I had a disappointing and honestly concerning experience at ARA Guns. It took almost 15 minutes before anyone acknowledged me or asked if I needed help.
I eventually asked whether they were hiring and was told they didn't have any openings, which is completely fair. I stayed to browse their selection, and while I was there, an employee handed a customer a KRISS Vector. The stock was folded, and afterward they couldn't figure out how to reopen it. Three employees and two customers examined it without being able to operate it correctly.
I have never owned, handled, or operated a KRISS Vector, but I offered to look at it and opened the stock in roughly three seconds without instructions or assistance. At that point, my honest thought was: Are you sure you aren't hiring? Because I apparently understood the firearm better than the employees actively presenting it to a customer.
If a gun store chooses to carry a particular firearm, especially one with a less conventional design, its employees should understand its basic controls, features, and proper order of operations before placing it into a customer's hands. That knowledge should not be improvised in front of the customer. There should be a clear process for safely demonstrating every firearm the store sells, and employees who are unfamiliar with a model should receive training before handling or presenting it.
This is not merely about looking unprofessional. Firearms are not ordinary retail products, and a lack of basic product knowledge can become a serious safety issue. Watching multiple employees struggle with the basic operation of a firearm they were demonstrating felt careless and potentially negligent.
Not having a position available wasn't the problem. The lack of customer acknowledgment, product familiarity, and apparent operating procedures was the problem. Frankly, I should probably have been given a chance over the clowns who couldn't operate a firearm they were actively showing to a customer. I walked in hoping to learn more about the business and possibly find an employment opportunity; I walked out questioning whether the employees had been properly trained on the products they sell read more
