Okay, on my way in to job #2 I stopped by and spoke to the range folks at superior Pawn and gun on Va Bch Blvd. The answer is "it depends". If you are Concealed Carrying, well then they won't ask you to unload because they don't know you are carrying.
There were three guys working the counter and the answers to the questions varied. We read the sign together and 2 out of 3 believe the store is seperate from the range. One guy (one who the store is the range especially on saturday morning) will always ask folks to unload. THe others not so much. A lot depends on how you carry yourself. If you are behaving responsible you have a 50/50 chance of not being hassled.
Now, for the rest of the story. All three guys were able to relate numerous instances where folks just do dumb things which led to the "for everyone's safety" mentality. Numerous times, folks walk up to the counter, plop their loaded firearm down on the counter pointing at the staff and say "I want to shoot this here". Others come in looking for a holster, and begin trying out various holsters with a fully loaded gun, including practice draws.
So, yes they want you to unload in your car before you come inside. If you don't, will you be hasseled? Maybe, depends on the person that see you and how many times they have had people be stupid during the earlier part of their day. One thing is pretty clear, if it leaves your holster it needs to be unloaded BEFORE you walk through the door. These guys deal with gun owners and wanna be's every day and can tell pretty quick who is responsible and who is a buckeroo.
To complicate things more, you might get asked to unload even if you have been going in every day for a week with no hassle because unbeknownst to you, they clerk had to ask the yahoo standing 5 feet down the counter to do so not more than 3 minutes before you walked in the door and if they don't ask you the guy is going to raise a stink. Food for thought... sometimes it is not just about us.
