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.
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.
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