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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPawn Shop Owner: 'I Will Sell No More Guns-I broke into tears seeing types of firearms I'm selling'
SEMINOLE, Fla. - As a pawn shop owner, Frank James was always a big believer in gun rights and the second amendment. After all, it was his bread and butter business.
But after what he saw in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday, he's had a change of heart. "I basically broke into tears and looked up on the wall, seeing the types of firearms I am selling," James said.
At the Loan Star Pawn store in Seminole, a glass display case that once housed several Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifles is now empty. The glass counters normally filled with handguns has been completely cleared.
"I'm not going to be part of it anymore," James said. He has several copies of the exact rifle suspected in the massacre.
http://wonkette.com/494735/florida-pawn-shop-owner-will-sell-no-more-guns-forever
HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)Why feed the gun culture in a state like Florida.
Skittles
(153,169 posts)wish we had more of them on DU
WillyT
(72,631 posts)laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)relayerbob
(6,544 posts)Canuckistanian
(42,290 posts)Exactly.
Wait Wut
(8,492 posts)Conscience wins over making money.
I don't know what his political affiliation is, and it doesn't matter. He has a fucking heart.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)I thought that the AR-15 was found in the trunk of a car, unused? What was the pawn shop owner reacting to?
Wait Wut
(8,492 posts)Also, you're incorrect. Here's a link to a RW site you might find interesting:
http://conservativebyte.com/2012/12/setting-the-record-straight-adam-lanza-did-use-the-bushmaster-ar-15/
KT2000
(20,583 posts)that was found to be incorrect.
Response to KT2000 (Reply #8)
bowens43 This message was self-deleted by its author.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Not the AR-15.
Ibisa
(9 posts)OK, clearly we cannot trust anything that the press is putting out. Even the criminal's poor brother was accused. They really need to clean up their act on reporting. The brother is going to have all kinds of negative baggage that will haunt him for as long as he lives.
Mr. Mojo Risen
(104 posts)Unless coroner's are also part of some vast liberal conspiracy. It's hard to keep up these days.
uponit7771
(90,347 posts)KT2000
(20,583 posts)owns the gun store in town. He is doing a brisk business.
He does not have the integrity that this man has for sure.
MynameisBlarney
(2,979 posts)There was an article in the paper about it.
Made me sick to my stomach.
Chorophyll
(5,179 posts)did the right thing.
Some people just won't ever get it.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)effect. Still have the old book with the intended message and text written so a child could understand. Think of it with each positive individual anecdote and each societal shift we are now observing and experiencing in relationship to the issue of gun management/control and the protection of the public. May not even be true, but maybe it is.
"The claim is that unidentified scientists were conducting a study of macaque monkeys on the Japanese island of Koshima in 1952.[3] These scientists purportedly observed that some of these monkeys learned to wash sweet potatoes, and gradually this new behavior spread through the younger generation of monkeysin the usual fashion, through observation and repetition. Watson then claimed that the researchers observed that once a critical number of monkeys was reachedthe so-called hundredth monkeythis previously learned behavior instantly spread across the water to monkeys on nearby islands."
"This story was further popularized by Ken Keyes, Jr. with the publication of his book The Hundredth Monkey. Keyes' book was about the devastating effects of nuclear war (add guns and weapons and WMD)on the planet. Keyes presented the hundredth monkey effect story as an inspirational parable, applying it to human society and the effecting of positive change.[4] Since then, the story has become widely accepted as fact."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundredth_monkey_effect
Thav
(946 posts)Someone needs to get that guy an online shopping site, people will buy from him for doing this.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)All of this uproar appears to be good for business.
I believe the man, when he expresses grief for his line of work! It's tough to have guilt pangs and ambivalent feelings when you are trying to make a living. But what is he supposed to do? If he suddenly quits, another seller will fill in the gap.
And if people stop buying guns? Well, that makes the paycheck shrink and that is no good, either.
Aristus
(66,388 posts)I forgot what product they were selling, but the theme of the ad was celebrating the extraordinary qualities of ordinary people.
One of the lines was: "For everyone who ever stayed with a job because they needed the money, or quit one because no amount would be enough."
This guy, and his simple, workaday nobility, reminded me of that line...
Quantess
(27,630 posts)have experienced a moment where we understood we were part of the larger problem, just a cog in the wheel.
Starboard Tack
(11,181 posts)AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)And to me, that makes him a honorable person in my eyes.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)I suspect he may have been wrestling with the idea for a while.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)Perhaps this may turn out to be to gun massacres what Sandy was to climate change: Sandy's impact on N.Y.C. was quite devastating and really got a lot of people to reconsider their opinions. If Newtown can get people to question whether or not we really need 30-round magazine clips and fully automatic assault weapons, then that's a good thing in my view; TBH, I'm okay with handguns, rifles, shotguns, and even some semi-auto weapons, as long as their possession is well-regulated(and well enforced!), but I'd be alright with fully automatic weapons being banned, as long as it did indeed have a positive effect(there is, however, the problem of the black market.....).
tavalon
(27,985 posts)Just right now, I don't care what his political affiliation is, he has had a Ghandi like moment and that is to be respected and honored.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)Wayne LaPierre will never be the gentleman as the owner, very smart and compassionate.
TheCowsCameHome
(40,168 posts)Oh, not so good, eh?
Response to TheCowsCameHome (Reply #22)
Post removed
TheCowsCameHome
(40,168 posts)Is that supposed to be an attempt at humor?
kydo
(2,679 posts)the person you are questioning believes it as true. Which actually makes it really funning if it wasn't so sad. But in the end those types are stuck on stupid so why not laugh at it. Still you were too nice. Seriously its pretty clear the poster spewing nra talking points is not thinking straight. I mean really it be like me going to the nra site and saying ban all guns. I'd be shot. No really those loons would probably hunt me down and kill me.
Teehee123
(3 posts)calimary
(81,322 posts)Glad you're here! Stunning, isn't it? Conscience trumps profit. How 'bout that. Guess he couldn't look his own six-year-old daughter in the face and continue with business as usual. How 'bout that.
How 'bout that.
AmBlue
(3,111 posts)I was so encouraged by this man's integrity. I wish there were a million more like him. I will go out of my way to patronize his shop.
Sekhmets Daughter
(7,515 posts)Adam Pozner's mother gave an interview that should be required reading for everyone. Warning, part of this is heartbreakingly graphic
http://www.salon.com/2012/12/27/mother_of_youngest_sandy_hook_victim_gives_interview/
a la izquierda
(11,795 posts)I am just speechless.
Sekhmets Daughter
(7,515 posts)I debated all day about posting that link...but I think people need to know just how bad it was and what types of awful memories those parents will carry to their own graves.
a la izquierda
(11,795 posts)So thank you.
Sekhmets Daughter
(7,515 posts)tavalon
(27,985 posts)A parent's horror.
blaze
(6,362 posts)rip Adam
That was heart wrenching to read.
mgardener
(1,817 posts)As my hubby and I were walking through Gander Mountain, as part of our mall walk, I rounded a corner and looked up, and there was a wall full of guns, almost the width of the store.
And there were lots of people buying guns, 2 days after those poor innocent children and staff were murdered in Sandy Hook.
I will never buy another thing from them and Walmart.
farminator3000
(2,117 posts)At the Loan Star Pawn store in Seminole, a glass display case that once housed several Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifles is now empty. The glass counters normally filled with handguns has been completely cleared.
"I'm not going to be part of it anymore," James said.
aikoaiko
(34,172 posts)I respect his choices for whatever reason.
crim son
(27,464 posts)Mr. James has a conscience and is acting on it. I applaud him.
ileus
(15,396 posts)I also bet if some joe comes in and asks what he'd give to a 42" Sony he'd have no problem with that guy going out and charging it to a card and giving him half the price to buy drugs with.
On the plus side it's nice to see him take a stand on selling firearms if he feels that strongly.
bobclark86
(1,415 posts)but a good point you make. I rank pawn dealers on the same level as those payday loan ads run on TV which charge $78,000 for a $10,000 loan.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
tavalon
(27,985 posts)Sure, his protest won't win the war but it's about effort, not outcome. Standing on principles often encourages others to do the same.
Taverner
(55,476 posts)As some may know, I used to support gun rights
I didn't own a gun, but didn't worry about them since I never dealt with them
Then came Sandy Hook, and this time, it stuck
JohnnyRingo
(18,636 posts)I can take that at face value, but when he mentions not putting his assault rifles out, I wonder where he's putting them. According to him, he'll simply no longer sell them at the shop.
Since I doubt that means he'll melt down rifles that may soon double in value, I have to assume he'll find another outlet after expected legislation is passed. The same thing happened in the '90s. There was a time when an assault rifle couldn't be found unless one wanted to pay a premium. Several other retailers have made the same statement lately. After the ban, they'll no longer be able to sell assault rifles anyway.
By coincidence, design, or by sudden moral conscience, these born-again defenders of gunshot victims stand to make a tidy profit if they hold on to them awhile. What's more, this guy is a pawn dealer, and no lower animal crawls across the face of the Earth... except maybe a JD Byrider salesman.
I'm sorry to be so cynical, but I've seen this movie before, and I know how it ends. Let's see them destroy the in stock weapons in front of those news cameras they summoned to the store, and I'll eat my words doused in hot sauce.
seltzerwater
(53 posts)made this decision, the real question is what will he do with the inventory? Sell it off to be recirculated in the system, or melted down to make something useful like... whatever they make from melted guns.
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)what he thought these guns were going to be used for all those years he was blithely buying and selling them? How many mass shootings did he need to remind him? 3? 4? 5?
NNN0LHI
(67,190 posts)<iframe width="640" height="360" src="
?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>SoCalDem
(103,856 posts)People breaking into/robbing pawn shops are often after guns as well as cash..
Good for him
a pawn shop should not be selling guns in the first place
PavePusher
(15,374 posts)As long as the owner/operator is properly licenced to do so, what's the problem?
echo216610
(11 posts)the only thing that ever stopped a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun
TheCowsCameHome
(40,168 posts)Hmmmm. Is that you, Wayne?
fascisthunter
(29,381 posts)I know gun owners and they all seem to agree something must be done to regulate gun sales and type of guns sold. Most have a conscience and see how their own rights effect others' rights to live. I believe this is a reasonable compromise.