GunShop Story

[biglou]

So here is the story as told to me by a co-worker:
He calls Ronning Arms in Modesto. He asks if they have a Cricket .22 for his kid. The guy on the phone says they have one but someone bought it two days ago. He tells my friend to come in and bring the kid so he can see if it will work for him (size, etc..). If they like it, he'll order him one.
Friend shows up the next day, tells him about phone call. The clerk tells him he has to go get it from the back 'cause it's sold. The clerk comes back and tells him "It's not here, the owner took it home for his kid to try out".
Friend tells him "Are you kidding me ? Does the customer that bought it know that ?". Clerk says he doesn't know, that's between him (owner) and customer. Friend says no thanks and leaves.
Now, obviously I wasn't there so I can't verify 100% this happened. That said, I do not doubt my friend. He is a reliable, trustworthy person. The reason I named the shop is because people will ask. Also, maybe someone from that shop, like the owner, might want to give his version. Is this type of thing common practice with gunshops and is it legal to take home a customers firearm and "try it out".

[Turbinator]

That is just wrong to take out a "sold" gun or a gun that is otherwise not property of the shop. That said, I'm sure this sort of thing happens all the time. You hear about it as it relates to cars and car repair shops, too. Bad practice.

Turby

[p7m8jg]

Ronning Arms has been a pretty good shop in my experiences there.

I"m surprised that would've happened.

[OC_Gunman]

I bet it's more common than we know. I would suspect that the frequency of gun shop owners "testing" their customer's guns correlates directly with a gun shop owner's age and Fudd-ness.

[biglou]

Ronning Arms has been a pretty good shop in my experiences there.

I"m surprised that would've happened.

I've never shopped there, but I can't see why my friend would make that up. He doesn't know I'm member here. Maybe they will reply. SEMPER FI and thanks for your families service

[Stormfeather]

Is there a possibility that the owner of the shop and the purchaser of the cricket had set something up or had some sort of arrangment that he could try it out?

[SanMiguel3]

Is there a possibility that the owner of the shop and the purchaser of the cricket had set something up or had some sort of arrangment that he could try it out?

I suppose this is possible. But for me, I would NEVER let another person "try out" my gun before I even had a chance to pick it up from the store. If the gunshop owner is a friend, he would still need to wait until I take delivery, and then we can have an outing with the kid under my supervision.