Here are two letters by a fORMER Gunsmith for Gander Mountain, These letters where sent to various gun mags.
Take the time to read them. You will find it worth it.....Celt
Dear Sir: I work as a gunsmith for a large outdoor sports retail chain. Part of my job
is to appraise used guns that people bring us for resale. A few years ago, I went to a
gun buy back in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with the intention of giving free estimates on
guns that might be worth more than the $50.00 that was being offered. When I got there
and informed the sheriff what I wanted to do, he said there would be no problem as
long as I talked to the people before they got to the turn-in table. Once he got them,
the guns would be destroyed. Of the approximately 150-200 guns I saw, only eight were
worth more than $50.00 and only three of the eight made it to the table. Most of what
was turned in was absolute junk, as usual. Imagine my surprise when I showed up at the
buy back in Flint, Michigan on June 10th, Blue Book of Gun Values in hand, intending
to offer the same free service, only to be told by a police Sargent that I could'nt do
that on city property. I was further warned that if anybody complained, I'd have to
leave. I went outside and began talking to people as they arrived, asking them if they
had anything they thought might be worth more that $50.00 and if they would like a
free appraisal. Most of the people allowed me to see their guns, the majority of which
were not worth $50.00. One man shoved me a pistol worth more than that was being
offered and when I told him what a retailer would pay for it, he left without turning
in the gun. While I was talking to people in the parking lot, the sergeant came out
and told me I would have to move to the sidewalk, as the parking lot was city
property. In the three hours I was there, I would estimate there were 50-75 guns
turned in. Of the ones I saw, only the one that I appraised was worth more than the
turn in price.
On Tuesday I called the lieutenant in charge of the buy back prograrm for
some more information. After I had explained what I had done, she told me
that if she had known what I was doing, she never would have permitted me
to do it. The federal grant was for the destruction of guns, nothing
else. By telling people what their guns were worth, she said, I had
jeopardized that funding. Imagine that...the police don't want people to
know what their guns are worth. If they had any idea of the fair market
value of the guns, they might well choose to recycle them and make more
rnoney...what a concept! Of course that would go against; the present
federal administration's policy of destroying as many guns as possible
and they can't have that. I was told hy another police officer that under
the "no questions asked" policy of the buy back, no checks would be made
on the guns. They would be destroyed without finding out if they were
stolen. What ever happened to the idea of returning recovered stolen
property to the rightful owners? That must not apply to firearms. Think
about it...a criminal can come into your house, steal your guns, commit
crimes with them, sell them to the police and eliminate the evidence. Who
says crime doesn't pay? The original price was to be $ 50.00 per gun but
they decided to pay $100.00 for an "assault weapon." The determination of
what constituted an "assault weapon" was made by a police department
range officer. I sincerely hope he was acting on orders from a higher
authority for his "looks like--is like" definition. If he was relying
exclusively on his own training and expertise, I would question both. One
man got $100.00 for a Ruger 10-22 because it had an after market military
style stock on it. Another man got
$100.00 for a Squires-Bingham .22 that vaguely resembles an AR-15. He
told me that he and his son had fallen on the rifle some years back,
breaking it and he had glued it hack together for the buy back. To call
these two guns "assault weapons" is the firearms equivalent of racial
profiling. It's also more of a waste of money than the rest of the buy
back. Granted, I didn't see every gun that was turned in, but if what I
saw was any indication, I can think of much more productive ways of
spending federal grant money Possibly it could be spent on more police
coverage. Perhaps it could be used for women's or homeless shelters, drug
rehab and awareness programs and countless other areas that would
actually DO SOME GOOD!! I strongly object to my tax money being wasted to
further the federal government's feel good, "throw money at it and ignore
the real problem" solution to crime. To paraphrase Sarah Brady, if I only
saved one gun, it was worth it...and I did.
Mike Day
Letter #2
Dear Sir: This is a follow-up to my letter concerning the stupidity of
gun buy-ups and my experience with one in Flint, MI on 10 June of this
year. On 28 June I was fired from my job as a gunsmith at the Gander
Mountain store in Swartz Creek, MI for ”misrepresenting the company.”
Before I attended the buy-up, I informed my store manager what I
intended to do...he showed no concern. After I had called the police
department for more information and was asked who the store manager
was, I told him he might get a call from them...he still showed no
concern. On 28 June, the incoming district manager came to the store,
asked me some questions about what I had done and asked to see a copy
of the letter I had written. He then called corporate headquarters and
when he came back in the manager’s office, he informed me that my
employment was terminated at that point. He told me to remove my tools
and other personal possessions the following morning. When I came in
the next day, I moved my gear out and placed a call to Gary Hauger,
executive VP for Stores and Retail sales to ask why I had been fired
after 5 years of loyal service, good work and positive evaluations. He
told me that there had been problems with people misrepresenting the
company in the past and this is how it was handled. I then asked who
had made the complaint and what they had said, and was told he wasn’t
going to get into that. Under the terms of my employment, I am an ”at
will” employee and have no legal recourse in the matter. I could leave
at any time, for no reason and they could fire me at any time, for no
reason. But I believe that had it not been for that unidentified
complainant, I would still be working at Gander Mountain. I attended
the gun buy-up on my own time. I had a Gander Mountain ball cap on, it
happened to be the one I grabbed going out the door...there are
hundreds of them out there. If some one asked me where I worked, I
told them, followedby the fact that I was not representing the
company, but as a private citizen on his own time. If people asked
about gun work, I gave them a business card, the same way I would have
at a gun show shooting match or other firearms related occasion. When
I called the police for more information, I told them where I worked
and what I did to establish my credibility for being at the buy-up,
but I never said I represented the company. In my original letter, I
did not identify Gander Mountain by name to avoid such a charge. I
could understand being chewed out, ”If you ever do this again, you’re
history” or a 5 day suspension without pay, but to be fired with no
warning is wrong. I believe they fired a good man for a bad reason. I
have received a tremendous amount of positive support from many people
who feel the same way and I would like to thank them all. If you would
like to express your opinions to Gander Mountain corporate
headquarters, the address
1S:
Gander Mountain 4567 W. 80th St. Bloomington, MN 55437
phone: 1-800- (745) 7411
Write two letters...one to Gary Hauger and one to Steve Watson, CEO
Thanks for the help.
Sincerely,
Mike Day
Take the time to read them. You will find it worth it.....Celt
Dear Sir: I work as a gunsmith for a large outdoor sports retail chain. Part of my job
is to appraise used guns that people bring us for resale. A few years ago, I went to a
gun buy back in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with the intention of giving free estimates on
guns that might be worth more than the $50.00 that was being offered. When I got there
and informed the sheriff what I wanted to do, he said there would be no problem as
long as I talked to the people before they got to the turn-in table. Once he got them,
the guns would be destroyed. Of the approximately 150-200 guns I saw, only eight were
worth more than $50.00 and only three of the eight made it to the table. Most of what
was turned in was absolute junk, as usual. Imagine my surprise when I showed up at the
buy back in Flint, Michigan on June 10th, Blue Book of Gun Values in hand, intending
to offer the same free service, only to be told by a police Sargent that I could'nt do
that on city property. I was further warned that if anybody complained, I'd have to
leave. I went outside and began talking to people as they arrived, asking them if they
had anything they thought might be worth more that $50.00 and if they would like a
free appraisal. Most of the people allowed me to see their guns, the majority of which
were not worth $50.00. One man shoved me a pistol worth more than that was being
offered and when I told him what a retailer would pay for it, he left without turning
in the gun. While I was talking to people in the parking lot, the sergeant came out
and told me I would have to move to the sidewalk, as the parking lot was city
property. In the three hours I was there, I would estimate there were 50-75 guns
turned in. Of the ones I saw, only the one that I appraised was worth more than the
turn in price.
On Tuesday I called the lieutenant in charge of the buy back prograrm for
some more information. After I had explained what I had done, she told me
that if she had known what I was doing, she never would have permitted me
to do it. The federal grant was for the destruction of guns, nothing
else. By telling people what their guns were worth, she said, I had
jeopardized that funding. Imagine that...the police don't want people to
know what their guns are worth. If they had any idea of the fair market
value of the guns, they might well choose to recycle them and make more
rnoney...what a concept! Of course that would go against; the present
federal administration's policy of destroying as many guns as possible
and they can't have that. I was told hy another police officer that under
the "no questions asked" policy of the buy back, no checks would be made
on the guns. They would be destroyed without finding out if they were
stolen. What ever happened to the idea of returning recovered stolen
property to the rightful owners? That must not apply to firearms. Think
about it...a criminal can come into your house, steal your guns, commit
crimes with them, sell them to the police and eliminate the evidence. Who
says crime doesn't pay? The original price was to be $ 50.00 per gun but
they decided to pay $100.00 for an "assault weapon." The determination of
what constituted an "assault weapon" was made by a police department
range officer. I sincerely hope he was acting on orders from a higher
authority for his "looks like--is like" definition. If he was relying
exclusively on his own training and expertise, I would question both. One
man got $100.00 for a Ruger 10-22 because it had an after market military
style stock on it. Another man got
$100.00 for a Squires-Bingham .22 that vaguely resembles an AR-15. He
told me that he and his son had fallen on the rifle some years back,
breaking it and he had glued it hack together for the buy back. To call
these two guns "assault weapons" is the firearms equivalent of racial
profiling. It's also more of a waste of money than the rest of the buy
back. Granted, I didn't see every gun that was turned in, but if what I
saw was any indication, I can think of much more productive ways of
spending federal grant money Possibly it could be spent on more police
coverage. Perhaps it could be used for women's or homeless shelters, drug
rehab and awareness programs and countless other areas that would
actually DO SOME GOOD!! I strongly object to my tax money being wasted to
further the federal government's feel good, "throw money at it and ignore
the real problem" solution to crime. To paraphrase Sarah Brady, if I only
saved one gun, it was worth it...and I did.
Mike Day
Letter #2
Dear Sir: This is a follow-up to my letter concerning the stupidity of
gun buy-ups and my experience with one in Flint, MI on 10 June of this
year. On 28 June I was fired from my job as a gunsmith at the Gander
Mountain store in Swartz Creek, MI for ”misrepresenting the company.”
Before I attended the buy-up, I informed my store manager what I
intended to do...he showed no concern. After I had called the police
department for more information and was asked who the store manager
was, I told him he might get a call from them...he still showed no
concern. On 28 June, the incoming district manager came to the store,
asked me some questions about what I had done and asked to see a copy
of the letter I had written. He then called corporate headquarters and
when he came back in the manager’s office, he informed me that my
employment was terminated at that point. He told me to remove my tools
and other personal possessions the following morning. When I came in
the next day, I moved my gear out and placed a call to Gary Hauger,
executive VP for Stores and Retail sales to ask why I had been fired
after 5 years of loyal service, good work and positive evaluations. He
told me that there had been problems with people misrepresenting the
company in the past and this is how it was handled. I then asked who
had made the complaint and what they had said, and was told he wasn’t
going to get into that. Under the terms of my employment, I am an ”at
will” employee and have no legal recourse in the matter. I could leave
at any time, for no reason and they could fire me at any time, for no
reason. But I believe that had it not been for that unidentified
complainant, I would still be working at Gander Mountain. I attended
the gun buy-up on my own time. I had a Gander Mountain ball cap on, it
happened to be the one I grabbed going out the door...there are
hundreds of them out there. If some one asked me where I worked, I
told them, followedby the fact that I was not representing the
company, but as a private citizen on his own time. If people asked
about gun work, I gave them a business card, the same way I would have
at a gun show shooting match or other firearms related occasion. When
I called the police for more information, I told them where I worked
and what I did to establish my credibility for being at the buy-up,
but I never said I represented the company. In my original letter, I
did not identify Gander Mountain by name to avoid such a charge. I
could understand being chewed out, ”If you ever do this again, you’re
history” or a 5 day suspension without pay, but to be fired with no
warning is wrong. I believe they fired a good man for a bad reason. I
have received a tremendous amount of positive support from many people
who feel the same way and I would like to thank them all. If you would
like to express your opinions to Gander Mountain corporate
headquarters, the address
1S:
Gander Mountain 4567 W. 80th St. Bloomington, MN 55437
phone: 1-800- (745) 7411
Write two letters...one to Gary Hauger and one to Steve Watson, CEO
Thanks for the help.
Sincerely,
Mike Day