“Customer” Creates Instant Gun Shop Robbery With Magazine From Home

LADSON, NC — A man visiting a pawn shop in North Carolina gave store employees the day of their life in August of last year when they failed to pay attention to him just long enough for him to slide a loaded magazine into a rifle that the store was offering for sale.

It’s pretty bad gun seller form.

As AGG reports:

Gregory Franklin Westfall entered Big Buck’s Pawn Shop on College Park Road in Ladson, North Carolina and asked to see an AR-15. After a brief conversation with an employee, Westfall drew a loaded magazine from his back pocket and inserted it into the rifle.

The 36-year-old appeared mentally disturbed as he spoke with the employee saying that Russians had “contacted him about 9/11.” The customer-turned-robber then chambered a round and began retreating toward the front door. The employee drew his own handgun and opened fire from concealment as Westfall fled the building.

Two armed employees can be seen moving toward the front door before Westfall fired multiple shots through the adjacent window.

Take a look at the security footage below, as provided by Active Self Protection:

According to CBS News, Westfall was later caught in the woods where he was still carrying the AR-15 as well as ballistic armor.

It’s a small wonder that this doesn’t happen more often, with the way some people fail to take proper precautions when selling firearms.

As we in the firearms community always say — you have to treat every firearm as though it was loaded. When you work in a shop that sells guns, that involves not letting a man hold one of your store’s firearms unsupervised.

Of course, when you go to a gun show and they insist on zip tying the action open — this is exactly what they’re working to avoid, among other things.

Stay safe out there folks, and stay smart.

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