Firearms customers who stepped into Pistol Annie’s Jewelry & Pawn on Feb. 25 found themselves staring down the business end of something that can be even more intimidating than a gun: a camera.

The still-fresh pawn shop, co-owned by Melissa Denny and Jennifer Andrews, was the site of taping for a reality television pilot produced by the BHf Films, the company behind upcoming unemployment documentary “Not Working.” Viewers familiar with similar reality shows like “Pawn Stars” and “Hardcore Pawn” know they focus on the (slightly dramatized) day-to-day business of pawn shops, set in front of the backdrops of Las Vegas and Detroit, respectively. So will Bonney Lake become a hot, new prime time locale?

The short answer is “We’ll see.” As is the norm in television production, a finished pilot doesn’t guarantee air time. Independent production companies will write, record and edit a single episode of a show — the pilot — on speculation. The producers will then take the pilot and shop it around the networks for an interested party. If network executives like the pilot and test audience reaction is strong, the show will be picked up for broadcast as a series.

Pistol Annie’s big break came from a chance meeting with MJ Sieber, a Seattle theater actor and associate of BHf Films. Denny and Andrews kept in touch with the company over several months.

“They’re an independent production company that does a lot of documentary stuff,” Denny said. “They just approached us and said ‘We’d like to interview you girls.'”

Denny grew up in the pawn shop business — her parents were themselves proprietors — but Pistol Annie’s is her first venture. Her parents, she said, did not want her to go into the family business and be exposed to its risks. Pawn shops are frequent stops for people inclined to fence stolen goods, be they one-time offenders, career criminals, or drug addicts supporting their habit with the profits from other people’s things. Conscientious proprietors often become informal partners to local police, cooperating with them to identify stolen goods as they come in. Denny entered into a career as a general contractor but, when her husband was promoted to work for the Seattle Sounders, she was professionally uprooted.

“I found myself in my mid-40s wondering what I wanted to be when I grew up,” she said.

The advantage of the move was that they had their pick of South Sound cities to make their home. They chose Bonney Lake to be close to Denny’s family and friends — including Andrews, who faced a similar professional identity crisis.

They decided to go into business together. Denny connected with her parent’s mentors in the business, who allowed the two to work in their shop for a few months while they learned the trade. Then they found their present location, which had been the Diamond Lounge night club and bar. The interior was a mess, but “it was still the best place we could have found” due to its size and location, Andrews said.

“We wrapped up all our pennies and nickels to acquire the location,” Denny said with a chuckle. “And now we’re two moms and a pawn shop!”

The co-owners speculated that BHf Films was attracted to their shop because, as far as pawn shop proprietors go, they’re unorthodox.

“Being moms, we think a little bit differently than these hardcore guys you usually find in the business,” Denny said. “You know, we’re not hard-shooting country boys.”

But they are self-described strong advocates of the second amendment and the right to personal firearms ownership. Rifles and handguns take up an entire wall of the store. Following the Obama administration’s January proposal to reform gun laws, including a reinstatement of the assault rifle ban, Denny and Andrews taped a can of Morton’s to the forend of a hunting rifle — making it “a salt rifle,” you see — as a private joke and protest of the broad definition of assault weapons.

The two like to establish relationships with their customers and, during their interview on Feb. 22, their were several regulars in the store perusing the gun cases and chatting up the staff about their shared hobby.

As far as the risks of the pawn game go, they agreed being moms gave them a softer touch with customers. Loan applicants are frequently just regular people in a tight spot, and the Pistol Annie’s owners said they try to help them out by lending an ear, a kind word and a fair price.

“These are usually people who just need to fill their gas tank so they can work,” Denny said.

Then there’s the other side of motherhood: the disciplinary side. So far, the shop has seen three attempts by felons to sell guns, six attempts to sell stolen guns, and several instances of kids involved with drugs attempting to sell stolen family items: a recent incident involving stolen jewelry stuck out in Denny’s mind. The illicit gun transactions go straight to the police — Denny and Andrews credited the strength of the licensing system in allowing them to identify a bad sale — but Denny responds to the latter cases by immediately contacting parents and returning their property. Her only condition is that she be allowed a chance to give the young offender a stern talking-to about the dangers of dealing in theft.

During Monday taping, customers who stopped in the shop had the option to sign a release to appear on television, or be blurred out to honor their privacy.

Though taping is over — maybe for now, maybe for good — the Pistol Annie’s owners are still anxious to find out more about the finished product and how it will affect the future of their business.

On Thursday, BHf Films producer DW Gibson declined to discuss details of the project, citing a wish not to compromise its early development.