I'm normally one to mind my business...but these guys, if they are FFLs are in a key position to screw the rest of us over, due to their non discretion/stupidity.
IMO there is kind of a line in the sand. It depends on how far the FFL is willing to go to "protect" an unknowing customer from "harm".
Now, some of the stuff I see in this thread would piss me off- if an FFL says "No, these are unmarked" and then I see paint covering up the
marking, It's pretty obvious they're trying to intentionally take me for a ride. On the other hand, if they give me some bloviation like "Yeah, they
are marked, but it doesn't mean anything" or they say "I don't know, look at them" (and then I see markings) then I simply don't buy that product, and I'm not going to get in a protracted argument about it with the dealer. There simply isn't enough time.
As far as I'm concerned, though, it's not their job to protect me. As a gun owner in MA, compliance with the law falls on my shoulders. It's one of
those things you basically have to accept when you get a license. If the MA gun owner can't deal with this issue, then they're likely going to have
trouble with the FAR thornier ones- eg, safe storage, etc. The laws in this state suck, but that should be readily apparent from the moment
the person applies for their first LTC.
If I was to excoriate any shop that didn't completely understand the law in some little regard or another, I'd run out of shops to go to. As long as
the shop doesn't try to intentionally defraud me, I'm not going to get in a knock down drag out legal argument with them. It's simply not worth my
time. I consider it one step below the old "arguing on the internet" adage.
Of course, everyone's threshold for this kind of thing is
different. What one of us thinks is OK another may not, etc.
This is why it's imperative that anyone who is a gun owner in this state take the time to do a little bit of research on their own about these sorts of
things. Then they can draw their own conclusions. Yeah, things get dicey with stuff like unmarked mags, but you can usually use deductive
reasoning/logic to see whether or not something is reasonably safe to buy or not.
-Mike