Inspiring Day at the Gun Store

I normally don't post about myself, except for when it involves Royal, but this was such a wonderful day, I think it would be cool to share.

I work in a gun store, a shooting sports store actually, in a big city.  I'm the only female on staff.  I handle internet sales, and occasionally work the sales floor when needed.  I'm also there to speak with women who feel more comfortable starting out with a women.  I work with a GREAT group of guys, they take care of me and are very protective.  Ever wonder who works at gun stores?  Let me help:

3 retired military: 1 Air Force Special Operations, 1 Marine, 1 Army
2 retired police force: 1 motorcyle instructor, both K-9 cops
1 ex corrections officer for state pen
2 concealed handgun instructors
2 gunsmiths
ALL carrying.

We don't have exactly 10 employees, some people have more than one of the above characteristics, and I'm not entirely sure about the background of a couple of the guys.  You should definitely think about the above before robbing/assaulting a gun store, if you only knew what goes into protecting a place like that.  Ah, the things I could tell you! 

We had an event set up for today:  all the gun manufacturer's reps were there, BBQ lunch, door prizes, etc.  Then something happened and it wasn't just a show anymore.  Earlier this week, a police officer was fatally wounded by a gunman during a hostage situation.  He has a wife and two children, a boy and a girl.  He was one of the best, one of the truly great police officers. 

Yesterday, one of my co-workers suggested we collect money for the officer's family.  Things went into high gear: police stations were notified, it was on the radio, we set it up.  There were drop off boxes in the store, we even donated a gun to further entice people to donate - something, it turns out, that wasn't needed.  People gave and gave!  Many people gave without taking the shotgun ticket.  I know our staff did.  We had a table set up on the access road to the major highway the store is off of, flanked by 3 police vehicles.  There were never less than 3 police officers at the store at any given time: asking people to donate, thanking people who donated, and remembering their good friend who gave his life for others.

I was blessed to be able to man the outside curb donations box for a bit of the day.  I had "The Sarge" with me the whole time, he was awesome and I learned a ton about the police force, and him.  It was absolutely awesome watching and listening to the people giving so generously!  (Comments directed toward "The Sarge") "Thank you so much for all you're doing for us!"  "We're with y'all through your loss."  "We can never thank you enough."  People giving thumbs up.  People tipping their hats.  People shaking the officer's hands.  People seeing the sign, stopping, then backing up on the access road to be able to donate. Touching.  Emotional.  Amazing.

We collected over $4,000.00.  A police officer that was there much of the day won the shotgun, they were all so excited!  It's beautiful to see something like this happen.  There are good people here.  There are good people all over America, we're so blessed.

Oh, and as for "The Sarge,"  he gave me a "get out of jail free card," and told me I was a good egg.  He did make sure and write "Quantity 1" at the top, though...

Comments

[Growing Up]

Its good that nice things can happen after a terrible thing like that.

[yankeemom]

What a great thing you all did! Excellent!

[Nikki]

WOW!! That sounds amazing! You guys did a good thing!

[Kath]

It's really nice when you get to help someone - the feeling is one of a kind. To have so many in a large community come together on short notice is just... the best.

[SK]

This post really means alot to me. Tragic but good things too. We have 4 Cops in the family and 1 fire fighter. Needless to say we have great admiration for the jobs they do and the risks they take.