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By Lee Williams 

Cecil Trimble, a 35-year-old restaurant manager, took a fishing reel to Bass Pro Shop’s Tampa store last week to be re-spooled with new line. As he was waiting, he wandered over to the gun department and immediately spotted the object of his recent desire. 

Trimble had been searching for a SIG SAUER P365 XMACRO for weeks. The problem was, so had everybody else. Bass Pro wanted around $800 for the 9mm pistol and Trimble didn’t hesitate.

He told the salesperson he wanted it, completed a Form 4473 and handed over his Florida Concealed Weapon or Firearm License, which exempts him from a waiting period. Trimble had purchased numerous firearms from Bass Pro Shop in the past, so he expected to walk out of the store with his new pistol in minutes. 

SIG SAUER P365 XMACRO
SIG SAUER P365 XMACRO

“The clerk came over and told me, ‘The ATF has approved you, but we’re denying the purchase,’” Trimble told the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project earlier this week. 

Astonished, Trimble demanded to know what was going on. The salesperson said Trimble’s brother-in-law had tried to buy a firearm at the store a month ago but self-denied on the 4473 most likely because he misread a question. Unfortunately, Trimble’s brother-in-law, who had lived with him several years ago, moved out but never changed the address on his driver’s license. 

“I asked the clerk how this had anything to do with me, and he said it was Bass Pro’s policy not to sell any firearms to anyone living at the same address as someone who has been denied,” Trimble said. “He hasn’t lived there for three or four years. I get the straw purchase thing, but he tried to buy a $200 revolver and I was trying to buy an $800 9mm.” 

“The firearms manager agreed with me, but could not get the GM of compliance on the phone to talk this out,” Trimble said. “As it stands now, I or anyone living at my address are barred from buying firearms from Bass Pro ever again.”

Trimble pointed out his brother-in-law is retired military, a Florida CWFL holder and not a prohibited person. He must have misread a question on the Form 4473, Trimble said. The staff wouldn’t relent. 

4473 background check atf
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“My main gripe is this: what if I moved into an apartment and the previous tenant was denied. According to Bass Pro, I couldn’t disprove it’s not a straw purchase, and I can never buy a gun from them again,” Trimble said. 

Bass Pro’s response

Neither Bass Pro Shop’s corporate communications staff nor Jarron Ritchie, general manager of the Tampa facility, responded to multiple calls or emails seeking their comments for this story. 

Calls to Bass Pro’s firearm compliance directors were referred to their corporate communications staff, who did not respond. 

Multiple calls to the Tampa store’s gun department finally produced a brief interview with “Joe,” who said he was one of the store’s managers. Joe did not provide his last name. 

At first, he tried to blame the ATF, but he later admitted, “We do keep a data log on this.” However, he would not discuss or disclose their corporate background check policy. 

“Again, sir, we are talking about things that I at the store level am not allowed to go into,” Joe said. 

Takeaways 

It’s important to keep in mind that a gun dealer can refuse to transfer a firearm to anyone for any reason. In fact, they don’t need a reason to refuse a sale. 

Also, the Biden-Harris administration has declared war on gun dealers. Federal Firearm License revocations have increased more than 500% since Biden took office. If the ATF was able to revoke the FFL of a big-box gun store like Bass Pro, the results would be cataclysmic for the store and its customers. Therefore, it is easy to understand why the sporting goods chain would want to be very careful when transferring firearms. 

Still, Bass Pro’s straw purchase fears do not make much sense in this case. Straw purchases usually happen within 72 hours of a denial – not a month later – and nearly all of them involve the same gun – not a $200 revolver and then an $800 9mm. 

Trimble was able to find and purchase a P365 from a local gun store the next day. The whole ordeal reminded him of another corporate mishap. 

“Remember when Dick’s became anti-gun? This could be a slippery slope like Dick’s went through,” Trimble said. “They’re not preventing straw purchases. I answered that question on a federal form, which should be good enough. Bass Pro told me I’d get a call back from them the next day. I’m still waiting for that call.” 

Legally, Bass Pro can concoct whatever policies they want, but they also should be willing to explain them when asked by the public. Even at the height of their lunacy, Dick’s still managed to do that.

 

The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without you. Click here to make a tax deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.

This story is part of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and is published here with their permission.

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122 COMMENTS

  1. Sorry, (not sorry), but being denied a purchase at Bass is not a negative. Hope they ultimately are Bud Lighted.

    Support independent business, not the big stores that do not care if you ever purchase anything.

    • I completely agree. The big box stores will all shut down their gun businesses, if the government tells them to. Or the government simply bribes them with relaxed regulations, tax relaxation, and or government cash payments.

      Just like they paid the tobacco farmers off to quit the business.

    • Yep. I’m past the gun buying phase. Too old and have more than enough. But I always liked local shops.

      • “Yep. I’m past the gun buying phase.”

        Hhhmmmmm

        Had concluded from reading TTAG that everyone needed just one more gun.

        Do you have an arsenal, a depot, a collection, or a cache?

        • I thought I was done during the scandemic. Then I impulse bought a Benelli shotgun and a Ruger .357.

          So now I am super duper done. I won’t even go to a gun store anymore. Turns out I can’t be trusted alone there.

      • So you are 99+? LOL
        There always seems to be something else…because, of course…there is.

        • On my list. M1A Scout, S&W 629, Colt Detective Special, Browning 725 Pro Trap, S&W M&P .22. That’s a start.

    • Yeah, it seems to me if they bud-lited it will have the same result as if they lost their FFL greatly diminished to no gun sales. Sounds like another bonehead management decision by “woke” management.

    • “It’s important to keep in mind that a gun dealer can refuse to transfer a firearm to anyone for any reason. In fact, they don’t need a reason to refuse a sale“

      Gee, I wish the gun store in Uvalde had exercised this option when the kid with razor cuts all over his face came in to pick up his AR 15, might’ve saved the lives of some small children.

      • Gee, Minor Irritant, I really wish that the 400-something first responders would have done something, fuck anything really, for over an hour after their arrival on scene. ( Digitally exploring their asses counts as NOTHING, by the way) to take down the loser. I wish the school staff would have adhered to safety protocols concerning building perimeter security. In fact, concerning the Uvalde event, we here all wish it would have gone down differently.
        And as far as some dipshit that was legally vetted to purchase and to posess his purchase, what he left the gun store with is tantamount to you buying your morning coffee with toilet paper hanging out of your pants.
        Nice try at chess, asshole… check.

  2. So far, I make 81,100 American Bucks online, am a full time student and only work 3-4 hours a day. {e3} I made a lot of money. I’m really grateful to my admin, it’s really easy to use and I’m glad to know it.

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  3. So, Bass Pro is storing 4473 data in a searchable database with unknown security. Regardless of the concerning store policy issue here, the whole electronic form 4473 thing makes me shop elsewhere. I’ve already had enough data breaches scattering my personal info across the internet, even from the .gov security clearance system! I’ll just shop at dealers that still use paper forms, at least ATF can’t just download a thumb drive that they later lose or add to their illegal registry.

    • “Unknown security”?? BS it’s crap “security” as EVERYWHERE else that is storing your personal info.

      Bass Pro sucks and ruined Cabelas

      • Cabela’s ruined itself. Bass Pro just stopped it from being parted out by the venture capital firm that had obtained it.

      • Microsoft security?

        A password protected MS Access file?

        That can be broken in minutes.

      • Exactly! Even the folks who work at my Cabela’s gun counter seem anti-gun. Over the years I’ve purchased many guns there but now they seem reluctant to show you a gun or even wait on you.

    • If I am not mistaken, all gun sales in Kallyfornikadia require an electronic 4473. That way they can just download it into their massive database and not have to run it through a scanner. I haven’t bought ammo since the permit for ammo went into effect but I suspect there is a huge database of folks who have bought a box of .22s.

      • Correct. They’ve been electronic for a while now.

        And I also haven’t purchased any ammo here in CA since the BGC law went into effect in 2019. Glad I backed up the truck during the “Trump Slump” years 2017-2019 while inventories were high and prices were low.

    • > So, Bass Pro is storing 4473 data in a searchable database with unknown security.

      **THIS** is the takeaway here. This is what’s important.

      I’m really disappointed that it wasn’t mentioned in the actual post.

  4. Remember boys and girls. When it comes to tyranny. You deserve. What you allow. Government intrusion at any level, on your Constitutional Rights. Is Tyranny. Pure,Plain, and Simple.

        • Possums are a kinda rank, greasy meat, what little you can scrape off the bones.

          You can’t get the taste out of your mouth. That’s what the likker is for… 🙂

    • The United States Supreme Court has issued their opinion:

      “Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.”

      -The late Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia, wrote in the 2008 District of Columbia versus Heller decision.

      • MINOR Miner49er. You love to rest your laurels on that statement by Justice Scalia. No right is absolute. However, the 2nd makes it rather clear that the right to bear arms is pretty close to absolute. I suggest you read and then reread Bruen.
        As to felons having a firearm, I agree that they should be barred from owning a firearm. As to the mentally ill, I agree that they should be barred as well, However you Leftists have made it difficult at best to ban a mentally ill person from buying a firearm, thanks to the HIPPA law which you people refuse to modify.

  5. SIG SAUER P365 XMACRO? Fuck Bass Pro shops, found three sellers online in stock for $799.00 in less than five minutes… If the guy really wants one, they are out there…

    • But when you add shipping and, for most dealers, a higher transfer fee that charged for guns they sell, the price is $100+ higher. Most California dealers charge $75-$100 for an internet transfer.

      • My FFL charges $15.00 handling and $5.00 for the background check. The gun has an MSRP of $999.00, $820.00 plus tax is ball park for what this guy was going to pay at Bass Pro… Guess that’s one difference between Kommiefornia and the Free State of Florida….

        • There is an FFL less than 10 minutes away from the Tampa Bass Pro store who charges $35 including the $7 background check fee for transfers. That other store will also order from their distributor a firearm that they do not have in stock for sale at a competitive price.
          The competitive advantage that Bass Pro offers is the convenience that they might sell you a firearm while your reel is respooled.

        • Mark’s correct about the fees here in CA, MAXX. The gun I purchased specifically to put on my CCW (your carry gun(s) must be listed on the permit) was $499. Total price after adding taxes, FFL fees, DROS, etc was almost $700.

        • I just bought a gun that included a transfer
          fee of only at $26.50. My local FFL has always been very good to her customers.

        • “A $75-$100 transfer fee is highway robbery.”

          Thinking it is more like an intended deterrent.

        • Central Pennsylvania it’s hard to find a transfer fee below $50 for an internet purchase. There’s a place in Lancaster that I think does $30. If you order from a place that lists FFLs they have dealt with and their fees, call the receiving FFL and double check. I ordered a receiver from Brownell’s before, to a shop that Brownell’s listed as $35. When my item arrived the shop wanted $55 for the transfer.

        • I pay $25 at my local Florida FFL.

          Sucks about the Tampa Bass Pro, that’s the one I use when I drop-ship cases of ammo to save on the shipping charges.

          Damn good thing I’ve never been denied a transfer from them…

          *shudder* 🙁

        • About three years ago LGS wanted $65 transfer fee and $35 bachground check, I understand that they want me to buy THEIR guns but THEIR PRICES are always $100-$150 over suggested retail.
          There is a pawn shop about 20 min drive that charged $21 transfer and $5 background at that time, I used them several times. I recently went to another pawn shop operated by the same folks and the charges were , I think, about $57 for the same services. Inflation? the online dealer said that the charges were the same as what used to be charged. Lots fewer ffls raise the charges.

      • The local FFL I ship to charges a flat $25.00 for the transfer/background/handling fee. As do the 4 other FFL’s I’ve checked with in this area. I do business with the young lady’s shop simply because she is, 1, closest to my home. And 2, She has always been helpful and has a fairly competent smith working with her. While I can do much of the repair/Maintenace work myself, sometimes I just don’t have the time. And, lastly, she is easy on the eyes and likes to shoot the bull and talk about guns.

    • Bass Pro, Dick’s and any others can take a hike, if they too become woke or WLF(woke liberal fools).
      Support local FFLs even if they charge a few $ more after all a few extra $ ain’t going to make or break a person. And do more for the local economy while helping a neighbor remain in business.

  6. …took a fishing reel to Bass Pro Shop’s Tampa store last week to be re-spooled with new line.”

    Wait, wut?

    As for the rest of it, simple, stop buying anything from BPS. I haven’t set foot in one for years. Then again, if you’re the type to have a store spool your fishing reel… well, you might be a bit special.

    Also, I’d hazard the guess that this has more to do with the S score they want than it does with the ATF.

    • “Then again, if you’re the type to have a store spool your fishing reel… well, you might be a bit special. ”

      That’s actually a thing here in Tampa, taking your reel to the local tackle shop and have them fill it. It’s actually cheaper than buying boxes of line, since the stores buy the *monster* spools and sell it not a lot over their cost.

      It’s a bit of a loss-leader, as it gets the fisherman in the shop, where they can sell them other crap like lures.

      If that makes me a fisherman ‘spechul snowflake’, so be it. If you get down to Florida, lets do a little overnite offshore fishing on the party boats, big-assed grouper are waiting to be caught… 🙂

      • Oh, you in the Rocky Mountains fly-fish a lot, and I guess weight-forward fishing line doesn’t come in 1,000-meter bulk spools of line.

        So, maybe it’s an offshore, salt-water thing, I suppose?

        • I’ve fished all over the world, fly, spinner, surf and offshore.

          If I own the setup, I simply prefer to remove the line and inspect the reel, doing preventative (or required) maintenance as necessary.

          I also do nearly all of my own home, automotive, motorcycle and equipment maintenance because I like to know how things function, I don’t trust some $xx/hour idiot and I want to know things were done correctly. If I don’t know how to do it correctly, I learn how and then do it.

          Unlike most people, I prefer not to be dependent on someone else not fucking up like the idiots who go to Grease Monkey and then complain on NextDoor that the people at the shop forgot the drainplug and now their engine’s toast.

          Yes, line sometimes is cheaper if you “let them do it” but I’m saved the cost of the drive and listening to someone trying to sell me something I don’t need and don’t want, often with a combination of lies and ignorance.

        • You’ve been everywhere, and done everything.

          Check… 🙂

        • I’d spent considerable time on six continents before I was 15.

          It’s been an interesting life. The religious would say “blessed”.

          It’s also why I laugh when the libbies tell me to “get an education and travel”.

  7. I haven’t bought a bang stick from a big box retailer in many years. Just as I don’t make such purchases on a card. Call me paranoid but I prefer to shop privately or from local merchants and I always pay cash. Since Bass Pro is keeping additional 4473 records, that alone is reason enough for me to never darken their door.

  8. I use a local FFL. Small shop, owner is a former Marine. He charges transfer my fees in crayons. He says the red ones taste best.

    • I treat Bass Pro the same way I do Citgo Gas, if you see me pulling into one call 911 because I am having a serious medical emergency, or I’ve died at the wheel/in the seat…

  9. Never mind store policy and getting upset and wasting time talking with “joe” and letting joe use your words against you.
    Go somewhere else and do not go back. Then post what happened to you on Gun Talk forums, etc. Any FFL has the option to deny like you have the option not to buy.

      • no, actually this is a classic fake dacian, probably posted by Minor under one of his multiple personas… notice there are no spelling errors, the syntax is correct, and references are thoughtfully included from “reputable” sources.

    • dacian, the DUNDERHEAD, Apparently you have not heard of the appeals process? That Federal Judge is going to get his decision overturned.
      You see there is this thing called the Constitution and the 2nd Amendment.

      • “You see there is this thing called the Constitution and the 2nd Amendment.

        dacian, like Miner49er, like all left-wing, is communist politically. They do not recognize the U.S. Constitution as legitimate but rather something the left-wing communist can exploit to overthrow a country from within.

        Its a typical communist tactic … exploit the rights under a country’s constitution to conquer from within (in this context, e.g. first amendment exploitation). The purpose is to create and propagate overall false ‘narratives’ and ‘conditions’ designed to gain control over rights and weaken moral constraints and the justice systems (e.g. generate strife and division and polarizing ‘factions’ pitting them one against – for example, left-wing policies for ‘justice reform’ and de-funding police, advancing trans ideology to indoctrinate children to raise an accepting generation, ‘cancel’ culture, supporting ANTIFA, BLM, Trans genocide false narrative, etc…. to increase violence and generate fear in a population). This is further used to eventually emplace an Anacro-Tyranny with a ruling elite ruling by fiat while still saying they are a ‘democracy’ with a constitution (although they control the rights within turning them into ‘privileges’) (e.g. Bidens executive orders to bypass congress and have his agencies create defacto unconstitutional law), and the ruling-elite are going to ‘fix’ everything so the population starts to accept’ the ‘security’ the state offers. After the Anacro-Tyranny is emplaced, at some point after the communist totalitarian state rises and the country over throw from within is complete.

        • Opposing or different view points and discourse for those, and expressive speech, are one thing. But propagating overall (or overall false) ‘narratives’ and ‘conditions’ intended to aid removal of a (constitutional) inherent unalienable right is an entirely different thing. The founding fathers didn’t let it happen, did not intend for that to happen. The founders would have never allowed that an ideology (e.g. left-wing/liberal) propagating overall (or overall false) ‘narratives’ and ‘conditions’ intended to remove a (constitutional) inherent unalienable right, and in fact they did not tolerate such and even warned against letting it happen.

          dacian and Miner49er have exceeded the bounds of opposing or different view points and discourse. They clearly have an agenda to propagate overall (or overall false) ‘narratives’ and ‘conditions’ intended to be used to aid removal of a (constitutional) inherent unalienable right. They should be ‘de-platformed’ (banned) here at TTAG, and their agenda narrative is not ‘The Truth About Guns’.

  10. Because of their large inventory. It’s always good to go to bass pro. Just to see what might be new in stock.
    But I only buy clothing and sometimes ammo there. Because sometimes they’re the only ones who have on hand what I want.

    Most times I get my ammo from mom and pop stores. I’d much rather support them.

    Big box stores might be convenient. But they are not your friends. They will drop the firearms portion of their business at the drop of a hat. If the government gives them an incentive too.

    • bass pro clothing has never impressed me. I have gotten enough uses out of the few items I have bought to be unable to return it and that is all. pissed me off their clothes and boots are not cheap. total wash and toss.

    • Cabelas has been doing the computer based data acquisition form form MANY years. At least 10/before the boat/fish people arrived.

  11. Might have missed it in the article but it seems to me that the question that needed to be asked is – who at corporate came up with this cockamamie policy, and specifically why. The why is most likely from an opinion by some legal beagle that lack of such a policy ‘might’ expose them to some legal jeopardy. There has to be some ‘reason’ – regardless of how muddled it is. If that can be established then it might be possible for them to alter it.
    Nah, who am I kidding, once corporate starts down such a dark path they ain’t likely to change course. The resulting loss of good will and revenue might but I doubt it, even ‘dicks’ is still around after all.

    • “…who at corporate came up with this cockamamie policy, and specifically why.”

      Corporate liability, full stop.

      Just the threat of possible liability convinced the company they should do it…

  12. For a number of years I quit buying from Cabela, I have no bass pro locally. Got a chance couple weeks back and picked up a couple .22 revolvers at a steal. Literally I could not beat the prices( ruger and a heritage combo). As awful as I think the heritage is, $109 with 22 mag extra cylinder seemed perfect for a beater toy. Add in $100 of gift cards from my frequent flyer points and almost free

    • Most people vastly over estimate the intelligence of lawyers. Intellectual brilliance is NOT a requirement to get into/grad law school. The ability to pay silly tuition/fees. Prime examples: Hunter Biden, Joey Obiden, and demtard member of congress who is a lawyer.

        • “Exhibit A has to be our current VP.”

          How *that* ever managed to pass the bar exam baffles me to this day.

          Seriously, that’s one stone-cold stupid bitch, based on the endless verbal diarrhea she projectile-vomits from her mouth… 🙁

        • That’s why often times, while sitting in court listening to somebody like the vp go on and on and on full of sound and fury signifying nothing I thought to myself, I was only going to wash the car this weekend. I think I will take the bar exam instead. If this ninny managed to pass it, anyone can. Of course, the thought also occurred to me to wonder why the judge didn’t ask the ninny for his bar card. They are supposed to have it on their person while acting like a lawyer, sort of like a legal hunting license. Now that I think about it, in 20+ years of working in court, no matter how obtuse the attorney, no judge ever asked that dummy if he actually had a bar card.

        • How *that* ever managed to pass the bar exam baffles me to this day.

          On her knees, the same way she made her “career”…

        • There was a study out of California a few years back that suggested that 80% of the people who passed the bar in California in the previous 20 years cheated to do so.

  13. So far, I make 81,100 American Bucks online, am a full time student and only work 3-4 hours a day. {e3} I made a lot of money. I’m really grateful to my admin, it’s really easy to use and I’m glad to know it.

    click here…….. https://webonline76.blogspot.com/

  14. Midwest chain “Fleet Farm” (formerly Mills Fleet Farm) has started demanding ID for ammo (or primers) at purchase. This is ALSO total BS.

    • When it was still family owned, they had a store-brand AR. It was the first thing to go when they went corporate.

      Blaine’s is significantly worse, but I’ve been watching them.

  15. Here’s the main reason why I never deal with big box stores.They have sheet hole policies in effect which go against the Second Amenment.Local gun dealers are much more effective to deral with

  16. I don’t remember buying a firearm from a a big box store. Clothes, boots, calls, etc. Yeah, but firearms? Usually private sales or a LGS.

    • Very occasionally, they can get a deal on some guns. That doesn’t make up for their usual prices, tho… 🙁

      • Geoff, I have found that their prices are pretty much in line with most gun dealers, small or “big box”. The trick to shopping for any firearm is to SHOP. I’ve seem some pretty good deals at Bass Pro, and I’ve seen some not so good. Again, the trick is to shop. Many “big box stores” will price match.

  17. Well with the media shoving tons of unchecked anti gun propaganda into the heads of people who fold like the cheap tents they sale the “gun” is the center of all wrong. Never mind the axes, knives, shovels, saws, rope, etc. just any old murderer, kidnapper, rapist can walk in and buy and probably receive a discount coupon to shop again…Citizen wanting a firearm goes through and passes a background check well that’s not good enough.

    Hopefully they will not sell a firearm to b.h. obama over his close and I mean close ties with the communist terrorist bill ayers or sell to Jim Crow Gun Control joe over his close ties to obama.

  18. @possum
    “I got a forty five caliber HiPoint. It’s in the back of the boat now.”

    Reckon you need a new gun as a counter-weight in the bow?

    • With some line the HiPoint serves as an anchor. Cheaper than a purpose built anchor.

      When I lived in WV we used to take cans, usually coffee, fill them with concrete and anchor an eye bolt in them and use them for anchors.

      • “When I lived in WV we used to take cans, usually coffee, fill them with concrete and anchor an eye bolt in them and use them for anchors.”

        IIRC, my brother and I used 1oz lead weights when we fished from my parents fish tank.

  19. I still think that the buyer has a law suit. It seems that the bogus reason given is in fact bogus. Yes a gun dealer can refuse to see a firearm but any LEGITIMATE REASON, ONLY!

    • “I still think that the buyer has a law suit.”

      You would think so, but it as absolutely *not* the case, from my years behind a pawn and gun shop.

      No reason needed whatsoever according to the ATF, and if you think about it a bit, it makes sense. I’ve personally turned down a sale, the guy just creeped me out, bigtime, by the way he was acting. So, I pulled the gun behind the counter and told the guy I’d be right back. Went into the back of the shop, told my boss my concerns and he took care of it. It was not a fun thing to experience. I’m thankful I never saw the guy again in that shop… 🙁

      • Goeff, the ATF is NOT a court of law. To deny a sale, you have to have some plausible reason to deny the sale. Otherwise you are opening yourself up to a law suit. Going to your boss with your concerns was the right thing. I’m glad it worked out. I am sure your concerns were well founded.

        • There are things that you can not use as a reason to refuse service. Race, gender, religion etc. Anything else is fair game.
          or just because. Read the sign.
          Management reserves the right to refuse service to anyone. As is their right.

        • Tired, that would be great in a restaurant, or an ordinary store. A gun store is a different ball of wax. Possession of a firearm “shall not be infringed.”

        • Tired, that is ONE opinion. However, I have another and if a store denied my purchase (it hasn’t happened), I would sue using the 2nd Amendment and that fact that the store was acting as an ‘agent of the government’ to deny me, my 2nd Amendment rights.

        • Walt I wish you luck if that ever happens.
          I would just go to a different store and let it be known that the first store are A Holes

        • Tired, you see that is where we differ. I have a flag I fly with my American flag every day. It says, DON’T TREAD ON ME!

        • Me to. Looking at it has I’m typing this. It gets swapped out for a pirate flag and sometimes a state flag.
          A private business has the right to refuse service to anyone. There are a few reasons they can’t use for refusing services that will land them in court. But they can refuse. In my trade we frequently turn down potential customers for many reasons and we usually don’t tell them why , just decline the job. Never had any repercussions most likely never will.

        • Tired, Yup, up to a point. We all have the right to bear arms and that right, “shall not be infringed”. If a seller of firearms refuses to sell to a person with no articulable reason, he is acting to infringe on a person’s Constitutional right.

  20. @jwm
    “So now I am super duper done. I won’t even go to a gun store anymore. Turns out I can’t be trusted alone there.”

    Take a trusted friend, who will help you pick the next one. Always good to have a scapegoat.

  21. Our Cabella’s store will NOT transfer a gun to someone in “OPEN” status (one who gets delayed then a “no response” within 3 business days) EVEN though federal law allows the transfer. It’s their store policy. Some people never get a response so they can never buy a gun there.

  22. My local shops normally charge $20 for a transfer if you order it shipped to them, $10 if you have a CCW.

    There is no background check fee most places. I guess Floriduh is extra special that way as well.

  23. Bass Pro will not let you handle any handgun without a trigger lock on it!
    How does anyone evaluate the trigger pull?
    I stopped going there after that!

  24. Bass pro is trash. Soon they’ll be towing the democrat party line.

    Go to a real gun store or order online.

  25. The big chain stores that still sell firearms all have a legal department stocked with lawyers who’s job is to protect the company from lawsuits and government sanctions. They are terrified that their FFL could get pulled by BATF and cost them a large percentage of their annual sales revenue, even over a ‘technical’ violation. Like most large corporations with locations spread over the entire country, they have to have broad policies with no room for ‘exceptions’. Go to a local neighborhood gun shop. You get better service and it helps the local economy.

  26. as a former employee of cabelas. I worked there twice from 2012-2015 and they’ve always had this thing to where if someone got denied at the address, we were required to ask if they knew that person and based on their answer that will decide whether we make the purchase or not. majority of the time we proceeded. so the electronic thing was already a thing even before Bass Pro bought cabelas which I was working there at the time.

  27. I’ve had no problems purchasing a firearm from Bass Pro, nor do I know anyone who has had a problem. I kinda think the experience related here has more to do with a store manager with no balls. Here at the Utica store, the manager is PRO Gun.

  28. I promised myself when Brandon came on line – No more 4473s. Then I found this James River Armory built Galil ARM and fell into the trap again.

  29. @Tired of the bs July 23, 2023 At 11:29
    “I see go big or go home.”

    For the next gun, or next wife (or both)?

  30. I sell firearms for a living.

    1) You just incriminated your brother or whoever he was for lying on his form..
    2) if it walks like a straw purchase and looks like a straw purchase it probably is a straw purchase.
    3) Why would a firearms dealer sell and gun to the same household when there’s a denied form tied to the address? Are they just supposed to take your word on it?
    4) sounds like you need to talk to your boy and tell him to stop lying on a federal form by using your address that he no longer resides at.

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