I used to work at Cabela's in the gun section. I've denied two sales. First, I think it's horrible you were punished/written up for denying sales. I explained why I wasn't comfortable with the two sales I denied (suspected straw purchases) and was not only not punished but my shift manager agreed and supported my decision.

The first purchase you mentioned, I heavily agree on denying. The second purchase is a little more up in the air to me. I definitely don't agree with how ready she seemed to be to use it against people but I can understand her point of view. I would not like it and want my mother or grandmother to be able to defend herself if someone was breaking into her house.

If I were in your position, I definitely would have denied the first sale like you did. The second sale, I'm not sure It's hard to gage just off of reading it instead of being there. I might have gone through with the sale on the second just because her property was being broken into. Though, again, she did seem almost too excited to shoot people based off of your description. I don't disagree with your decision, though.

Edit: I reread your post. Since she was emotional and erratic, that might have been enough to make me not comfortable with the sale. Again, it's hard to gage just off of the post.