Working in a gunshop/surplus store would be my dream job and other fantasies.

I used to think that working in a gunshop or surplus store would be the dream job, until I started working in both. Working in retail takes a certain type of person, but working in retail where customers are generally armed takes another type.I have said before that not everybody should be allowed to own a gun and have taken heat for that statement, but when you have people who point loaded weapons at you and have been around three negligent discharges (one six inches over my head by the location of the bullet hole in the wall), you start to think differently.

I can almost ignore the poor gun handling practices, if it weren't for the internet commandos and their unsolicited opinions about products you are showing other customers or how stupid they must be for even considering it. Never mind that it maybe all they can afford at the time. When ever I hear "Just save up and buy a better gun." I reply that a cheap gun is better than no gun.

The surplus store is another can of worms in that you meet a hundred "Navy Seals" or "Special Forces" operators for every one cook, clerk, or fuel handler. If you go by percentages, then 90% of all "retired Special Forces" must live within 20 miles of the store. Most look like a before picture in a weight watchers ad and have about as many teeth as a meth addict.

The pay is minimum wage, but at least the out of date MREs for lunch are free.

 

You would be amazed at how many weapons experts are also in 20 miles of your shop... each willing to tell you how to do your job and why a .44 mag is the best revolver for a woman...

 

The only thing in common I have found in common with legit special ops people is we were all screwed over big time by that which they served.
With special ops there is no happily ever after.
Another thing is people who were special ops don't go around advertising they were special ops. A lion doesn't go around telling everyone it's a lion.

The guys who are saying they were cooks and clerks were probably the spooks.

 

Boy, is that the truth! I knew only two genuine, former Navy SEAL members in my life - that I know of. Neither EVER discussed ANYTHING they did in service with me, and to my knowledge, with any mutual friends or acquaintances we had in all the years I knew them. They never talked, and I made it a point to never ask.

But, by God, you meet too many of them retired in SEA, who will spill their guts about being a SEAL, CIA operative, etc. I steer clear of people like that.

 

I have met more than a few Navy seals when I worked at Range Control while on medical hold. One thing they all had in common was that they were in fantastic shape. And yes, they didn't go around telling everybody the were Seals. They also didn't go around wearing every Seal/SF moral shirt, pin, or hat sold at the PX so they wouldn't have to tell you.

I forgot, we also have Wi-Fi. It's slow in the shop due to the heat.

 

My WiFi must be union contract. It goes on strike at the drop of a hat. Too hot. Too cold. Too wet. Too dry. Too anything.

 

I meant foot traffic is slow, not Wi-Fi. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

Have helped out at a friends gun shop, couple times showed up when he just didn't feel like being with a customer alone and called me to "pick up" a gun he had repaired. A lot of people who have the same attitude about guns that they have cars, etc, buy the one that is supposed to project some image. Spend a couple thousand on an AR-15, high end optics, and then buy 100 rounds of high end ammo and mags and no practice ammo. Six months later they want to sell it back to you at their cost. A lot can tell you all about the fine details of the heat treat, etc, straight from the review articles, but know nothing of gun safety or culture. Some are just border line crazy and you don't want to deal with them and are even more nervous when they "fail" their back ground check. Knew a couple of WW2 vets in my area, one built wooden boats, I knew he had been a pilot in the Navy, and at his funeral it was mentioned that he had during his naval time sunk a Jap carrier, he had never mentioned it or talked about it. The second was a care taker for a wealthy Dentist's estate and I used to cut the fields for hay and he made all the arrangements with the owner. His name seemed somewhat familiar so one time I outright asked what he did in the war. Said he was in the subs, talked a little about it and got around to what he actually did, said he was the captain. For the most part it seems like the ones who were the most in combat are the ones the least likely to talk about it. My time in the USAF was 60 + years ago and all my NCO,s and almost all of the officers had served during combat times and a good portion were air crew finishing up their 20 years in order to retire. When they got loaded and let their hair down in the NCO club, it got a little awesome and frightening, the most when some one was kidding another one about his actions in a POW camp or surviving a crash.

 

All them Special Forces guys must be at home, appreciating the air-con, rather than out saving the world today?

 

If I worked in a gun shop i'd be both divorced and broke due to the same cause. Firearm purchases.

 

Often dream jobs become nightmares once the fantasy that gives life to the dream dies, skewered by the facts that come with reality.

I love reading and collecting books, but I would never become a librarian, or a book shop owner / employee. Customers are not only nearly always not right, they are, more frequently than one might appreciate, ignorant @ssholes. Why would I subject myself to that, even if the pay was tolerably good?

 

Not just SF. Regular ex-military I know seldom ever discuss their service combat exploits. An occaisional "sea story" now and then. But the rough bits, no.
All my old Uncle Abe would say of Korea was, "It was COLD! So cold....."
I learned he had also served in WWII at the very end and just after, on the Graves Registration Detail. He NEVER said a word. I don't envy him those memories.

 

If asked politely, I will talk about my experiences in Iraq. Unfortunately, "How many people did you kill" is usually the first question. If I want to mess with the person I'll usually throw out an insane number followed by "double that if you count women and children".

The best saying I've heard so far about working in a gunshop is "It would be a great place to work if it weren't for the customers.".

 

I worked for a little while in a gun store. Until the pain of biting my tongue in desiring to correct complete ignorance got the better of me.

 

Worked with Ken. Ken had fingers burned off, skin grafts on his face and left arm, walked with a limp. I only found out at his funeral that he got burned pulling 2 guys from a burning HMMWV, He never spoke of it in the 6 years I worked with him.

 

There are good reasons to honor the flag and thank those who went before us at the cemetery on the 4 th of July and Veterans funerals. I have known several people who have won the Medal of Honor, never asked how nor why, in fact it never came up, and none ever mentioned it nor wore the medal unless required to. Most seem to give the feeling that they were just doing their job and fate selected them for the honor rather than any of the others who were with them and doing the same thing. Some did well and and others would have what is now called PTSD and never really came all the way back from the events.

 

I tell ya, I get so damned pissed off when I see sorry good-for-nothings talking smack about our Veterans, the jobs they have done and the sacrifices they have made for us. Our Veterans did as they were asked, often volunteering, unwavering from their objectives. Many did this knowing they would die performing their duties.

I just want to pop those dumb asses in the mouth with a baseball bat, when I see some of the garbage they spew from their pie holes. They are too sorry to fight for anything, stand for nothing - but for the government to take care of them.

They abuse our flag as though it were a dust cloth. They stand on it, rip it, burn it, and worse. I have seen few worse pieces of sh*t walking this Earth, in my life. If they don't love their country, they need to move to Communist China. I'm sure they would love it there much more. Or, perhaps a country offering them Sharia law.

May the Good Lord Bless our troops, retired, disabled, and reserve military personnel, and their respective families. Thank you, to each and everyone who reads this, who have served. By God I will support and fight for you, and with you, until my last breath. If I am lying, may I burn in Hell for eternity.

 

I ran a gunshop for a couple of years back in the late 80s. I can honestly say that I really didn't enjoy it, thought it would be my DREAM job, in fact it probably (for that period) spoiled my enjoyment of guns and shooting sports (hunting less so) as it was always "work". Anytime I was competing I was also "representing" work - by default- and more often than not people would be pestering me for deals and such when I really just wanted to enjoy my time. The only high point was that I was single and on good $s, 30yrs since I started in that job and I am still shooting guns I bought new and ammunition components I bought at cost and loading using tools I got as freebies from sales reps.