I went to Academy to look for some Marino wool leggings for the wife. I didn’t find any, but figured I’d walk through the gun department. The ammo is still marked about 100% over what it should be, but they did have a Beretta 92X that looked tempting. I wanted to see how it fit trigger reach wise.
The counter attendant got it out of the case and handed it to me. He tried to clear it but could not, given that it had a trigger lock installed. I asked him if he could remove it so I could properly clear it and then check the trigger reach.
He said he could not. He said Academy’s store policy prevents him from removing a trigger lock. He said the upper management concern is that someone could take the pistol, load it and start shooting people with it. I gave him my “you have got to be kidding me” look and told him if I wanted to shoot him, I’d just use the already loaded concealed carry pistol on my hip. He agree it was a stupid policy so I passed on the pistol.
The thing is that I live in NC, where:
“Under North Carolina law, it is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to sell, give away, transfer, purchase, or receive, at any place in the State, any pistol, unless the purchaser or receiver has first obtained a license or permit to receive such a pistol by the sheriff of the county where the purchaser or receiver resides, or the purchaser or receiver possesses a valid North Carolina issued concealed carry permit.”
https://ncsheriffs.org/wp-content/uploads/Master-Firearms-Publication-September-2016.pdf#page5
Every FFL I have encountered in NC reads “transfer” to include handing you one to look at, and won’t, unless you have either a NC concealed carry permit or a valid handgun purchase permit.
In other words, any customer who comes into Academy and wants to handle a handgun must have a valid NC concealed carry permit or a valid permit to purchase a handgun, and has thus already been vetted and under NC law met the Brady Requirement.
I contacted Academy customer service on my phone to inquire about the rationale for this, explaining NC law and the vetting process that meets the Brady requirement, even before the employee can hand a handgun to a customer.
It was mostly rhetorical and a method of expressing dissatisfaction. Academy’s store policy, like most big box stores is based on the most restrictive, or in this case least restrictive, state laws in the states where their stores are located. And of course Academy’s answer was paraphrased as “we can’t waive the in-store sales policy that prevents us from removing the trigger lock until after a NICS check has been completed.”
Which of course meant that I could have filled out the Form 4473 and had them do the NICS check, and then insisted on thm removing the trigger lock so I could try it on for size before completing the purchase, and then saying “no thanks, I changed my mind” if it didn’t fit well.
But that would have created a lot of work for the staff person who has no control over a stupid store policy.
——
I do agree that there is a low, but still non zero chance that a criminally disposed person could buy a magazine and ammo, load the magazine, come back in the store, ask to look at a corresponding hand gun, pop the magazine in, and start shooting.
A purchase permit might not prevent that if the person had no prior criminal or mental health record. That, in addition to being ready to prevent an armed robbery, is why staff in most local gun shops are either open or concealed carrying.
And of course Academy doesn’t let their staff open or conceal carry at work.
So…it’s a feel good policy that accomplishes nothing in NC, except costing them potential sales.
The counter attendant got it out of the case and handed it to me. He tried to clear it but could not, given that it had a trigger lock installed. I asked him if he could remove it so I could properly clear it and then check the trigger reach.
He said he could not. He said Academy’s store policy prevents him from removing a trigger lock. He said the upper management concern is that someone could take the pistol, load it and start shooting people with it. I gave him my “you have got to be kidding me” look and told him if I wanted to shoot him, I’d just use the already loaded concealed carry pistol on my hip. He agree it was a stupid policy so I passed on the pistol.
The thing is that I live in NC, where:
“Under North Carolina law, it is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to sell, give away, transfer, purchase, or receive, at any place in the State, any pistol, unless the purchaser or receiver has first obtained a license or permit to receive such a pistol by the sheriff of the county where the purchaser or receiver resides, or the purchaser or receiver possesses a valid North Carolina issued concealed carry permit.”
https://ncsheriffs.org/wp-content/uploads/Master-Firearms-Publication-September-2016.pdf#page5
Every FFL I have encountered in NC reads “transfer” to include handing you one to look at, and won’t, unless you have either a NC concealed carry permit or a valid handgun purchase permit.
In other words, any customer who comes into Academy and wants to handle a handgun must have a valid NC concealed carry permit or a valid permit to purchase a handgun, and has thus already been vetted and under NC law met the Brady Requirement.
I contacted Academy customer service on my phone to inquire about the rationale for this, explaining NC law and the vetting process that meets the Brady requirement, even before the employee can hand a handgun to a customer.
It was mostly rhetorical and a method of expressing dissatisfaction. Academy’s store policy, like most big box stores is based on the most restrictive, or in this case least restrictive, state laws in the states where their stores are located. And of course Academy’s answer was paraphrased as “we can’t waive the in-store sales policy that prevents us from removing the trigger lock until after a NICS check has been completed.”
Which of course meant that I could have filled out the Form 4473 and had them do the NICS check, and then insisted on thm removing the trigger lock so I could try it on for size before completing the purchase, and then saying “no thanks, I changed my mind” if it didn’t fit well.
But that would have created a lot of work for the staff person who has no control over a stupid store policy.
——
I do agree that there is a low, but still non zero chance that a criminally disposed person could buy a magazine and ammo, load the magazine, come back in the store, ask to look at a corresponding hand gun, pop the magazine in, and start shooting.
A purchase permit might not prevent that if the person had no prior criminal or mental health record. That, in addition to being ready to prevent an armed robbery, is why staff in most local gun shops are either open or concealed carrying.
And of course Academy doesn’t let their staff open or conceal carry at work.
So…it’s a feel good policy that accomplishes nothing in NC, except costing them potential sales.
