistol and sold it for an excessive amount.  Only one magazine left with the original package and a greatly inflated price with a great sales pitch ... Better grab it now before they are gone forever.  Side note, my own came with two ten round magazines.  

The answer I received when I inquired about the price.  They said the pistol came with no magazine at all.  I was told they paid over $200 for one magazine and were just passing their cost to the consumer.  B.S.

I digress.  I had let these antics just pass by.  Possible illegal business practices and inflated prices.  Taking advantage of the consumer.  What was there to write about?  It was a common way of business here in the Golden State of California.  Not exactly news.  

Yesterday ( 5/22/13) I was in the store when I was told they had 22LR ammo in stock.  I asked how much and thought I was told $16 a box (500) which was about the price one would find at Big 5 or Wal-Mart when they had it in stock. 

I went to the counter to grab three boxes.  Even though my hearing is checked each year as I am in the music industry I must have misheard the price.  It was $69 a box not $16.  Price gouging again?  Taking any opportunity to profit and just raise the price to any level where somebody will pay?  

OK.  I am for free enterprise to a certain extent and would not have taken the time to write this piece but .....

When I walked back into the showroom after checking on that ammo price there was a woman who was very upset talking to a sales person.  She was with her husband.  They were a nicely dressed professional looking couple, well educated of Korean descent   Another customer observing the situation had gone to college in Korea as an exchange student.  He and the wife of the customer talked about the University with fondness.  She was quite articulate.  She was pregnant.  She said her and her husband had four children and number five was on the way.  She was terrified for the safety of her family.  They needed a gun.  They explained that they knew nothing about guns but needed to buy one as soon as possible.

It seems that there was a bear on their property that kept coming back.  The city had not done anything about it and Fish and Game had been unable to help.  But ... they were given some sort of permit to kill the bear if it was on their property and if the feared for their lives.

The wife wanted to wait outside as all the guns made her uncomfortable but she stayed to support her husband who was asking the questions.  What should they buy?

Let me focus on a few facts.  Populated neighborhood.  Four more kids in their own house.  NO firearms experience or training.

The salesman took the proverbial stage.

The first gun they were shown, which was recommended .... The S&W 500 short barrel revolver.

My head almost flew off my body.  You've "gotta" be kidding me.  After the first shot missed the bear and tore through the walls of three houses, killing everything it in the bullet path the shooter would be picking himself up off the ground and recovering from the daze of the muzzle blast and the gash in his head from pistol recoil.  The kids in the neighborhood would all be up and awake from the noise and flash from the muzzle blast thinking they had missed fourth of July or a terrorist attack of some sort.

When the customer was handed the pistol he almost dropped it.  He was surprised.  The look on his face was much the same as if he had been handed a concrete building block.  Heavy, yes.  What do I do with this, throw it at the bar? The man and his wife did not care for this option.

Option 2 suggested by the store .... and by this time a group had assembled to watch this show.  The bear story had taken backseat to the sales staff antics and irresponsibility.  

Next up ..... a lever action rifle in 45-70.  You betcha!  "You don't want anything smaller when huntin' boaer'.  Trust me.  I work here and am the expert".

Have you ever shot a light rifle with a 45-70 load shooting a 405 grain bullet?  Well, the shooter would once again be on the ground.  More collateral damage in the neighborhood and a bear with one more day to live.  Side note ... the 45-70 cartridge was popular with Buffalo hunters in the wild west.  This entire concept was nothing less than contraindicated on more levels than one can begin to count.  

At this point I left the store but I had suggested a shotgun and rifled slug (also much cheaper) AND some firearms training.  I also suggested they hire somebody privately.

I am a card carrying member of the NRA.  My views generally are in agreement with most of their agenda.  But, I do not think that restricting weapons like belt fed M-60 machine guns from public ownership is a breach of our 2nd Amendment rights.  Then again, the way that most of these bills are written by our government is so complex and full of nonsense that in some cases if the bill or concept would not allow 18" Naval guns on your front lawn .... when you had peanut butter in your home, the end result in the fine print would be that you could be arrested for peanut butter because you may be conspiring to purchase a WWII Naval battleship.

But, in this case at Gun World I have to ask myself this.  If background checks try to stop weapons from being bought by people with questionable mental abilities how come those checks are not performed on the seller.  If the incident yesterday was on security camera and the recording could be posted on YouTube it would go viral.  Every news station in the nation would run the video and late night TV hosts would have a field day.

What was done here was irresponsible whether legal or not.

I do intend to go back to Gun World one more time and attempt to speak to the owner or manager.  I will show them this piece.  I will be interested to see their reaction.  Perhaps they are old school and will tell me to get out of their store and go F myself.  Perhaps they will admit they made a mistake and will share their intended course of action with me.  If they say something vague such as they will take care of it and it is none of my business I will jump to the conclusion that they are just pulling "a Garcetti" on me.  Yes folks .... you heard it first here.  I coined the expression "a Garcetti" as I am ready for the future double talk and smoke and mirrors on a given subject.

Bottom line....  This place is one more aspect of an area where there are some things where the fun industry could use improvement.  The first step may be to take your business elsewhere.