Local gunshop closing its doors.

[Lloyd Smale]

Was handy to have a gun shop a couple miles down the road. Went in there yesterday and they said Thursday was the last day theyd be open. They run it out of a converted garage attacked to there home and said it just took to much of there time and added to much stress for the profit they made. Deal breaker was there daughter who has some special medical needs that requires the wife to go down state for about a month to be with her in the hospital. the husband has another job and works the shop on weekends. Now its a 50 mile drive to the nearest gunshop and I really don't care for the people running it. Bunch of know it all ninja warriors. Oh well I walked out with a ar15 lower and parts kit pretty cheap for a last purchase.

[Tatume]

This is why I support the local gun shop. Even though I know people who can do transfers for me, and their rates are much less, I still buy from the shop. The shop owner does things for me too. For example, if I have to ship a handgun he will put it in the mail for me. That's $25, compared to $70 for UPS or FedEx. So, what goes around comes around.

[Hogtamer]

What I miss most are local gunsmiths with a solid reputation.

[mold maker]

Even with the increasing economy the trend is for big stores to prevail as the small local shops disappear. Seems as if no-one wants to put in the hours and work to maintain a shop like the old timers did. Everyone wants to show up late and leave early with a fat pay check.

[Love Life]

Most of the small LGS are over priced. I can buy a gun online, have it shipped, pay the transfer fee and still come out better than buying it at the LGS.

[Ickisrulz]

It's a new world with internet ordering. You can locate almost any gun, accessory and reloading component online and have it shipped for less than the local guys want. In other words, the local stores are too expensive and have limited selections.

I'm sorry local businesses are closing, but I am unwilling to pay significantly more for something than I have to. A penny saved is a penny earned.

[inspector_17]

Just have to shop around. I found a Lee Loadmaster (complete) in 223 in one of my lgs for $15 cheaper than online, that didnt count shipping. I like to support my lgs, 2 have good reps, the 3rd is really overpriced.

[TCoggins]

Lloyd, is that Northern Arms that closed down? That's too bad, as they have a shooting range there that I told my daughter about.

She is in Marquette. Where is a good, safe place for her to go shooting, if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks.

Tim

[Tatume]

What some people call "over-priced" is the cost of doing business. It costs money to maintain a storefront, to keep inventory, to pay employees who spend a significant portion of their work days answering questions, to take guns in for warranty repairs, etc. The owner of my LGS is not getting rich. He does provide an important service to the community. So I do not undercut him.

[glockfan]

Even with the increasing economy the trend is for big stores to prevail as the small local shops disappear. Seems as if no-one wants to put in the hours and work to maintain a shop like the old timers did. Everyone wants to show up late and leave early with a fat pay check.

problem with big stores is the service.there's usually no gunsmiths in there.so you buy something new,a glitch arise,and they don't have the expertise to perform warantee service.

another fact,is they hire clerks who know close to nothing about guns.so getting sound advices is generally a miss ; i'm talking about newbies who are in need of some knowledge so they are able to buy the right gun for their needs. more times than not,they will try to sell what they have in stock.rarely are they willing to special order for you unless you buy tons of stuffs every weeks lol.

that is why i try to support the lgs if i can,but honestly i'm shopping my guns online.you can locate what you want in minutes and get it delivered inside a week.

[Ickisrulz]

What some people call "over-priced" is the cost of doing business. It costs money to maintain a storefront, to keep inventory, to pay employees who spend a significant portion of their work days answering questions, to take guns in for warranty repairs, etc. The owner of my LGS is not getting rich. He does provide an important service to the community. So I do not undercut him.

I see no need to pay $200+ more for a firearm (or $50 for 1K primers) just because the business is a traditional store. The big gun store in our town is overstaffed with guys just standing around. It is an enormous store without a selection to match. I imagine that does get expensive and I see its existence to be of no benefit to me.

The local gun stores will all go away unless they learn to compete. This means changing the way they conduct business or offering something you cannot buy online (e.g., shooting range).

[one-eyed fat man]

It's a new world with internet ordering. You can locate almost any gun, accessory and reloading component online and have it shipped for less than the local guys want. In other words, the local stores are too expensive and have limited selections.

I'm sorry local businesses are closing, but I am unwilling to pay significantly more for something than I have to. A penny saved is a penny earned.

You are right. The biggest of those on line retailers are all 'drop ship' from a distributor, they stock very little, if anything. Their overhead is a notepad and a phone line. Because of their volume they get deeper discounts than the little guy at your LGS. Sometimes those discounts are so deep the online guys sell at retail for less than your local guy can buy it for from the distributor.

But then you can go to your local guy and fondle his stock to see if you like before you melt your plastic on the internet and wonder why he closed shop. There is a difference between a fair price and a cheap price.

[koehn,jim]

I also support my local shop even if it is a bit more money. Recently Calif. passed a law against internet sales of ammo, coming into the state. Without the local shop ammo would be hard to get for many people, those who reload are not affected yet.

[ThomR]

I'm pretty lucky in that I have a small time gun store a couple miles from my house. If I need a reloading component I check Ebay for the nearest first. There is another gun shop about 25 miles west of me that has a pretty significant ebay store. About 30 minutes north of me is an indoor gun range.

[RED BEAR]

had two close one that i delt with for 40 years closed the other less than a mile away instantly went up on prices. clipped me on some transfers told me one price then when guns got there refused to honer price complained and was told they would check on it already had 2 more going there and got the quoted price on those but was basically called a lyer. last time i will set foot in that store. now drive 20 miles for all needs. gun works in hopewell va hreat place to do busness with and about 1/2 the price for transfers.

[historicfirearms]

The problem with a small gun shop is that they don't get the same discounts as the bigger dealers. They can't sell for the same price because they will be losing money. When I had my FFL I could often buy cheaper from a place like Buds than I could from Davidson's. The only way I could make money was dealing in used guns, gunsmithing, and transfers. I love to trade used guns so that worked out ok but not enough to make a living. If a guy had a couple million to open a large store it would have made money. But if a guy had a couple million there are bigger money makers to invest in.

[Lloyd Smale]

yes it is. there even putting a gate in out at the road to keep people who don't know from coming and using the range because there dropping the extra insurance it required too. Marquette county is suppose to have open or are going to open a range over at the crossroads near the Marquette county fair grounds. She might want to check into that.

Lloyd, is that Northern Arms that closed down? That's too bad, as they have a shooting range there that I told my daughter about. I believe Marquette county has opened or going to open a range over by the crossroads and the Marquette county fair grounds. It was on the news anyway. You might have her check into that.

She is in Marquette. Where is a good, safe place for her to go shooting, if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks.

Tim

[Lloyd Smale]

this gunshop sold at reasonable prices. Might cost you 10 bucks more then a guy doing a transfer out of his house but where are they when you have a warrantee issue. Sure you can buy primers and powder cheaper on line but to do it you have to order enough to factor in the added cost of shipping and hazmat charges. Makes a 35 dollar pack of primers cost about 60 unless you have enough money to buy them a couple cases at a time. Same thing there with AR parts. Yes you can get a bare lower through a transfer guy for about 75 bucks if you do a lot of shopping around. Parts kit another 50 bucks. I bought a lower and the parts kit for 140. For that price they even assemble it. 15 bucks is about 2 packs of cigaretts or a 12 pack of beer. Id gladly pay that every time I bought a gun to keep the convience of a gun shop 3 miles from my house instead of 50 miles to go to a shop run by high school drop outs wearing ranger t shirts and camo pants that the closest they came to a ranger was one made by ford.

[Lloyd Smale]

this gunshop sold at reasonable prices. Might cost you 10 bucks more then a guy doing a transfer out of his house but where are they when you have a warrantee issue. Sure you can buy primers and powder cheaper on line but to do it you have to order enough to factor in the added cost of shipping and hazmat charges. Makes a 35 dollar pack of primers cost about 60 unless you have enough money to buy them a couple cases at a time. Same thing there with AR parts. Yes you can get a bare lower through a transfer guy for about 75 bucks if you do a lot of shopping around. Parts kit another 50 bucks. I bought a lower and the parts kit for 140. For that price they even assemble it. 15 bucks is about 2 packs of cigaretts or a 12 pack of beer. Id gladly pay that every time I bought a gun to keep the convience of a gun shop 3 miles from my house instead of 50 miles to go to a shop run by high school drop outs wearing ranger t shirts and camo pants that the closest they came to a ranger was one made by ford.

Ever need a brick of primers or a lb of powder or a couple packs of 22 shells?? everytime you buy on line through a ffl transfer guy in his house or over at the gas station you cut your own throat. Another thing to think about is new gun owners. I wonder how many people who never owned a gun before go into a gun shop and see something that interests them so they buy it. Or want to get a ccw and don't know how or want advice on a gun to buy for it. All that is gone without gun shops. Theres hundreds of people every day joining our ranks of gun owners because of that local gun shop that charges just enough more to be able to feed there kid. Don't know what all of you do for a living but what if your job (many have) is absorbed because of the internet or technology. Bet you wish that I might consider paying 5 bucks for for a product so you can keep your job and be able to afford to buy a gun in the first place. What I find is its the same mentality that says they wont spend 5 bucks more for a gun to keep someone in business that will gladly buy imported products or buy there grocerys at Walmart and there fishing tackle at DICKS because they saved a few bucks.

[lightman]

I hate to hear that your store is closing. You hear about this more and more it seems. I do my best to support my local gun shops. I'll buy from them if they are reasonably close to online prices. I can't justify paying hundreds of dollars more but I will pay a little more.