buying guns at academy

[firefighter3217]

Hello all...

I worked at academy, and yes, we DO enter some information from the 4473. The information we enter is for the electronic log book rather than the bound book. What we use it for:

-fairly often we get calls from people that lost their guns or had them stolen, and wanted the serial number to report it to the police. We require that they come in person and show their ID, at which point a manager can pull up their information. Note that only managers can do this.

-In order to make sure that there is not a straw sale going on in the store, at the register, the customer name, firearm type, and serial number pops up on the register. The cashier must then verify that the information all matches.

-The firearm serial number, make, and model are used for inventory purposes.

-If you attempted to purchase a firearm at any academy and you were denied a sale, if we already had your license, we input that information and state the reason why you were denied. We had a 90 day deny and a lifetime deny. Best way to get on the deny list: Blatantly say that you were buying it for someone that could not legally purchase a firearm. Alternately, get a DENY from NICS, in which case, we put you on the deny list. Granted, we will still call NICS again, but it takes a manager to take you off OUR deny list if NICS gives you a proceed the second time you try.

-As stated before, if you purchase more than 1 pistol in a 5 day period, we are required to fax in the multiple firearm purchase form to the ATF.

Now, what I did find strange working the Hunting/fishing department was that even though we put in your address, the next time you come back to buy a gun, I feel that a run of your DL# should also pull up the last address you bought a gun with, so that we didn't have to type it in again, but it doesn't... lame....

[Purplehood]

I appreciate the explanation. Thanks.

[frogbones]

My exp. has been good. I've only purchased two handguns from Academy. Both were plesent and quick. Both were done when the store was only open a few minutes .....early morning purchase on a weekday =

The manager explained to me what goes on the PC when I asked....no biggie. Was walked to the register, hand shaked for the business, and left to do my purchase.

Both times the prices were very competitive with gunshow prices...so meh.

I WILL buy from Academy again if it benifets me.

[Pacifist]

I've purchased four or five different guns from Academy. Each transaction was under 30 minutes total from the time I walked into the store until the time I walked out. The "perp walks" don't phase me in the least, so long as I am never asked to disarm before entering the establishment.

[JDRFL1]

I have purchased guns at Academy in San Antonio before with no problems. They have a pretty stict no return policy and even make you sign a form acknowledging the policy, however, I once purchased a handgun and decided I wasn't comfortable with its size and the manager was kind enough to let me exchange it anyway..... UNFIRED of course.

[firefighter3217]

um... I havent read every post on this thread, but having worked the gun counter at Academy, the walk up is also so that we can get the register number and transaction number. It's a book-keeping thing I guess.

From some of the bad experiences I'm reading about here, I'm almost scared to say I worked there. I know, though, at my store, we did our absolute best to give the best advice we could (usually starting with something like "if you haven't owned a pistol before, we strongly recommend that you go to a range and rent some guns to try them out and see what you like and don't like, then do some more research, and come back since we don't accept returns on ANY firearms." That said, if you asked me what I liked, I'd try to figure out the best gun for you, which typically meant NOT pointing out the 1911 to an elderly woman, but showing the bersa .380, as the recoil is nicer on arthritic hands, or whatever the case at hand may be... If you asked my opinion, I gave it, but I definitely let people know that of the 2-3 of us behind the counter at any one time, only once in a blue moon would all 3 of us agree on our favorite carry gun. Most of the time we all had different ideas, meaning that we couldn't give you a hard and fast answer on what you should buy. This is, of course, helped out by the fact that we were NOT on commission, meaning that we would genuinely try to find your best fit, not make the most on a sale, because we didn't see any extra cash for a sale)

As for the long waits, the ONLY reason I can think of a 2 hour wait is when NICS is busy or if your background is shady. Once I've had NICS say they would call back while their system rebooted, which caused a 45 minute delay for the guy I was selling a gun to. I've also had some instances where I was on hold with NICS for 10 minutes or so while they looked into someone's background (or got through a small backlog). Other than that, it's got to be the particular employee/manager that you're dealing with on said day.

If you're in the fort worth area, I recommend my old store: the one at 26 and 820. John Swisher is the manager for hunting and fishing, knows his stuff, and will do EVERYTHING in his power to help you have a good experience there. He ascribes to the mantra of it being better to lose a dollar today if it means having a single customer come back. If you're about to go there, send me an email, and I'll tell you which gun counter guys will help you the most...

Oh-- in case you're wondering about the register thing, yes, on a few occasions we have brought the wrong gun to the register, and because of the automated system, the problem was corrected before you left the store. The only problems that happened in the time I worked there were as follows:
-2 people buying glock 17's at once, serial numbers were switched on accident. Problem solved in about 30 seconds with a quick trip to the gun counter for a swap
-2 Taurus pistols being sold at once, a PT-709 stainless and the regular 709. Same fix as before.
-glock in case didn't match serial number on box. Display gun and gun from box had been switched while entering serial numbers into the computer (note: we always enter it into the computer off the FRAME, not the box)... Similar fix as before...

[firefighter3217]

I appreciate the explanation. Thanks.

Anytime