Face it, most gun stores suck. Big time. Far too many of them are dark and dingy, poorly stocked, located in iffy neighborhoods and staffed by cranky, greasy-fingered old bastards as friendly as Brezhnev and sorely in need of a Tic Tac. Or six. It’s bad enough dealing with stores like that if you’re a reasonably experienced “gun person.” But can you imagine what shopping there is like for a rank noob? Let alone a woman wanting a little advice for buying her first gun…

But there’s no earthly reason it has to be that way. Here, in a medium-sized metropolitan area, we have our share of retailers with those depressing storefronts displaying guns in dark glass cases like the condoms and Playboys at the corner Rexall. Those places have been around for years but I won’t spend my money there and can’t figure out why anyone else does.

But we also have gun stores that are clean and bright with the guns attractively displayed. The owners have obviously done a little research into effective merchandising. They’ve figured out that if you display ancillaries like holsters, magazines, cleaning supplies, etc., in an easily accessible, attractive manner, you actually sell more of them.

I’m not saying that gun stores need to be as sleek and attractive as an Apple store. Wait, come to think of it, why the hell not? Clearly, you can’t leave the heaters out for customers to pick up and try out on their own. But why can’t they be displayed well, lit attractively and have things like, oh, prices in plain view?

Are there gun sellers you won’t patronize because they’re staffed by jerks that make you feel like an idiot? Stores that make you want to take a shower when you leave? What is it that makes a gun store good in your book?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

55 COMMENTS

  1. I drive just over an hour to my gun store. When I get there, the gunsmiths are the sales staff. They have a variety of the model weapon I want so that I can see the blued finish next to the stainless steel finish. They also sell everything else I will need for that weapon (holster, sling, cleaning supplies, variety of ammo, carrying case, etc…). I have had to return a gun. They gave me a significant discount on the trade.

  2. In PA we have guns out for people to try out at gun stores. It’s not that big of a deal.

    But yea, most gun stores are pretty dark and dingy. I have a lot bigger issue with the advise I’ve heard at gun stores from supposed professionals, though.

  3. I switched my regular gun store because of factors like that, the new store I go to doubles as a range and offers ccw and advanced pistol courses. Also pretty much everyone on the staff is friendly and knowledgable and just really seem to enjoy talking about guns with their customers. The only downside is that they don’t have an in-house gun smith and they primarily specialize in handguns and tactical carbines so its not the place to go if you’re looking for something for hunting.

  4. You’d be cranky too if you had to deal with the ATF on a regular basis and lived under constant threat of audit…

  5. I am unfortunately spoiled in this regard, I have Cheaper than Dirt, a Cabelas (with I think 4000 guns) and a Bass Pro Shop within a 30 minute drive from my home. Hell I can hit CTD and Cabelas in 1 trip since the same interstate runs past both of them.

  6. Gun shops have the same problems as all independent retailers. Their margins are smaller than the big box stores, but they must offer significant value added to have any hope of competing. It’s tough.

  7. I have 4 gun stores within 20 minutes that I visit regularly. (the dark dingy ones I no longer visit, I can’t imagine why anyone does). They are all different.
    #1 is a high volume tactical oriented place. I bought a gun there yesterday, they sold 4 more while I was waiting for NICs (about an hour), I’m not kidding on high volume. They have the best prices, but they don’t really do special orders and they don’t really do used. Tactical, pistols, LE, bulk ammo, they have it, they know it and they have the best pricing.

    #2 is in the middle of the downtown liberal college town. It’s been there a long time, they have a HUGE selection, used and new from $300 LCP’s to $16,000 hammer SxS shotguns. They are pretty busy, but not like #1. But they have a little bit of everything used and new and I buy a lot of stuff because I can touch it. Pricing is very fair

    #3 is a new shop, they don’t carry much, but friendly people, very clean and can get anything and have a decent, not large selection. Pricing is fair. Easiest to do transfers with

    #4 is the local range’s shop. Good selection of new (no used), very clean, and ridiculously expensive. (MSRP sometimes). The guys are nice and knowledgeable, but the prices are unacceptable to a gun person. A newbie will be buy one, but after they get converted to gun nut status, they aren’t buying more. IMO

    I don’t go to Dick’s, Walmart’s, etc because they have nothing, the people know nothing, and the companies don’t really support the gun rights. But those are options too. There is also a a couple local pawn stores, but they seemed to have missed the message on clean, bright, etc. I doubt they sell many guns.

    I think most gun stores have got the message. You simply can’t survive in a very tough retail environment without doing retail and specializing.

  8. staffed by jerks

    Yes, but they have gone out of business.

    Service is the key. The big box stores are usually the worst. They act like you should consider it a privilege that they are condescending to let you look at a firearm, let alone buy one. They have a limited selection of small bore rifles, but lots of them, and a lot of glocks and other Tupperware pistols. The Sportsman’s Warehouse that used to be near me was the exception, but it closed years ago for other reasons.

    I now patronize a small local shop. It has a good selection of old and new. They will do special orders, and the staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and armed.

    I think that last bit is the key. If a store will not let it’s staff go armed, that says a lot about their attitude.

    • The big box stores are usually the worst. They act like you should consider it a privilege that they are condescending to let you look at a firearm, let alone buy one.

      In my experience that is much more common at small, independent gun shops stuffed in the corner of a strip mall than it is at big box stores.

      True story: A few of years ago I went to an independent shop to buy a S&W 642 I had my eyes on. The price at the independent shop was about $20 less than at the local big box store. I walked into the independent shop where two employees were shooting the breeze with a couple of customers. I tried to get the attention of the salesmen for about 15 minutes, but they continued to jaw it up with their buddies. Finally, I figured got tired of waiting for them to finish their conversation and left. I drove down the street to the big box store and purchased the gun from them.

      • That’s happened to me more than once, in two different stores, one of which is right by my house. I’ve walked up to the counter in that shop with product and cash in my hand, and had to wait and wait and wait while the counter help continues to flap his gums with a friend over just how good the trigger is on his Remington 700.

        I’ve not gone back there since then.

  9. I drive over an hour to my gun shop. Besides having the best prices and nice bright store and displays, they also have a shooting range as well where for $10 you can try just about any gun they have and that $10 also includes 10 rounds of ammo.

    When they have a sale on the guns they loan out to customers for $10 to try, there is usually a line out the door such that you would think that it was an Apple store. They guns are as you guessed it, very attractively priced — the upside for the store they have so many repeat customers and the staff there both knows their stuff and is friendly to the point where even though I only frequent it a few times a year, still remembers my name and what I purchased. On my birthday they send me a card and $10 off coupon for anything in the store over $50 and Xmas, if you are regular they a mini party with cookies, eggnog, etc. and special one day discounts. In addition, if you are a noob, they setup a 1-hour shooting one-on-one class to help you both learn your gun and how to clean it when you are done. They offer other classes as well and support local shooting and non-shooting events.

    Also rare, if you are a women, they have two very attractive women (one older and one younger) who can also really shoot to help women to choose a gun and also give women only classes.

    Why would I go anyplace else?

      • I love my gun shop(Heritage Guns in West Warwick RI) because the staff goes out of their way to help with anything you may need. They never charge a transfer fee even if you buy your gun online or from another shop or person. They also have great pricing and give you a good deal on trade ins.

    • Are you sure that wasn’t a dream you had? Good lord it meets several of my fantasies. Here in Central Texas most gun stores are ran professionally, some are a bit expensive, but just go down the road and you can get a good price on the same firearm. I have even went to Walmart, asked for ammo and the guy went to digging until he found what I was looking for. Usually everyone here is prior military so they have knowledge of what they are selling. Except for some reason the PX on post?

  10. I’ve got a couple of big outdoor stores within 30 mins of the house. Truth be told, though, they’re just for getting to touch a gun I’ve had my eyes on. Once I decide to buy, I’ll usually go online. My local range does transfers for $20, so the savings is pretty significant. I got my Kimber for over $100 less than retail in my area.

  11. Not to mention they’re generally full of people that don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. Basically every fallacy ever invented about firearms can be heard by spending three hours in a gun store.

  12. I live five minutes away from a gun store but I drive twenty minutes to another one to buy (and pay more) because the service is better. I think, given the circumstances involved in the gun biz, the difference is in who runs a gun shop because they want to and who’s doing it because the just wound up there by default. I noticed the same phenomenon in the building industry and other lines of work. Some folks are happy workers because they like or even love their work while others are just clocking in and doing the time.

  13. Small, independent Gun stores, electronics stores (non-big-box), motorcycle or speed shops, and hobby stores all have the same flaw: They are genereally businesses that are started by enthusiasts.

    Now, there’s nothing wrong with being an enthusiast, but the problem comes when the enthusiast is such an enthusiast that he holds anybody in contempt who he deems less knowledgeable (or less of an enthusiast) than him (and the male pronoun is deliberate – I’ve never heard of this kind of condescending attitude in, say a sewing or crafts shop owned and operated by a woman.) These people are their own worst enemies and they do us no service.

    Big box stores may have less knowledgeable employees (though that is not always the case) but they are less intimidating for a new or prospective shooter.

  14. Around Seattle we have some great ones, some pretty good ones, and some terrible ones. Even most of the terrible ones don’t leave you in fear of catching something while you’re in there though, they just have terrible sales practices.

    The one I go to and have purchased all of my guns through is West Coast Armory in Bellevue and Issaquah. Their prices are reasonable (but being in near Seattle, not super cheap). Their service and facilities are second to none though. It’s also where I go for training, indoor range time, IDPA practices, etc. They have quite a few staff members who are very knowledgeable and actively compete on a regular basis.

    http://www.westcoastarmory.com/

    The other one most frequented is Wade’s, which has a somewhat less stellar reputation, but is a large store and has a great selection of gear. When I needed an IDPA setup (Bladetech kydex holster and mag pouch) for a G34 in short order, that’s where I found it. It’s probably the highest volume place around.

    http://www.wadesguns.com/

    Another popular one that’s a bit further away (Tacoma) is Mary’s Pistols. I’ve never been there in person, but I’ve called a few times for prices and availability, and they’ve always been very helpful. Read some good reviews on forums of them.

    http://maryspistols.com/

    • I haven’t been to their Issaquah location, but West Coast Armory’s ProShop at the Bellevue range is much, much better than Wade’s. Everything at Wade’s is very marked up, and the sales people treat you like a nuisance.

      I’ve had very good experiences with two stores. The first is Surplus Ammo and Arms in Lakewood. Their prices are among the best I’ve seen anywhere, even online. I get the feeling they do pretty decent business because of their location, which is across I-5 from Joint Base Lewis McChord and I think there’s probably a few gun enthusiasts among the 19,000 people living there.

      The second is LowPriceGuns.com, which has a retail outlet in Bellevue. It’s really small, but the staff is friendly and very professional. They don’t have much in the store, but they can get pretty much anything, and like their name suggests, at a pretty good price. SA&A is usually a little better, but with gas prices being what they are, it’s usually a close race between the two.

    • I’ll second West Coast Armory (Bellevue/Factoria)! Everyone there has been incredibly helpful to this relative newbie, including and especially the range officers.

  15. Years ago I started keeping a file, compiling all the stories of scary gunhandling (by employees and customers) and bad advice given to students by gun shop employees. My all time favorite: “.40 is more accurate than .45”. Why? Because the store had the gun in .40 in stock, and did not have one in .45, as best we can figure.

  16. I don’t care about the physical plant or the window dressing, I care about the service and the prices. If the staff is knowledgeable and friendly, if I’m not being gouged on ammo or overcharged for hardware, if the store actually cares about my business, then I’m a fan and a loyal customer. Before I moved to my current locale, I avoided my local FFL, refusing to buy anything there except a few targets and the very occasional box of WWB. Instead, I traveled over an hour to shop at a store where I was treated right. Now that I relocated, I have a new local FFL that I don’t like very much, so I travel almost an hour to shop at the place that I like. It’s worth the trip.

    • Ditto, Ralph. I’ve gotten the idiots at the range I used to shoot at. So I would try at ‘idiot range’ and buy an hour or so away at a place called Bullseye Firearms in Grafton, Ohio.

      Bullseye Firearms, LLC
      788 Main Street
      Grafton, OH 44044-1313

      (440) 926-4900
      [email protected]

  17. As stated before we all have those gun shop that look and feel wrong from the moment you walk in the front door.

    But fortunately most of us also have those stores where knowledgable an professional people greet you at the front door. Problem is these store usually charge much more for their services.

  18. Amen. My brother’s gun store is clean and bright, in a nice location, and is family friendly. He specifically tried to create this atmosphere out of the same frustrations you describe. He also has “Beginner’s Nights” where people can come and learn about guns and gun safety and ask questions in an environment where they don’t have to suffer smirks and eye-rolls from “expert” customers during the day, “Ladies Nights”, and hands-on “Reloading Seminars” if you want to learn how to get into reloading.

  19. What do I look for in a gun store? Four things.

    1. Customer service
    2. Customer service
    3. Customer service
    4. Decent prices.

    I hate, loathe, despise and abhor gun shops run by guys (and this tends to be a guy thing) who confuse a gun shop with the local bar and think the point of opening a gun shop is to chew the fat with their buddies while customers walk in out of the store. I think a lot of gun store owners got into the business because they like guns, but once they got in, they found out all they’re doing is running the equivalent of a shoe store except with lots more paperwork.

    I’ve worked in a retail photography store, so I completely understand that 90% of the customers you talk to are just there to kill time or ask inane questions, but that’s the waters you swim in when you’re in retail. Don’t like it? Get the heck out of the pool.

    As other people have posted about stores they like and had follow-up posts from TTAG’ers asking for links and names, I’ll pre-empt that request and post a couple of stores who understand what it takes to make the customer happy:

    Caswell’s Shooting Range. The original owner was bought out a couple of years ago, and the new owners have upped the ante on professionalism and service. The shop is clean, attractive and the counter help is never, ever rude. Ever.

    Arizona Firearms. GREAT prices, nice people. They’ll actually acknowledge you when you walk in and ask if you have any questions. Yes, the place is a little dingy and musty, but the people make it worth the trip.

  20. Good service, good advice, good prices, and a good attitude with customers is vital. Advice is important to me though I also rely heavily on myself to extensively research guns on the Internet before I buy. Guns are commodities and repair service is through the manufacturer so dealers have to set themselves apart if they want to survive and thrive.

    Most (as in almost all) gun stores are lousy in their knowledge and application of modern day retail merchandising and selling. Retailers are often their own worst enemy or competition. Many retail store’s level of ignorance and arrogance results in the fools losing sales and customers.

    I never buy my first or second time holding a gun. I ask questions and do follow-up research reading all the professional reviews and forum comments that I can from actual owners or other knowledgeable people. Then think about it. No rush. I met a gun dealer at the Portland Gun Show in June. He met my standards. Since then I have purchased two guns from him. One in July and the second in August. I have never seen his retail store which is located in Eugene Oregon.

  21. It depends. We have a more or less chain in Central Florida, Shoot Straight. I bought a small pocket pistol from them (Beretta 3032) since the salesman took the time and pretended to be interested in showing me an obviously low profit item. One time I was there using the range, and some guy off the street in the next lane showed me his XD pistol. He talked it up and actually sold me on it; I bought one as I was leaving. I hope he got the commission. At the same time, I’ve heard others curse the store.

    Where my parents live there is a small mom and pop gun dealer. I went in to kill some time, and hit it off with the owner who was friendly and personable. He stocked exactly one Bushmaster carbine on the wall (the only AR in the store) along with one AK. I was thinking about a rifle, and went ahead and bought the Bushmaster. He “threw in” a serviceable scope and a box of ammo. I could have saved a few bucks elsewhere, but I appreciate the independents when they treat customers like customers.

  22. Anymore my gunshop is http://www.galleryofguns.com and internet research is my salesman. I read as much as I can on whatever firearm I’m interested in and if its a go I pick my FFL from the list provided (the real world prices for each FFL is shown and the differences can be nearly $100 sometimes), pay the deposit and wait a couple days for the FFL to call and let me know I can drop by to fill out the paperwork and pay the difference. The icing on the cake is Davidson’s offers a lifetime warranty on all their guns regardless of what the manufacturer gives and from the reading I’ve done they are stand-up guys if it comes to that.

    Doing it this way means I don’t have to deal with all of the garbage related to a gunshop. The last one I went to was one I’d gone to for over 20 years but the original fellas either passed or retired and the new crew eventually had me so insulted and disgusted I never went back. It broke my heart because half the times I stopped by was simply for the great conversation and laughs.

  23. Let me count the ways..

    One store is overstaffed by jerks who talk among themselves constantly. They suspiciously view anyone who wanders in as potential problem. I tried to sell three guns I came into there and they treated me like I stole them. I avoid this store. I steer business away from this store, besides they sell to their friends and don’t need new customers.

    Next store is the range store, run by a jerk with jerks who are off duty cops. You get the picture. High prices and attitudes that are condescending. When they are not dissing their own products they are ridiculing whatever you decided to buy and have the nerve to trade in. Complete wast of time to visit here. Ask a question and you get “why do you want to do that” . The range is so-so and the only reason we go there is convenience.

    Store three is decent. Owner has been in business 60 years. Huge selection, knowledgeable staff with only one off duty cop who spreads bullshit like butter. I have bought 4 guns here, trading in 3. Prices are fair and he does the largest volume in the state. He’ll be in business for 100 more years. Avoid the doofy off duty cop and it’s a good experience.

    Shop 4 I frequent rarely since it is an hour away. But great used gun selection, attentive staff, no bozos, and great advice free of stupid opinions. I’ve bought three guns there and brought people in to buy.

    If guns were mail order or at least available at any store I assure you most of the crappy gun stores would be long gone.

  24. I’ve seen the two extreme ends of gun stores. The first and by far the worst was what you characterize as a dimly lit, dingy hole in a strip mall. That place smelled like an ashtray. I think I had a few months taken from my life after I left.

    On the opposite end of the spectrum was a store that I’d consider a Wal-Mart of guns. It wasn’t a chain store, instead it was a single building that must have been an old Rite-Aid, but you’d never know it cuz it literally had wall-to-wall guns and pistol display cases to boot. They had all the name brands in all the known calibers and a staff that knew their shit. I always buy a gun or two from them when I’m on leave in the gun friendly state of Colorado.

  25. We have quite a few here in Jax. One in particular, I absolutely love. Strangely enough, it seems that most don’t like them although I can’t figure out why.
    The place is ALWAYS crowded and with all the people it is admittedly hard to find help. Their prices make up for it as they are by far the lowest around. When you can get someone to help you they’ve very knowledgeable and will help you as long as you need. Their selection is insane as well. I should note that this place is awesome when it comes to dealing with women as well (they have quite a few women on staff).
    The other shops in Jax are decent, but the staff kind of ruins them. Any place that steers my fiancee to the tiny revolvers loses my business. She may only be 4’11” and weigh 90 pounds BUT she owns a big Beretta and can shoot it better than a lot of men I’ve seen. Don’t insult her by showing her the “girly guns”.
    Most of the ones I’ve visited around town have the attitude of “if you’re a noob, I’ll sell you these crappy guns because you don’t know any better. If you’re not a noob, I won’t help you because you should know exactly what you want.”

  26. One of my favorite gun counters is in a grocery store. They are about an hour away. They have a knowledgeable fella managing the counter and they have several ladies as well as men workers. The selection is a bit slim on handguns. But the manager will discuss all questions at length. He is polite and I have had him direct me to another shop to meet my need or want. He has also told me once to not buy it until the next week when it is set for a price reduction.

    Of the other two I frequent, one is a chain store that is great except that they don’t seem to have enough staff behind the counter except on weekends. It gets a bit old waiting for a free counter rep. The other is in a hardware store, but has an amazing selection and a willingness to do special orders. I went in there weekly for about a month before making a final decision on a handgun. They knew I was taking my time. They never rushed me. They were always polite and professional.

    There are a few dingy ones with grumpy staff – its easy to avoid them because I have better options in every way.

    • I can tell right now you’re not in Phoenix as I am. Where abouts would I find a city that sells guns in grocery and hardware stores?

  28. 4 options for me
    1 is a mom and pop hardware shop that has a few guns, never bought anything seems a little high on prices
    2 is a small shop where the staff are friendly and knowledgeable, great place to look around with new and used but prices seem to be a little high.
    3 is a pawn shop with only used guns, staff doesn’t do any talking about the guns. Good prices, have bought several from them.
    4 local WAC gun show, lots of selection and one dealer in particular seems to have the best prices on new handguns. Most of my guns came from here, both dealers and face to face.

  29. I have only one option within reasonable distance for casual browsing (though if I were intent to buy, I could stomach going further). It’s got cardboard boxes of holsters all jammed together, is owned by an extremely taciturn but (eventually) congenial and knowledgeable curmudgeon who, most days I’m in there, has packed up all the selection and headed off to yet another gun show. You’d hardly know they sold anything new, by looking the place over, but I was led to a decent looking, well priced .22 revolver I’d never heard of, and have found that they stock essentially any kind of ammo you could care to name — though it might come 16 rounds to a box, with a note scrawled on the side indicating it was missing four rounds and was therefore subject to price X instead of Y. I suspect the local market is insufficiently sized to justify any competition for these guys.

  30. I go into every gun shop I can. I only have had a couple of bad experiences. One was an out of state store that would not give me the time of day once I mentioned where I was from. I can legally purchase long guns from this store but they would not let me look at any. Incredible. This store is in a town relatives live in. I am in the town a half dozen times a year and I could be a good repeat customer but I will NEVER go back in this place.

    The other bad experience was worse. It was at a Dicks with a gun shop managed by a woman who is married to a retired Navy armorer. I was standing nearby when she told a young guy it was illegal for a person under 21 to purchase a handgun. What??? After the guy left I politely (very) told here while it is illegal for a ffl to sell to someone under 21 it is not illegal for the 18, 19, or 20 year old to purchase a handgun from an individual. Note: some states restrict this but my state does not. She informed me that I was dead wrong. I gave her the information on my source (U.S. Attorney Ed Yarborough, Nashville, TN) and she said if my quote was accurate, the U.S. Attorney was wrong. Case closed. She would not even consider checking the source or her facts. If someone is too good to learn, they are too good to sell to me. Color me gone. I have been in lots of gun shops and with the exception of the aforementioned, I have always been treated at least decent. My guess is that I buy one gun for every four visits I make to various gun shops. I also guess that makes me an above average customer.

    I have five kids and when I croak I want to leave each one seven guns: a Ruger Mark III, a .22 semi-auto rifle (so far 10-22s and CZs lead), a pump shotgun, a bolt action or lever rifle in “tudty tudty” or some other .30 round, a .38 or .357 J frame revolver, a pistol (either a 1911 in .45 or a S&W 5906), and an AR or an AK. I have no problem passing out the guns before I die but it will be a while before I get my “bucket list” done. My one daughter leads in the “guns collected from Dad” department. Anyway, when I can’t think of anything else for Christmas, they get one of the above. This keeps me trooping through gun shops far and wide. I know this list shorts carry autos and there are many, many other interesting and useful guns but these seven make a good starting point and ensure my grand kids will have something worthwhile from me.

  31. You know, I hear this refrain on the time. I’ve even heard it said about pretty much every gun store in my area on one online review or another.

    But when I went looking at all of them to purchase my first firearm, I must say that I have never been so impressed with service. From every single local store. No one gave me the standard “stupid advice from gun stores” lines. No one tried to sell my wife a snubby revolver. I had one guy fish out some 38 spl from his own pouch to let me try out a gun because it was the height of the ammo crisis and they were sold out. And this was the kind of service I got at three separate ranges.

    I didn’t think Columbus, OH is that special when it comes to gun stores… but I’ve never personally experienced an industry with better service.

  32. After 30+ years of being treated as if I know nothing, I do all I can to avoid the counter help. If I ask to see and gun and the help begins to tell me what I already know I just give them the “over 50 over my reading glasses will you please shut your mouth” look. It’s usually effective. Occasionally I run into the guy who told Wellington how to handle Napoleon at Waterloo, but I generally find that asking if they have any 455 Webley ammo shuts them up or sends them scurrying for cover. It’s not that I mind counter help that knows everything, it that they assume anyone they’ve never seen before knows nothing that goes up my ass like a red hot poker.

  34. Well I live in the mid west and in my town of about 90K I have 3 options.

    1. Pawn shop- These people are total scum bags. Rude, condescending, ignorant about anything gun related that isn’t a Glock or brand new S&W. However they are the ONLY people within 80 miles that do FFL transfers….sad part is they know it. 25$ going and coming. So if I trade a gun, Im out 50$ + shipping. Any they require you to pay for overnights.

    2. Local outdoors store (scheels). This store is staffed almost exclusively by college students and managers in their mid 30’s. The selection is decent for handguns and pretty good for shotguns. But their attitude toward anything non hunting related is horrible. All of the handguns are behind an iron display case. (We have some of the lowest crime in the country) They have 1 brand of AR15 which is again-behind an iron display. Only 1 person in the store is allowed to have the keys to the case at anyone time. The only defensive ammo you can buy is Winchester personal defense- forget about gold dots or golden sabers. I understand its a corporate policy, not a local one, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. The staff is reasonably knowledgeable about the hunting products. The defensive ones sometimes seem to escape them though.

    3. Cabelas. They have a pretty good selection and will do some special orders, (the previous two would not) they also have a very nice selection of ammo and used guns. However my only bitch is- they are prohibitively expensive. A box of 45 230gr Gold dots (20 rnds) is almost 45$! The staff is polite but sometimes ill-informed. On the other hand, alot of vets work there who really know alot of their shit. So I guess it evens out.

    No indoor ranges within 100 miles….and it gets below freezing from oct-may

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