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Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:17 pm
by wgoforth
speedsix wrote:...sounds like Texas law might have been fashioned after the Golden Rule...

Imagine THAT!

Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:17 pm
by canvasbck
Maybe I'm a bit of a goody-too-shoes. I wouldn't sell a gun, a car, or even a pair of used tennis shoes without revealing known problems to the buyer.
I take that back, I would save the gun for one of those govt sponsored buyback programs and sell it to them.
Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:20 pm
by karder
I will try and be as honest and forthcoming as possible anytime I sell anything. I took an absolute bath on a Ducati St4 I sold recently. The bike was a beauty and fun to ride, but mechanically it was extremely unreliable. When I sold it, the guy who bought it, took it for a great test ride and really liked it so he asked me why I was selling it. I told him it was not reliable, and I gave him 6 years of detailed maintenance records showing all the things I had to repair on it. He thought about it for 5 minutes and shot me a ridiculous offer. It was so low that I paused for a bit, but then took it. He walked away grinning from ear to ear. I did not get much for the bike, but I got it out of my garage, and I won't have to feel guilty about taking advantage of someone.
I ran into that same guy in a restaurant a couple of weeks ago and asked him how the bike was working out. He just laughed and said "well, it's a work in progress". He was still happy with his purchase, but acknowledged he had not scored the deal he had thought when he rode off. If I was selling a gun, I would tell everything I knew, good or bad. I don't enjoy feeling guilty.
Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:22 pm
by speedsix
...but you didn't have to duck your head when you met him again...good on ya!!!
Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 6:24 pm
by Weg
I think someone would fall into the " sack of soil " category if they knowingly sold a gun that had issues, and intentionally failed to disclose this fact. I once sold a Ruger Redhawk that would not group under 8" at 25 yards no matter how many loads I tried. I sold it for $200.00 and told the guy the reason it was $200.00 was because it grouped horribly. I thought that was fair. But if you sell a gun and knowingly hide the problems from the buyer, shame, shame, shame.
Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 6:27 pm
by Weg
Weg wrote:I think someone would fall into the " sack of soil " category if they knowingly sold a gun that had issues, and intentionally failed to disclose this fact. I once sold a Ruger Redhawk that would not group under 8" at 25 yards no matter how many loads I tried. I sold it for $200.00 and told the guy the reason it was $200.00 was because it grouped horribly. I thought that was fair. But if you sell a gun and knowingly hide the problems from the buyer, shame, shame, shame.
It just dawned on me it was a SW 686, not a Ruger...
Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 8:03 pm
by wgoforth
george wrote:I have never sold a gun (or anything else) without being totally up front about any issues.
On the other hand, I have run into many gun people who seem to enjoy the trading game, and regard it much like the horse traders of old; they seem to relish in selling a blind horse. That is why I would never buy a semi-auto without the opportunity to shoot it first.
And I can understand that...however (1) Some problems are sporadic so that a few rounds, or just certain conditions wouldn't show them up. (2) Gun shops/pawn shops are likely not to allow it. Even on Gunbroker, I see many of the sellers saying "100% 3 day return if unfired."
Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 8:05 pm
by wgoforth
I guess my bottom line is that we gun people should be among the most honest folks around....our very CHL is supposed to reflect such. Esp appreciate Mr Cotton showing that disclosure is LAW on the matter.
Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 10:30 pm
by CEOofEVIL
I have never - and will never sell anything without full disclosure on it. Im the kind of guy who will stay up at night worrying about not "having done the right thing". So far I haven't sold a gun and since I generally don't spend money on something other than what I really really want, I don't really "plan" to. Sure though, if I bought a gun that was just a total nightmare that I couldn't fix, I'd sell it but only after the buyer knew full well and understood the issue/condition of the gun. A firearm really is one of those things that, depending on its use, needs to work the first time every time.
One lesson I have learned: if I have to loose money to know I did the right thing, then so be it.
Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 9:58 am
by wgoforth
CEOofEVIL wrote:I have never - and will never sell anything without full disclosure on it. Im the kind of guy who will stay up at night worrying about not "having done the right thing". So far I haven't sold a gun and since I generally don't spend money on something other than what I really really want, I don't really "plan" to. Sure though, if I bought a gun that was just a total nightmare that I couldn't fix, I'd sell it but only after the buyer knew full well and understood the issue/condition of the gun. A firearm really is one of those things that, depending on its use, needs to work the first time every time.
One lesson I have learned: if I have to loose money to know I did the right thing, then so be it.
Well there you go...even the CEO of Evil wouldn't do it

Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 10:54 am
by SewTexas
the only thing I can compare is a sewing machine I sold once...it was starting to get to be unreliable...I told the gal that and was totally honest...I was teaching sewing and didn't need my name getting tarnished, I sold it dirt cheap, I just needed a bit of money and the room cleared. She was happy. Found out later she'd taken it to the shop gotten the full works and it was fine....I had a new machine and was happy.

Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 11:20 am
by gigag04
The Annoyed Man wrote:Not knowingly, no. At least, not without informing the person that there was a problem that needed to be addressed, and taking that into account in my selling price.
Flip side.... What is "bad?" I sold a Kel-Tech P3AT not too long ago to another member here. I though it was a bad gun....as in, I couldn't stand it. But it functioned perfectly well. It was just a sucky gun. I gave the buyer a fair price for it—considerably less than I paid for it, and it only had 50-100 rounds at most down the pipe—and he indicated that he thought it was a fair price, and he got exactly what he wanted. I got rid of a gun that was just using up cubic centimeters of space inside my house.

Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 3:34 pm
by PBratton
wgoforth wrote:I am curious, you don't have to confess (although good for the soul

) how do you feel about knowingly selling a gun with issues, without volunteering it has such. is this kosher? Do you feel it's the norm? For me, I could not in good conscience sell such until I have had the problem corrected. I couldn't have it on my conscience if someone bought it, tried it, it worked fine...then the moment they needed it to defend a life, click. This is not the folllowing scenerio... ie, I once had a gun I sent back 3 times. It then worked fine, but I lost confidence in it. I had no probelm selling it without volunteering knowing it was corrected as far as I could tell, and the gun had a lifetime warranty.
But suppose you had a bad gun, couldn't get it fixed. Your opinion on selling this to another without disclosure.
Need to add a poll to this one.
Re: Would you knowingly sell a bad gun
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 3:34 pm
by tacticool
If the gun breaks while I own it, that's one thing. However, there are many guns that are not 100.00% reliable straight from the factory. Is the manufacturer guilty of selling a defective product? If not, then how can a subsequent owner be guilty for selling it in a similar operating condition?