St George Sportsman's Warehouse giving wrong legal advice re loaded OC w/ permit

[MAC702]

I just finished writing my snail-mail letter to the manager of the Sportsman's Warehouse in St George. I was there on Thursday afternoon (July 26) with a student. While showing her several firearms, with the help of the usually very knowledgeable and friendly sales staff, the discussion turned to OC, as my student is from WY where it is not uncommon. The salesman noted that OC in UT must have the chamber empty. I politely corrected him that this does not apply if you have a permit. That's when the conversation became less than cordial. He got quite standoffish at being corrected and went on the defensive, telling me that he knows cops and that he was correct. He even threw up his hands, not wanting to hear my qualifications as a UT BCI certified state firearms instructor.

My letter is very polite. I cite where to find the actual wording of the law on the UT government's website, as well as detail my qualifications for teaching UT state firearms laws. In the end, I simply asked that he consider a policy that is very common in many stores (and may already be official policy there, who knows): since it is difficult to give accurate legal advice, salesmen should not be giving legal advice. I explained how he could have copies of the actual UT firearms laws from the BCI to hand out to customers with questions. I also offered a discounted UT CCW class to his store staff.

Anyone else hear this as a common error in UT? Anyone else frequent that Sportsman's Warehouse to see if they are going to stick with their story? I'm hoping this salesman learns to make sure of actual laws instead of passing on bad info from cops, ESPECIALLY when a customer tries to politely explain the truth, and has the credentials to back it up.

[Steinmetzify]

Haven't heard it, but I don't frequent the store. They don't allow OC there, so I won't go in.
Good luck with it. Salesman+incorrect legal advice=me annoyed.

[MAC702]

... They don't allow OC there, so I won't go in. ...

Interesting. The one in Las Vegas is posted that they specifically allow carrying of firearms and have never questioned me about OC. I was under the impression it was fine by corporate policy.

I happened to be concealing at this time because of some other activities that day. Now I wish I had taken the opportunity to swap to OC to test them.

[Steinmetzify]

The one in Murray(?)off of 72nd S and State has a big sign on the front door that says for the safety of their patrons all guns must be unloaded and locked in a case.
Granted, I'd just started OCing when I read it, and I was trying to avoid bad experiences, so I went back to the car and put it in the console(wife was in the car)and went back in.
Been in there twice and both times were unsatisfactory experiences. I won't be going back.

[hahah]

The one in Murray(?)off of 72nd S and State has a big sign on the front door that says for the safety of their patrons all guns must be unloaded and locked in a case.
Granted, I'd just started OCing when I read it, and I was trying to avoid bad experiences, so I went back to the car and put it in the console(wife was in the car)and went back in.
Been in there twice and both times were unsatisfactory experiences. I won't be going back.

I have never had any issues at all at any place. You guys must OC wrong.

[MAC702]

... big sign on the front door that says for the safety of their patrons all guns must be unloaded and locked in a case. ...

The one on the store in Las Vegas is quite wordy, but it basically says this only applies to firearms that are going to be handled in the store.

I didn't bother to look for a sign at the St George store.

[Gil223]

The Sportsman's Warehouse in Riverdale has a sign on the door that simply says "For our safety (blah, blah, blah)... If not holstered, guns must be encased" (or words to that effect). I don't recall anything about loaded/unloaded. The whole sign is probably 50+ words long, and I didn't try to memorize it. If I don't forget, perhaps I'll try to make a trip over there to take a picture of it soon. I could have misread it, but I don't think so. It's pretty common in large corporations for the left hand to not know what the right hand is doing. Most employees seem a bit when it comes to policy. Pax...

[Steinmetzify]

I'll go and check later today...maybe I'm mistaken about the wording. If so, my bad. I'll let you guys know.

S

[Gil223]

So, here's that picture. It does become larger - and readable - when you click on it. As far as their handgun policy goes (according to this sign), it's basically: "UN-holstered" must be cased and unloaded. (Understand that I am assuming that's for handguns, simply because there aren't too many people walking around with a Henry "Mare's Leg" strapped to their hip). The rest applies to long guns, and those who plan to remove their "sidearm" while on the premises.

Attachment 9050

Anyway, the "bottom line" appears to be that Sportsman's Warehouse has no policy prohibiting OC/CC on their properties (unless perhaps they have different signs at different locations). Pax...

[MAC702]

Other than being wordy, it's the perfect store policy.

[MAC702]

In case anyone was wondering, I never received any kind of reply. I might be up there again this week, though. We'll see what happens, as I will be OC, and cocked-and-locked.