I have spent long hours in gun stores - both as an employee and a customer. I have seen plenty of rude, inconsiderate, and unsafe behavior while I was working and shopping in gun stores, and I would struggle to provide a justification for almost any of it.

Please Sir, Take My Money In Exchange For This Firearm

The problem many customers have when they enter a gun store is that they are quite often ignored or insulted when actively trying to give a gun store employee money in exchange for a product. Tales of difficult car salesmen are legion in popular culture, but I have never encountered such a wide and consistent number of rude salespeople in any industry as I have in the retail firearm industry.

Some groups perceive this as a slight against them. Perhaps there is some merit to their thoughts - women or minorities are almost certain to be treated in a negative manner - in some gun stores, by some employees. However, I'm a white male, and I've been treated rudely by the same people who would or have been rude to those same women or minorities. It's just a different kind of rude.

The problem is that there is a gun store employee groupthink that seems to cross economic, social, gender, and political boundaries. It doesn't matter if you go into a small gun store in rural Tennessee or a high-end gun store in an upscale Arizona suburb, you're probably going to encounter many of the same sort of people.

They might be far more interested in talking to each other in front of you, perhaps to show off how much they know about whatever topic is at hand. Or maybe a lone employee will try to chase you off with a gruff and unfriendly greeting, then remain noncommittal even after you try to tell him what you're looking for. Other times, they'll talk down to you, whether you're knowledgeable or not.

Firearms bring out an attitude in a lot of people. A perception of not knowing every little detail about a weapon means a huge loss of face. Gun store employees are a group that almost certainly falls into this category - in fact, I'd say that they're the self-perpetuating inspiration for the attitude.

Unfortunately, being around guns and gun people all day doesn't bring a proper education or knowledge base. Most of the time, I just smile and nod while someone behind a gun store counter tells me that a Ruger P95 is better than an HK P30, or that .45 has a lot of "knockdown power," or that the Kimber employee that takes your order on the phone then hand builds your pistol. Two kids who worked in the store with me mocked me behind my back for liking the Beretta M9. Never mind the fact that it had saved my life, they knew better because...they played video games and talked to people at a gun store?

Now, there are a lot of good people in gun stores too. They have real-world experience, they are intelligent enough to discard the tall tales they hear instead of passing them on as gospel, and they're kind enough to be polite and helpful to customers. They'll listen to you and help you find the firearm you need or want instead of trying to sell you their favorite toy.

Believe it or not, they're at least as fed up with the idiots that stand with them behind the counter as you are. But even some of the good ones can become jaded after months or years of dealing with the firearm-owning public.

You Retard, Stop Pointing That Pistol At Me

Although I worked in a gun store for a short period of time compared to some folks, I encountered a lot of idiots. The training and experience of the gun store customers (and employees) one might expect to encounter on any given day runs the gamut from "I learned about firearms from Battlefield or Modern Warfare" to "I'm a world class competitive shooter." This wouldn't be a problem at all, if their attitude toward firearm safety didn't also vary from careless disregard to careful respect.

I've had a loaded (actually loaded, not the "all guns are always loaded" BS) XD45, with the carrier's finger on the trigger, pointed at my chest in a gun store. In fact, that person did so casually in an attempt to intimidate me into allowing him to "return" an item that had a price sticker from a competitor's store on the packaging.

I've watched other employees, while dealing with obstinate and unintelligent customers, progress from gentle reminders about firearm safety to outright orders to stop pointing guns at people. We aren't concerned if you start off ignorant of basic gun handling skills, but we need you to pay attention to the instructions we give you.

The first and most important firearm safety rule is to treat every weapon as if it were loaded. Once accepted, this rule guides all behavior around firearms. Unfortunately, it's not always understood or respected by those who own firearms.

I really don't care if I hand a gun across a counter and the person who takes it from me, who has never shot before, puts their finger on the trigger. They have no way of knowing that it's a bad thing to do. However, pointing a gun at someone is just plain rude. It's something that should be common sense, but unfortunately, common sense is often lacking.

The obstinacy of many firearm owners, and their subsequent refusal to learn to properly handle and employ the firearms they own, greatly vexes me. I don't care if you don't know about gun safety NOW or don't know how to shoot NOW, but you should take an active interest in becoming proficient with firearms if you're going to use them for home or self defense.

This might seem ironic given my comments in the first section of this article, but it's also annoying to deal with an uninformed and argumentative person who isn't there to buy a gun, just to talk about them. They could just as easily have been standing on the inside of the counter, telling customers that the M9 was always unreliable.

I wasn't there to talk about guns, I was there to help people find the right one for them. I'd happily talk to someone about guns for an hour or more if it meant helping them make the right decision. I had real customers to help, so listening to some guy blather on about how cool piston ARs are when there was a young couple patiently waiting to buy a home defense gun nearby was a complete waste of everyone's time.

I may have come across as overly harsh in this article, but I cannot express enough how my time working in a gun store colored my opinion of firearms ownership by the general public. Again, thanks to Caleb for writing a great (and more respectful) article.

In the future, I'll try to be more on top of this. The correct email is andrew@vuurwapenconcepts.com, and that is the best way to receive a quick response if you have a specific question. Thanks.

Of note is the "Premium" front sight, on the left in the photo, which allows elevation adjustments for 0-200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 yards with the twist of a knob, and also allows you to estimate range to the target. When I showed this front sight to a friend of mine who is a President's Hundred shooter, he said, "Well, isn't that neat. How about that." I tend to agree.

Although I hate the phrase "my new AR build," they might find their way on to a semi-new "build," as none of my current rifles have provisions for rail-mounted front sights. A full review will follow.

In fact, a few days ago, I met with a group of highly professional individuals who have been paid to attend courses taught by various instructors, and those courses taught by Mike Pannone were literally the standard by which the other instructors and courses were judged.

I made a short video promoting Mike and his company. Because it's a bit more advertising-oriented than my normal videos, I'll just be putting it on the blog, the readers of which I have found to be more professional, experienced, and reasonable than the general audience found on YouTube. If you'd be turned off by a bit of a "sales pitch," I won't be offended if you skip the video - but if you get the chance to take a course taught by Mike, you'll find that the info in the "sales pitch" is more of an understatement than an embellishment.

Damn.

If you're unfamiliar with this story, read this.

After Wanat, COP Keating, and Ganjgal, two things are very clear to me:

1. The United States Army needs to clear out some field and staff grade officers.
2. The United States Army has completely failed at #1.

Yesterday, The Firearm Blog published a press release from MKS Distributing, which apparently imports Chiappa firearms to the United States. This press release was, shall we say, condescending. I was, however, amused by the remark that ridiculed the accuracy of "blogger reporting" - then confirmed what the bloggers had reported.

The Chiappa press release was written by Cinzia Pinzoni. She took time away from her busy schedule to give me a tour of the Chiappa factory in Italy back in March. She's knowledgeable, professional, courteous, and very kind. Frankly, I couldn't think of a better public face for a company. As far as the rest of the Chiappa factory folks go, they were all friendly and polite, even as they continued about their tasks.

I don't know who wrote the MKS press release, but they're not the same type of person that I encountered in Azzano Mella. This fiasco doesn't change my opinion on Chiappa (which is good) or desire to eventually pick up some of their products (I'm eyeing that lever pistol), but there are plenty of companies in the firearms business that are run by smart, professional people. It's important to note that Chiappa and MKS are separate companies - and, hopefully, there will soon be ways to purchase Chiappa firearms that do not involve MKS.

I would especially like input from mobile users.

This event led me to consider another often-ignored ailment: MOLLE disease. There are many symptoms of this disease, and in fact, it's been around for a long time, but the introduction of MOLLE webbing has made the problems more obvious. It's even been mentioned by the excellent USMC-related web comic, Terminal Lance.

Whether MOLLE is involved or not, the issue boils down to this: too much stuff. Sometimes, a lot of stuff is needed; other times, that stuff will go by unused.

One of the biggest offenders when it comes to this is the US military itself. Designing packs that can carry 120lbs of gear, requiring that grunts carry everything they can with them into the field, and in some units, even forcing them to organize their gear in an identical manner, as opposed to what works best for the individual Soldier or Marine. The military has known for a long time that musculoskeletal injuries are a leading cause of servicemembers being unable to perform their assigned tasks.

Ten years ago, an Army Science Board study even recommended that an individual soldier carry no more than 50lbs of gear. That hasn't happened. According to this 2007 report, the average individual Marine combat load varies from 97 to 135 pounds. The old rule of keeping carried weight below one third of body weight would lead us to believe that the lightest Marine weighs in at just under 300 pounds.

Because MOLLE webbing allows unprecedented customization of gear, some think that unused MOLLE space is a big no-no; they figure that if they have an extra pouch, they can attach it there to carry something. On a higher gear-acquisition level, the "customization" potential of MOLLE fools decision makers into thinking that everything they buy is going to become one big system, rather than dozens or hundreds of individual pieces of gear that happen to have the option of being securely attached to one another in any desired location.

I fell victim to this when I first deployed. I couldn't begin to list everything I carried, but take this as an example: I carried ten of the then-new HK magazines for my M4. Unloaded, these magazines weigh 8.9 ounces apiece, or more than 5 pounds total - just for the magazines themselves! Add almost another pound each for 30 rounds of Mk262 or M855 ammunition...you see the problem. Later in the tour, I dropped some stuff, but much weight remained: for extended dismounted patrols, my personal gear load varied from 80 to 100lbs.

It is my opinion that, despite its own studies which reveal mountains of evidence against such practices, the military as a system is in denial about the negative effects that result from "too much gear." It's still stuck in "Well, what if you happen to need this?" mode, rather than "What do you really need?" mode.

Law enforcement officers are unfortunately saddled with many of these same issues - being required to carry a lot of gear that they may or may not use. On the civilian side, issues are similar, although everything becomes optional. Having more gear is always a good thing, it seems, even if most of that gear is of little use. This problem is exacerbated because, outside of a square range where gear is brought by vehicle, most of this equipment is rarely carried for long.

Environmental conditions are a major factor, as well. Several months ago, I covered 12 miles while carrying 75lbs of gear. This was on a cool evening, but I still wasn't able to move as fast as I would have with less stuff. As temperatures rise, I have no option but to shed gear until I am carrying 20lbs at most during the day. As this happens, I consider the possibility that perhaps the other 55lbs of gear wasn't as necessary as I first thought.

The same goes for the weight of the gear itself. Unnecessarily heavy rifles or radios are an obvious problem, but what about the weight of the pack on your shoulders? I have an HSGI T.R.A.S.H. pack, which uses an ALICE frame and is constructed entirely of 1000D Cordura. Empty, it weighs over twelve pounds. As a result, it's rarely used on longer hiking trips. For those, I use ~2lb Kelty, North Face, or Gregory packs, which are often more than sufficient.

One must start with absolutely essential gear - a rifle, for example, or water. Work from there in order to choose what to bring, and how much. If you don't have a truly valid reason to lug a lot of something around, ditch it, or carry less of it. Chances are that you'll be able to do whatever you set out to accomplish just as well, and you might even be able to do it faster and with less wear and tear on your body.