Cabela's...It Has Been a Good Run but I'm Done

I've Likely Purchased My Last Gun at Cabela's

For my wife and me, we’ve always loved driving the 60 or 70 miles south (in Maine) to Cabela’s/Bass Pro Shops to look around and, usually spend some money. I mean, why spend all the time and gas money if you’re not going to make a purchase, right?

Over the years, I’ve returned home, anxious to unload my bag of goodies which has included everything you can imagine: supersized bags of beef jerky, a dehydrator, camping generator, boxes and boxes of ammo, targets, clothing, hats, signs for my podcast studio, gun cleaning supplies and the occasional gun.

My favorite Cabela’s gun purchase was a pre-owned .44 magnum Ruger Redhawk wheel gun. The guy in the gun library said the price was firm so I walked and he ran out and said he’d give me the deal I asked for. A good experience. Most of my Cabela’s gun purchases were. Until the last one.

My wife wanted to look at guns. Her arthritis made the mini DAO revolver she had too hard to operate so we went to the gun counter for a look and she spotted a 9mm Smith & Wesson CSX. It’s a gun that she thought looked like a good size so we asked the sales guy to take it out, which he did, and handed it to here.

Unlike the last time I’d asked to see a gun at Cabela’s, though, this time he simply handed it over with out opening the slide and safety checking it. He didn’t have to. There was a lock on the trigger which held the trigger back so the gun couldn’t be cycled.

“Can you take the lock off so she can racking the slide and dry firing it?” I asked.

“I can’t,'‘ he said. “New company policy.”

Huh?

He explained that somewhere, at one of the stores, a young man had come in and asked to see a gun (before the locks). When it was handed to him, according to the salesman, he placed a round in the chamber and shot himself in the store.

Tragic, indeed. But to change an entire corporation’s policy because of one unhinged guy?

It should surprise no one. All it takes is a single loud voice screaming “lawsuit!” or running off to the local media to give the outlet bad publicity and the board of directors panics and makes a decision that will alter the course of history for their franchise.

My wife loved the gun and the way it felt in her hand. She didn’t realize how important it is to get the whole experience of racking the slide and dry firing the weapon to get a sense of how it operates and how much or little force it takes.

She said she wanted it and I will never embarrass her by making a fuss and making a scene by arguing in public. She takes issue with that so I relented.

We bought the gun and, thankfully, it seems to be okay for her hands insofar as cycling it (racking and dry firing) is concerned. But, because this particular gun has a hammer, there’s a little extra muscle needed launch a cartridge into the chamber…something she’s yet to try. Therefore, this gun wouldn’t have been my personal first choice for her. But it was her decision.

So here’s the takeaway.

If Cabela’s/Bass Pro Shops is going to keep the locks on their display (and boxed) guns in perpetuity, I’ll still go look at guns and if I see one I like, I’ll make a note of it and buy it from a place where I can dry fire it. Yes, this is a deal breaker for me and many others, as I have seen on gun blogs.

Here is another possibility you might consider.

Find a gun you like somewhere else, dry fire it and, if you like it, go to Cabela’s and tell them you’ll buy it if you can get a discount. Usually you’ll never get anything taken off a new gun but, given the problems this new policy is likely going to cause, you might be surprised. Read this account at 1911 Forum.

For me, all this running around sounds like too much hassle. I’ll probably just go to my local gun shop, which I’m very happy with. I’ll save Cabela’s for the other necessities, like beef jerky.