We have no silly permit to purchase requirements in NM. A permit serves no purpose that a decent, modern computer background check cannot serve as well.
We don't have those, either.
We don't have those, either.
Last edited:
Store Policies that just don’t make sense
- Thread starter BB57
- Start date
Grayfox
US Veteran
March of this year.
LVSteve
Member
jag312
Member
On the other side of the coin; there was an incident at The Gun Exchange in San Jose. A man walked in and asked to see a shotgun. He then took a shotshell out of his pocket, loaded the shotgun, and blew his brains out. The store had to temporarily close to clean up the mess. The last time I was there, you could see some pellet holes in the light fixture under which the man was standing. You can't be too careful because bad things happen.
Why BUY a suicide weapon? His estate appreciated his parsimoniousness, I'm sure.
UncleEd
Member
A number of posters have related
suicides where guns are sold.
If the death occurs at a gun range
or gun store, most gun owners can
grimace and bear its sadness.
But if such an act occurs at a big box
store, where many children might
also be present, that's a public
relations nightmare that won't be easily
erased in the public's mind.
suicides where guns are sold.
If the death occurs at a gun range
or gun store, most gun owners can
grimace and bear its sadness.
But if such an act occurs at a big box
store, where many children might
also be present, that's a public
relations nightmare that won't be easily
erased in the public's mind.
Puller
Member
First I've ever heard of a "permit to purchase" a firearm. I can see why some folks would think it's a whole lot easier to just steal one.
Or not, as the law allows.
Friend of mine went to a bigbox gun store with his fiance so she could pick out a shotgun for herself. When he handed her cash to make the purchase, the clerk said he'd have to refuse the sale as a straw purchase. But if my friend went to the front register and bought a gift card he could hand that to his fiance and she'd be okay to buy the gun that way.
A lot of attention has been focused on straw purchases and as such FFLs in general are pretty leery of anything that looks like a straw purchase.
You are however absolutely correct that you can buy a firearm for someone as a gift. In your example, what was done was perfectly legal. He could have also purchased the gun and then gifted it to her outside the store, it would have been fine, and still completely legal, but if done in front of the manager could have prompted a report to the Police and ATF. In the current climate that could and probably would prompt a visit from an ATF agent to see if the purchaser still had the shotgun in question. In his case if the GF was a live in and wasn't a prohibited person it would be done and over with. If she lived elsewhere she'd still have to be a non prohibited person and he'd have to have someway to support his claim of a relationship where a gift would be normal/reasonable behavior.
With hand guns, gifting can be problematic in some states. For example, in NC I can gift a gun to someone but they need to either have a purchase permit or a concealed carry permit to show they are eligible to own a handgun, and I need to keep the permit or a copy for the concealed carry permit. The same applies to inherited handguns. The executor needs to ensure the receiving party has a purchase permit or concealed carry permit.
Miracle Man
US Veteran
I've bought a handgun at my local Bass Pro. A nice used Colt Police Positive Special. It did not have a trigger lock on it while in the display case. It did not have a trigger lock on it when I examined it. It did not have a trigger lock on it when I bought it.
However, I had to wait 20 minutes while the clerk rummaged around in the back room to find and put a cheap trigger lock on it before I could leave with it.
I had basically the same thing happen to me. I just stood there and smiled and looked at their way overpriced ammo smiling even more because I'm a reloader and have enough ammo for quite some time.
After like 10 minutes of the clerk trying to figure out how to get the cheap plastic trigger lock on I did consider turning and showing him the Kimber micro9 I had on my hip and "saying sir if I wanted to start shooting I don't need that firearm". But I didn't and just started helping him get it locked on there.
I got home and threw the very cheap trigger lock in the trash.
Miracle Man
US Veteran
The knowledge of the Big store gun salesmen has went down the tubes drastically over the last few years. I've wondered on several occasions how the heck they got their jobs?
It's just a warm body in a position thing I guess?
Did he use buckshot? Everyone knows birdshot only causes superficial damage.
One of the deadest guys I've seen took a load of cheap 12 gauge 7.5s in the upper chest, neck, and face from across a living room and hallway.
At my preferred local gun shop they have display guns they will show customers, but when you purchase one, they get one from the back. I assume they open the box to confirm the serial number when they log it into their bound book, but as far as I can tell they don't thoroughly inspect the gun, and that's consistent with some obvious issues I've seen on display guns that indicate they don't thoroughly inspect them either.
The end result is that I'll see how a display pistol or long gun strikes me for fit and features, but when they bring out the one they actually plan to sell me, I carefully inspect it before I buy it.
That's the major benefit of buying from a brick and mortar gun store. It used to be unnecessary back in the day when reputable gun shops thoroughly inspected every firearm on arrival and returned anything that was second rate to the wholesaler, most of which ended up in big box stores that didn't inspect and both bought from the whole sale and sold to the customer at a discount. You got what you paid for.
Now stores like Academy don't offer any advantage other than having the item in the store for immediate purchase, and local gun shops no longer provide a final QA check.
"Trying the trigger" is a bit of a misnomer. I advise new shooters interested in purchasing a handgun to buy from a local gun shop precisely so they can see if a particular model of handgun fits them properly, in terms of both grip and slight alignment when they bring it up into their sight line. Dry firing and literally "trying the trigger" isn't part of that process.
It is however something that encourages shooters to buy at a local gun store rather than saving a few bucks buying on line.
The inspection process is important at well for experienced shooters. For example, I bought a used PT-58 once from an Overton' store just after they had been acquired by Camping World. Their new store policy didn't allow for slide removal for a thorough inspection. Sure enough, when I got it to the range it would not fire as the lever that activated the firing pin safety had been broken off. They had however agreed to accept returns if there were any mechanical issues. I returned it and it ended up being the last gun I bought from them. I did go back a few months later and they no longer had an FFL.
It was unfortunate as Overtons always had a nice selection of surplus handguns in stock and it was a great place to find things like early CZ-75s etc.
——
I understand that store policies are the result of knee jerk responses by attorneys who are by nature hard wired to the safest possible response to an event.
But those crazies are literally 1 in a million, and there are other ways to address the issue that don't impede the other 999,999 people in that million.
Here in NC, the purchase permit only applies to hand guns.
The cost is $5 per permit, it's good for 5 years, and you can get up to 5 at one time.
As noted before a purchase permit is not needed if you have a concealed carry permit, and as a citizen I'd rather see the purchase permits go away as a lot can happen in the 5 years after the permit is issued.
While it meets the Brady requirement I suspect most FFLs in NC run a NICS check anyway if the purchase permit is more than a month or so old. If someone is arrested or convicted for something that would make them a prohibited individual, it'll flag the list of concealed carry permit holders and the local sheriff is likely to send a deputy around to confiscate the concealed carry permit. A purchase permit issued a few years ago? Probably not.
Most gun shops will happily take your money and hold a handgun for you if you need to get a purchase permit. The process generally takes about a week in my end of NC.
Google is your friend.
I have had a CC Permit for several years and don't know the answer to your questions but before the CC Permit I kept at least one Purchase Permit in Billfold all the time.
About 5 years ago I bought 3 pistols in one day and I ran out of money. That leads me to believe that money determines how many guns I can purchase in one day. Larry
Similar threads
