Well I figured it might be time for a different point of view. Mine being that I MAY work at a Gander Mountain, POSSIBLY at the Eden Prairie store, and MAYBE even in the Firearms Department (although I might primarily be a Fishing Associate). I figure that’s enough combination of hints and covering my own [censored] in case I say something that corporate doesn’t like. I mean if I worked for them of course.
We’re told to always clear the gun, personally I’ve been told to rack the slide three times (at least). Having said that, I’ll hand the customer the firearm (obviously pointed away from anyone) with the slide both open and closed. I haven’t heard any official SOP on it, but I tend to only leave the slide open if the customer returns the gun to me in the same fashion (usually people like to look at multiple firearms).
I feel that checking the chamber by racking the slide multiple times is plenty secure. Obviously safety is the number one rule in firearms handling, but at what point are we overdoing it? If I see a gun racked multiple times in front of me with the clip out, and see that the clip is empty, that’s good enough for me. Now obviously the first thing I do when I get the gun in my hands is check it again, because that’s just drilling muscle memory that needs to be there.
Also, there are plenty of people coming in for their first handgun who don’t even know how to rack the slide. I’ve seen some people get pretty red before trying to figure out how the action on the slide works, and I don’t mind trying to save them the embarrassment by handing them the weapon with the slide closed, and showing/telling them how to clear it on their own.
As far as storing handguns with the actions open in the case, considering they’re in a locked compartment with trigger locks on them, I definitely think that’s overkill. Is it “more safe” than storing them with the actions closed? Sure. Is wearing your life jacket every second you’re in a boat on the water more safe? Sure. But that doesn’t stop the vast majority of fishermen I’ve seen from having them off most of the time.
As far as knowledge goes, I can’t speak for other stores (see how I don’t attribute a select few experiences to an entire company with thousands of sales associates?), but if you think that the majority of the guys behind the counter at Gun World don’t know what they’re talking about…well you don’t know what you’re talking about. I can safely say that I’m probably the least knowledgeable person on the floor in that department (again I primarily work in Fishing but I moonlight up there when they need me), but I’ve helped hundreds of customers and sold dozens of guns, had plenty tell me I did a great job and was very knowledgeable, and very rarely have I had someone request a different salesman due to lack of knowledge. And while I certainly tried to carry out their wishes and find them someone else, a lot of people like that go into stores in a negative mood expecting to be disappointed, or just looking for a fight. So I’m not going to apologize because Joe GunNut has already decided I don’t know what I’m talking about before even interacting with me.
Enough about me, the rest of the guys in the department (although we have had some new hires that I don’t know as well as I’d like to, but they’re the minority in the group, and have only been there for the last couple months) know their [censored]. Now granted some are competition shooters who know their shotguns but aren’t specialized on rifles. And there are some guys who teach conceal and carry who can tell you anything you want about handguns of tactical weapons but again don’t know their hunting guns that well. And there are guys who have killed every animal in North America, and could tell you literally anything you want to know about hunting calibers, but aren’t experts on the latest handguns.
But that’s how knowledge works folks. Very rarely does a person know EVERYTHING about a particular subject. We all have our specific interests and we all tend to learn/seek knowledge relative to those specific interests. But if you’re not happy that every single associate doesn’t know every single thing there is to know about the world of firearms, well you’re just gonna have to sit there and cry.
Now as far as gun and ammo prices….yeah we know. We don’t set the prices, corporate does. I have no problem listening to a customer complain that our ammo prices are high, but when they start taking it out on us hourly associates, I get pissed. We don’t control it, we just work there. We have no say in what gets stocked or what prices get set at. And believe me we’re aware of how silly it gets sometimes. However we do price match, as long as you have an ad (or if it’s online we’ll just check the website). The rules are the store has to be local, and the sale cannot be JUST online, it can be both in store and online, but not exclusively on the web. We need to confirm the price of the item, and depending on the markdown, how busy we are, and how pleasant of a customer you are, we’re supposed to call the store and make sure the item is in stock.
Now I’m sure there’ll be plenty of people with strong reactions to my post, and don’t worry I’ll stick around. I’d like to leave you guys with this last bit of food for thought. Despite our negative policies and other issues, the reason I work there is because I get paid to sit and BS about hunting and fishing all day. Wouldn’t you?
. . . 
Ever walk into Cabelas ? Go up the gut, look left and right…. you say you want North Face ??? 
