Pay is low, and stays that way. That was okay with me, I wasn't doing this job for the money...but others might not be in the same boat.
A lot of people working at the gun counter were not really "gun guys"; many of them had only a few guns themselves, and really didn't know that much about the products. Management was even worse in this respect.
There was a curious thing I observed during the time I was there, that I never fully understood; the best, most motivated, most courteous, most knowledgeable employees were always the ones who management chose to let go. The guy that knew every gun backward and forward, and could explain the differences between the various models? The one who would guide the new shooter through the aisles, explaining the stuff he/she would need? The one who was eager and happy to pull a gun out from the counter or off the rack, regardless of whether the customer was looking like a serious buyer? That is the guy they'd put out the door, and save the ignorant, lazy jaw-jackers who treated the customers like annoyances or worse.
I'm not sure if it was a strategy on the part of management to eliminate possible rivals should their own incompetence be exposed, or if it was simply poor decision making and an inability to grasp that the guys who hung out with them in the gun safe area, slapping their backs and telling jokes, were actually their worst employees. But either way, it didn't take long for me to figure out that if a person was too competent at the job, they weren't going to last. Over the years I've met many other ex-employees who had similar tales to tell.
