Coin shop - siege mentality

he can jump into the lake for all i care I will not do business with people who treat me as a potential criminal and thank god enough people know me in the industry that i dont have to

 

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Then read this:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jun/23/5000-offered-man-who-stole-rare-currency-sevier-sh/

 

I have one local coin shop. It is located in an alley in downtown. The alley is a thoroughway between two main roads. Even though it is well traveled between pedestrians and the police, the alley is a popular hangout for much of the city's homeless and less fortuate. The shop has one camera, and I don't even know if it works. I have heard that the owner carries a gun, but I have never seen it. I have noticed on several occassions that the owner of the shop regularly gives the these people money. I asked the assistant about this and the comment was that this was a form of payment, basically to leave the store alone - plus, he genuinely feels bad for them. It apparently works, since there has not been a robbery or hold up there ever and he has been there since the early 70s. But here in WV, I would not be worried so much about the owner as I would about the regulars that visit. We have some good ol' boys that mean business. Knives and guns are just part of the culture, especially in the coin world here. Heck, when you show up to a coin club meeting, you almost wonder if it is an NRA meeting. I think I am the odd-ball out because I don't carry. It has been suggested many times that I start carrying, and although I do own a few hand guns, the responsibility is too great.

 

Strong statement Spock but let me ask you this. Would you invite strangers in off the street to look at your collection?

That's what coin dealers do on a daily basis.

 

You could always cross the border into the REAL "Wild West", and check out a few shops in Sheridan.

 

Even being next to the police station doesn't mean anything. The drive up drop box for the Library is no longer available for use because some dope dropped a bunch of firecrackers into it and burned all the books inside. And the box is not even 100 yards from the front entrance of the police station. And even if you were right next door to our particular station, the only investigator for our department would simply say, "Well, who would want to rob a coin store? There isn't anywhere for over 200 miles to sell them at?"

It all depends!

 

i guess i am used to it. i always carried a handgun when working at the jewelry store. also, most all coin as well as gun dealers pack guns in indiana
(at least ones i have dealt with). you may not see the guns, but they are easily concealed. it has nothing to do w/ the transaction. i prefer that they have trained with thier guns, but then again, i have grown up with them, and got my first rifle when i was 7 or 8. i had fired guns long before then. it actually seems normal to me for a dealer to have the ability to defend oneself and property. i have rarely heard of a dealer having to fire his weapon.
best wishes......steve

 

there are other ways to treat customers rather than locking them in a cage. i also deal with jewelers who sell millions of dollars worth of jewelery and not one of them would treat their customers like that and yes people from the street can walk in

 

thats like saying if you buy one bad apple than radiate the whole forest before you buy another

 

HOLY COW!!!!!!!
ok, heres the deal. .. Move to Canada,.. and leave the guns there. seriously, I have never.. ever ever seen a gun in real life, other than the 9 mm at a shooting range, and my uncles hunting rifle..unbelievable, I dont know one person who owns a handgun, and IF someone carried a gun downtown where I lived, word would spread in 20 minutes, and he would be labeled crazy.
Move to Canada, leave the guns...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WtwGyxzxBDg

 

Don't get me wrong here Spock. We're basically in the same area and as I mentioned much earler I work in an "open" shop.

Point is one HAS to consider the risks. I personally let VERY few people look at my collection and yours is better.

Does that make any sense to you?

 

So,so true. I have never seen a gun ( other then one cops have ) and would never go anywhere near anyone with one. Far to scary. Although I have never been to a coin store ( none near me), at the shows I have gone too I have held bills and coins that are worth more then 10,000 without ever talking to them before, and I am a YN.

 

Here's another way of looking at the situation: Consider the coin shop as a bank. Nearly every bank I've ever been in has at least one armed guard. Simply think of the coin shop owner as his own armed guard.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with the coin shop owner carrying a gun and visibly displaying it in his own shop.

Now, I don't agree with the "devil-may-care" attitude. That's just a case of poor customer service...

 

Wow
AZ has an open carry law. You can walk down the street with a side arm. If concealed, you'll need a license, we have that too.

Both my local B&M owners wear a sidearm, and one has the buzz door booth.

 

None of the banks I have been to have armed guards.

 

My local B&M sometime has a security person working, I'm pretty sure he's an off-duty cop needing extra pay. They also have a buzzer on the door. I'm pretty sure none of the people working there carry though... I'll look for suspicious buldges next time I'm in there.

 

Ditto.
and boy oh boy, I would feel weird if they did.. it would just be weird. man its weird how different some cultures are. I understand why you guys carry guns.. it makes sense when California has a higher population than Canada as a whole, theres going to be a higher crime rate.. I would just feel uneasy if that many people had guns

 

Banks over here dont have armed guards LOL that would scare away the customers Heck it is only realy in the past shall we say 10 years that we have started to see regular armed officers on patrol, even now most cops are unarmed.

 

Im Detroit, only the criminals carry guns. When I first moved here, I saw a guy at the grocery store with a sidearm in a holster, lol, I freaked, then my friends told me " everybody" in AZ carrys, lol.

 

The criminals in Detroit are better armed than the police. But sometimes I think the lines betwixt police and criminals in that city blur a bit.