Big 5 worst experience ever!

[daydreamin5]

Hell fellow calguners! First let me say that I am posting this under my boyfriends account

Today we both went into a big 5 sporting goods here in southern california. We decided on buying a mossberg 500 combo kit with the 18.5" and 28" barrels. We thought it would be the best beginner shotgun since neither of us owned one. We thought we could use it at the outdoor range and then change the barrel and try it out on trap or skeet shooting. My boyfriend has 6 guns ranging for .22s, to handguns, to ar-15s. and well myself I have none. So while deciding on the shotgun to buy I asked my boyfriend if I could buy it as well as DROS it. I thought it would be a cool feeling to have a gun of my own and well he never had an interest in shotguns anyways. Well anyways during the process the assistant manager of the store decides he does not what to sell me the gun and that he will only sell it to my boyfriend! My heart immediately sunk... I did not understand why he did not what to sell it to me. He pretty much judged me for being a woman and accused me of buying a firearm for my boyfriend. My boyfriend began to DROS process but once he saw how sad I was he canceled it and told me we'll go somewhere else.

Never have I ever felt so discriminated against for being a woman. I'm sorry for venting this but I needed fellow gunners to hear this story and well I know my boyfriend is on this site 24/7. I guess theres nothing else I can do but go somewhere else.. And well call the manager tomorrow, but still I dont think big 5 deserves me as a customer ever again.

[QQQ]

That does sound bad. I assure you that not all places are like that.

[frankiejoe577]

Please list the address of the store

[ElvenSoul]

Wow what idiots!

[Desert_Rat]

Maybe discrimination/maybe not. who knows.
It may have something to do with the fact that there many people who go into these stores and attempt to have the Girlfriend purchase the firearm "For" the boyfriend.

Maybe because She wants one in her name/maybe because he wants the gun, but is prohibited from purchasing for legal reasons.

This is called a Straw purchase and is illegal.

Maybe the Asst Mgr was thinking he was preventing a straw purchase/maybe he was being a jerk. Who knows.

I hope you two find a place to get your shotgun.

[imtheomegaman]

dunno, sounds a lot like he mistook your interaction with your boyfriend and determined that it was a straw purchase and refused to sell to you to protect his job and ffl

[tuna quesadilla]

From the salesman's perspective, what you describe was a textbook straw purchase (read: illegal.) I doubt he was discriminating against you; he just didn't want to do something illegal.

[daydreamin5]

Yes I want to say that he was trying to prevent a straw purchase. However he was not and he allowed us no option to prove it otherwise. I dont see what would have given him the impression that the gun was not for me besides the fact that I am a girl. I probably know more about guns then him! Makes me change my view on how guys look at women who take an interest in guns..

[sephy]

Just another reason why I won't buy from Big 5.

[daydreamin5]

I guess what im trying to say is what gives a store manager the right to decide if a gun is for me or not. All he had to do was ask me personally what my intentions for the gun are. I could have provided him with the exact names of the ranges I go to and the knowledge i have on guns.. I think he just viewed me as a woman who knows nothing about guns and is probably buying this for the guy im standing next to.

[Desert_Rat]

Originally Posted by daydreamin5

Yes I want to say that he was trying to prevent a straw purchase. However he was not and he allowed us no option to prove it otherwise. I dont see what would have given him the impression that the gun was not for me besides the fact that I am a girl. I probably know more about guns then him! Makes me change my view on how guys look at women who take an interest in guns..

Don't do that over one dipstick.

I did think one time however, that I was going to have to change the way a boy was looking at my daughter at her first Appleseed Shoot. She was hanging onto an AR in .223 and he was rocking a 10/22.

[Us3rName]

discrimination to the max. I would take this up with their superiors.

[Dreaded Claymore]

Originally Posted by brianinca

In CA, they're almost doing a public service still selling guns at all!

This. Target and Wal-Mart won't sell shotguns here, which is a shame.

Your experience really sucks. From the Big 5 guy's point of view he probably thought he was preventing a straw purchase, but I bet it made you super mad. I know I would have been mad.

[email]

Oh, can I buy this one? Please honey?

......

Then he cancels the DROS....


this reeks of straw.

[FastFinger]

I bought a shotgun from B5 - and they really went out of the way to accommodate me (found in other region - had it transferred to local store etc.), so I don't want to bad mouth them. With that in mind I'll be generous and assume the clerk was trying to avoid a straw man purchase. Even if that is the case - it sounds to me like he was way out of line. It's unfortunate that the law places the clerk in the awkward position to make that judgment, and that this couple needed to suffer because of it.

[QQQ]

But it's not the clerk's job to predict whether each purchaser is lying on their DROS form. If it is, then why even bother with the DROS process?

[SixPointEight]

Originally Posted by sephy

But that's not up to him. On the forms it asks if she would be purchasing the firearm for herself. If she answers yes then that's it. If she looks at it and says, "Oh wait, I'm buying it for him!" then that's up to her to declare.

Just another reason why I won't buy from Big 5.

Uhhhhh, actually, if there's a reason to expect a person is doing a straw purchase we are allowed to, and expected to cancel the sale. The business is in danger of losing it's FFL, being fined and more. It is absolutely their right to refuse a potential straw sale.

[email]

There's two sides to every story.

We have 1/4 of the story here.

We need the boyfriend and the clerk to completely paint the picture.

Of interest, is the boyfriend a member here? Owning several firearms already, I would suppose he is.

Input?

[email]

Looks like you're trying to buy a 22, a sig 229, a gag 5, and a Glock 22...but don't yet own a gun yourself yet.

You're selling gun parts, optics etc...but don't own a gun.

Fishy fishy....

[email]

GSG5 ...can't edit w the phone.

[SixPointEight]

Originally Posted by email

There's two sides to every story.

We have 1/4 of the story here.

We need the boyfriend and the clerk to completely paint the picture.

Of interest, is the boyfriend a member here? Owning several firearms already, I would suppose he is.

Input?

Originally Posted by email

Looks like you're trying to buy a 22, a sig 229, a gag 5, and a Glock 22...but don't yet own a gun yourself yet.

You're selling gun parts, optics etc...but don't own a gun.

Fishy fishy....

Reading comprehension> both of you.

Hell fellow calguners! First let me say that I am posting this under my boyfriends account...
I'm sorry for venting this but I needed fellow gunners to hear this story and well I know my boyfriend is on this site 24/7

Boyfriend is obviously a member, and the WTB/WTS posts would...logically be his.

[Ed_Hazard]

Well sorry you feel discriminated against, however the salesman was in the right ito refuse to sell to you if he felt it was a straw purchase.

The fact that your boyfreind then started to DROS it in his name but decided to cancel because of your hurt feelings would only help to reaffirm that something was hinky.

You have the right to shop elsewhere and they have the right to refuse service, However might I recomend that on your next trip to another store you not repeat the pattern of behavior so as to avoid the same outcome.

[rubber duckie]

why not try to go without the bf? if in fact it happens again at another location then you had every right to be upset.

[knucklehead]

So I take it you didn't read when she stated she's posting from her boyfriends account??

An don't take it personaly. Try another store without the boyfriend if your really want one in your name.

Edit. ^ guys beat me to it.
Sent from whinny men who cry about my sig using Tapatalk

[Ed_Hazard]

Originally Posted by daydreamin5

Yes I want to say that he was trying to prevent a straw purchase. However he was not and he allowed us no option to prove it otherwise. I dont see what would have given him the impression that the gun was not for me besides the fact that I am a girl. I probably know more about guns then him! Makes me change my view on how guys look at women who take an interest in guns..

If your boyfreind had completed the DROS in his name, I believe the straw purchase matter would have been laid to rest.

Behavior and perception go a long way.

[Ed_Hazard]

Originally Posted by knucklehead

So I take it you didn't read when she stated she's posting from her boyfriends account??

An don't take it personaly. Try another store. I noticed that alot of sales men at B5 font know really nothing about rifles that they sell.


Sent from whinny men who cry about my sig using Tapatalk

Would that be cosidered a "Straw Post"

[email]

On the phone...missed that boyfriend's account part..

Sorry.

[knucklehead]

Originally Posted by Ed_Hazard

Would that be cosidered a "Straw Post"

Haha yea I clicked send before I proof read my post.



Sent from whinny men who cry about my sig using Tapatalk

[tuna quesadilla]

Originally Posted by sephy

But that's not up to him. On the forms it asks if she would be purchasing the firearm for herself. If she answers yes then that's it. If she looks at it and says, "Oh wait, I'm buying it for him!" then that's up to her to declare.

Just another reason why I won't buy from Big 5.

It absolutely is up to him.

[darkest2000]

Yeup your BF cancelled the DROS, real smart move. Now the manager is certain that he was right.

[movie zombie]

go to another big 5 w/o your boyfriend and buy the thing. the clerk thought he was doing right and given the description of how it went down, he was in the right. he has a legal obligation to not participate in a straw purchase....and while you know it wasn't, the impression that it was a straw purchase obligated the manager to not make the sale.

mz

ps admittedly, i'd be pissed, too.....but i'd go get that gun on my own if i really wanted it. personally, i prefer to purchase my guns w/o my husband being present. i do find that sales people will talk to him rather than to me even though i initiate the conversation and am clear that the gun is my purchase for me. irritates the living shell out of me when that happens.

[sephy]

Originally Posted by JT1989

Uhhhhh, actually, if there's a reason to expect a person is doing a straw purchase we are allowed to, and expected to cancel the sale. The business is in danger of losing it's FFL, being fined and more. It is absolutely their right to refuse a potential straw sale.

Well I stand corrected.

[aaliya]

My Job.
All of my friends
My Study
My bags
My heels

[Steyrlp10]

Originally Posted by daydreamin5

Hell fellow calguners! First let me say that I am posting this under my boyfriends account

Sorry to read about your experience. The first step towards beginning your own firearms collection is to open your own CGN account here, under your chosen handle and not his. As the others have mentioned, Big 5 isn't the only vendor in town.

Take a Women on Target course for shotgun and get more exposure on the other models out there before plunking a bunch of cash down on a purchase. Good luck!

[Joewy]

Had the same problem a few years ago with my wife. She wanted a Shotgun and the clerk thought it was for me. He even mentioned that he thought that it was a straw purchase. I showed him my CCW and told him that should be proof enough that I was not a prohibited person and if I wanted it I would buy it for myself But if I was buying it for her it WOULD be a straw purchase because it was for her.
We never did buy it there.

[Sajedene]

I never take the guy shopping with me. They just get in the way and slow me down. Go by yourself next time.

[bob7122]

Originally Posted by imtheomegaman

dunno, sounds a lot like he mistook your interaction with your boyfriend and determined that it was a straw purchase and refused to sell to you to protect his job and ffl

^this

[semperfidelis354]

almost had a similar problem with my wife buying her first gun, luckily (and I thought this was pretty clever) the clerk asked me to list all the firearms I own, not just "3 rifles" but the actual types. this seemed to ease his worries of the straw purchase which we were happy about since the gun was 90% paid for on layaway.

[Steyrlp10]

Originally Posted by Sajedene

I never take the guy shopping with me. They just get in the way and slow me down. Go by yourself next time.

Lol... so true -- they just don't understand that certain things just call to us

[pacifico23]

Maybe the way you asked your bf to buy it. Maybe the Manager was assuming a potential straw purchase. I had to double read your post, because thats what I thought you said at first. I bet if you go in on your own, you wont have any problems.