[url]www.calnra.org/news092001-1.html[/url]
 
Wal Mart Customer Told To Have "Compassion"  
When Told Ammo And Firearms Not For Sale.
He's "Mad as hell" and rightfully so.

September 22, 2001
Frank Melendez

I just read an editorial regarding the decision K-Mart made to pull all their firearms and ammo off the shelves as a response to last weeks attack on our great Nation. In case other information does not get to you I thought I would share with you what happened to me at Wal Mart.

Last Friday I went into my local Wal Mart (Redlands CA) to do some shopping for several needs. After filling my cart with all my household needs I made my way over to the hunting/fishing department to pick up two boxes of shells for the last day of Dove hunting on Saturday.  

The young man behind the counter informed me that Wal Mart has pulled all firearms and ammo off the shelves and would no longer be selling these items! I could not believe what I was hearing! I inquired if this was a department policy or local store manager policy? I was informed that this came from Wal Mart headquarters in Arkansas.

To say the least I was floored, this was the second threat to my rights of FREEDOM in one week.  

This young man went on to tell me that this was a direct result of the events from last week. And in so many words I should be more compassionate and understanding. [b]He further informed me that if a firearm was purchased ten days prior and was ready for pick up the firearm would NOT be released to the purchaser.[/b]  

What this means to us is this; A firearm has been paid for in full, the proper paper work (with extra fees) paid for and all requirements returned with the blessing of the government completed.  Now Wal Mart by their own empowerment has chosen to step in and try to STOP us from one of our Nations greatest FREEDOMS "The right to bear arms".  

Just as many of us are feeling the pain of what has happened to our Nation in last weeks attack and the sadness for those families who have lost their loved ones in this unthinkable act, I too want resolve. However, since this cowardly act I now have a much bigger fear of a greater loss to our fundamental rights of FREEDOM.  

I am tired and MAD as hell at all those who feel they have the power to empower themselves to take away my most basic FREEDOMS. I am sick and tired of those who feel they have the right to stand up and tell me hunting is bad, putting a hook in a fish is bad, hiking, driving, swimming, motor boating just about any outdoor adventure is bad and I am BAD for enjoying those activities! Yes I am feed up with those who talk about how bad these activities are and how much they want to protect these things by locking them up and keeping them from us.

(continued)

What bothers me the most is many of these same people never pull a dollar from their own pocket to support the very same things they want to protect! They never break a sweat to build a water guzzler. Never endure 100+ heat to pick up dead birds so others will not parish. Never stop to pick up trash along the beach. Never get involved to make sure our wetlands are protected. Never even bother to remember that this is a country based on FREEDOMS and to have respect of others who want to enjoy those freedoms of hunting and fishing!

As our great Country unites and makes a stand against terrorist so should the fishing and hunting community and nationally boycott establishments like Wal Mart and K-Mart for domestically trying to abstract our freedoms.

Just as the world is taking a stand for freedom, hunters and fishermen (men and women) need to take a stand for our RIGHTS and FREEDOMS to hunt and fish! Now is the time to unite and sit tall in the saddle and send a message to those who attack our freedom, foreign and domestic that we are not going to take it!  

Sometimes I wonder, just what would happen if we all just stopped and did not buy that fishing or hunting license. Didn't pull those dollars out of our pockets to support organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, Quail Unlimited, California Waterfowl or any wildlife fund. What impact would be felt if nobody purchased hunting/fishing products for one year?  

Last Friday I personally made the choice to leave my filled Wal Mart cart of household products and purchased them elsewhere and made the extra trip to another store to purchase those shotgun shells.  I don't put Wal Mart at the same level of the events of last week, however, I do believe that they should not buckle but stand tall and send a strong message of support to our freedoms so many have given their lives for!

I hope this is just a temporary decision on Wal Marts part, a knee jerk reaction to a terrible event will say. Perhaps they will make it up to us some how, perhaps not. Either way my flag will still wave proudly in my yard, my right to bear arms is still my FREEDOM and to spend my dollars where I want is my choice, I choose NOT at Wal Mart!

In closing let me tell you this, my father has been with the NRA for many years as I have generally put monies into other associations such as Ducks Unlimited, California Waterfowl and Pheasant Forever. Always feeling good about my involvement, monetarily as well as voluntarily support with field work, I now find myself hollow and an overwhelming call to join the NRA and support your/our most worthy cause to protect our rights and freedoms. I need to be assured I am doing all I can to guarantee that I will one day be able to hand down my love for the field to my children as my father did for me.

Thanks to all those who believe in our rights and are making that stand for AMERICAN, OUR RIGTHS AND OUR FREEDOM!

P.S. I have spoke with some fellow hunters who informed me this was the same issue at their local Wal Marts in Hemet and San Diego.

That monster was going
to kill innocent birdies.

I bought several boxes of .45acp from walmart a few days ago, no problem at all...The store that I was in (just outside Tampa, FL) had quite a few customers browsing the displayed rifles and shotguns

I think the problem has to do with the state you live in. Here in Az., Wal-mart is selling firearms and ammo as usual. As a matter of fact, they are constantly selling out of .223, .45, and 9mm as fast as they can get them in. At least in Douglas and Sierra Vista.

I was born and raised in Chino and I tell tyou I would not move back there for anything.

What do you expect? They're just trying to stop psychotic hunters from going around and shooting turban-wearing taxi drivers.

Tehy never stopped selling here(Knoxville, TN)

If we are not supporting our locally owned shops for these type of items they will not be there.  Yea, I know you want to save the 12 cents and get your box of ammo along with your underware and fine china at one store, but we have to keep the smaller buisnesses running.  Slightly off the subject in that I strongly disagree with the Wal-Mart choice to pull firearms and ammo, but I stand by the support of local Gun shops and smiths.
TRW

The clerk lied. Bellingham Washington didn't pull anything off their shelves.

Wal Mart down here never stopped sales of anything. They sold a Mini-14 while I was browsing around in the store last weekend. I used to buy many of my firearms from Sears and Montgomery Wards before they became "Politically Correct", I never go there anymore.

I just now (2pm PDT Saturday) called one of the local Wal-Marts (Renton, WA), and they HAVEN'T pulled any guns or ammo off their shelves, so your columnist either was lied to (and didn't bother to check his facts) or is lying himself.

You literally couldn't pay me enough to shop in, and put up with, WalMart, KMart, etc.

If saving a few $ is more important than your freedoms, then keep on bending over and putting up with the big box stores' policies and poor service.

If you want CHOICES and want to maintain your freedoms, go to your local merchants instead, and spend your money there. Once they're gone, there will be nothing left, because WalMart, etc. will run the show, and they will likely charge HUGE amounts of money for what you had hitherto paid relatively little for.

Why? Because they can, that's why.

[hijack]


Second off, if local gun stores want to sell me anything, they can quit acting like arrogant fascist bastards.

I quit using the local indoor range, at which I had a paid-for long-term membership, because they insisted that they had to put my driver's license information into their permanent database if I wanted to continue to use the range that I had already paid my membership for.  They changed the rules on me, for no apparent reason other than wanting to keep tabs on their customers.  The owner said he needed a "unique identifier", and the D/L number was less intrusive than the Social Security Number -- but he wasn't willing to issue his own membership cards (which he did his first couple of years in business) and he wasn't willing to change his system.  Register or go away, so I went away, and he lost my business.

The local jerk also jacks up prices on powder and ammo to 33% more than the going rate at gunshows and at the rural store, an hour away, to which I drive.

My gun club has an ordering service from that rural store -- someone drives up every week or two to pick up (non-gun) orders.  There's no point at shopping locally if it's going to cost me a bleeding fortune.

And this guy isn't the worst of the gunshop owners I've run into.  Others I know have knowingly armed felons because they didn't give a flying f*ck (given immunity at the felon's murder trial in exchange for testimony, after the felon did a murder-for-hire on someone else's wife), and have tried to entrap me into illegal acts for their own unknown twisted little reasons (maybe that one needed to recruit more BATF informants).  Then there was the one who took a deposit on a gun, stalled me for three months, and then CLOSED AND MOVED OUT OF STATE without ever having delivered or even attempted to contact me, much less refunding my deposit.

I'd guesstimate that 75% of the gunshop owners I have bought from have turned out to be complete and total assholes, with many of those sliding well over the line into criminal behavior.
[/hijack]

Some Wal-Marts are assholes. I used to shop in one that wouldn't sell anything even remotely gun related to anyone under 21. Why, because their clerks are too stupid to know the difference between a handgun and rifle. Also, most Wal-mArts have Waiting Periods. I will never buy a gun from Wal-Mart, period.

Now as for ammo., they have the best prices on Shotgun SHells I've seen. But, my local gunshop has better deals on 7.62x39mm. Go figure. As for other rounds, if the difference isn't too bad I'll just buy 'em at my local gunshop. If the difference is large enough, I'll buy 'em at Wal-Mart.

My local Wal-Mart never stopped selling ammo. or guns, but I am sure that some including the one I mentioned earlier probably did. Especially considering they have done it before. Also, Wal-Mart Clerks are Incompetent and Misinformed. I saw a sign in the Wal-Mart I mentioned that read "Federal Law requires a person to be 21 to buy shotguns or Shotgun Ammuniton." I was told once by a Wal-Mart clerk that the 10 Day waiting period was Federal Law. I tried to tell him otherwise, but he insisted. Wal-Mart needs to hire some better informed people to man the Sporting Goods department.

Note: The guy was from Kali. who couldn't get ammo.

BTW, Achmed I don't know who the fuck you dealt with but these people give the industry a bad name. Most likely they are undercover BATF or the place was a front for something else. I know plenty of Gunshops run by nice helpful people. Then again I've been to a few where the guys were jackasses. Guess what I never went back to those places where they were jackasses.

There is no corporate policy from WalMart to not sell guns and ammo, to the best of my knowledge.  Some individual WalMart managers may have decided to do so unilaterally.

You must be talking about Kesselring's. If the local guys want to compete with Wal-Mart, Kesselring's is the ideal model of how to do so. Service, selection, good prices knowledgable salespeople, etc. Of course, they seem to have been around forever and are quite well established, but dealers who want to succeed and thrive would do well to emulate them as best as possible. They are one of the few local shops that I regularly do business with. Most of the others are just gougers and scalpers, especially the ones on the Eastside (Wade's in particular comes to mind. Nothing like seeing a wall full of obscenely overpriced AR15s and other semi-autos).

I purcased 20 boxs of UMC .223 from Wally World on Thursday.

This must be a regional thing!
I went to the Rockledge FL Wal-Mart,and this is how the transaction went.

Clerk:(digging for key) "May I help you sir?"

Me: UMC .223 and 9MM!

Clerk: And how many boxes Sir?

Me: All of it!

Clerk: Lets see, that's 2 boxes .223 and 3 boxes 9MM. Will there be anything else sir?

ME: Yeah any more .223 in the back?

Clerk: I'm afraid my "in the back" is a small space that barely holds the boxes for the long guns.

Me:So what if I want more?

Clerk (while bypassing ID flags and FOR HANDGUN? BS without bothering me with it)
Oh its simple! You tell me what kind and how many cases and I have it here in two days.

Me: Any deposit? Do I have to prepay?

Clerk: Oh no sir, If you change your mind, or fail to pick it up I just sell it to someone else. .223 is our MOST popular caliber.

Clerk: here is your ammo and your receipt Have a nice day!

We really need to contact the people at Wal-Mart and find out about this. One customer gets treated like a criminal, and one gets treated like a king! Whats up with that?

Shocking!

Sounds like you gave the Federal representative what he/she/it deserved.  There's volume pricing to be considered, sure (I'd guess that just one Wal-Mart probably outsells you by a large margin), but if you couldn't carry other brands of ammo, that would be bad for your business and Federal should pay to make up for it if they want you to deal exclusively in their product.

On the other hand:

And how do you determine whether someone is a "Kmart commando" or someone who just found out about your shop?  Polygraph or VSE, or just women's intuition??

I've lived in five different states in the last twelve years.  I'm a pretty good customer when places don't try to gouge me or screw me over.  When they do, I'm not their customer at all.

If you buy in bulk, Wal-Mart is actually more expensive. Every time I've been to K-Mart their prices were too high. When I want a box of 25 Rounds of 12 Gauge I'll probably get it cheaper at Wal-Mart. But, if I want 100+ rounds, I'll get it cheaper at a gunshop. Because Wal-Mart sells in 20, 25, and 50 Round Boxes they don't offer specials for 1,000 Round Cases.

In general the following are significantly cheaper at Wal-Mart:

1) .22LR (All Quanities)
2) Shotgun Shells (5, 25, and 100 Rounds)

Wal-Mart also doesn't stock cheaper ammo. At least in my area.  Federal ammo. is too expensive to plink.

My Local Gunshop:

7.62x39mm -- 3.00 per 20 (Russian)
9mm Luger -- 9.00 per 50

I buy UMC at Wal-Mart with the blessing of my local gunstore. He cant get it the way he wants to, and he accepts that. He gets the rest of my business and he knows it. Some times when W-M throws a big give away deal, I go buy a couple of bricks or cartons and just walk in and give it to him. He knows old TC gives more than he takes, it all works out in the end!

I hate shopping at my local Wal-Mart not just for gun stuff, but even for regular household stuff.  It is such a pain.  I shop there only when I have to.  Those "big-box stores" have driven out all of the little guys, and I'm not saying just the little mom&pop places, but fairly big local discount retailers.  Now I can't get some of the stuff that I used to get, and/or in the color/styles/sizes that used to be available.  They stock only the items that flies off the shelves.

And so it will be with guns and ammo.

Case in point: anybody ever bought any .303 British at Wally World?

Only place I can get .303 is in gun shops. Or on the Internet. W/fewer and fewer FFLs, it's getting harder to find it, w/o some effort. It's not a hugely popular round (unlike .223, 12 ga. and 9mm), so I doubt I'll be getting any from WalMart ever. W/o gunshops, no more .303.

Of course, I can still get it from Internet oufits, but with little competition, they'll raise their prices, too.

Economics 101.

I hate both places..Walmart(too many kids and women)...I do like gun shops, BUT if you haven’t bought a ton of stuff from them they act like its a big deal to help out...I just recently moved and was looking for a new "gun shop"(my old one I found out the day before closed down of course this was AFTER I drove across town)close to me..Anyway I go in this shop first thought is that it's clean and neat... Next thing I hear is the MGR/Owner telling a sales guy (who is sitting around eating) that he spent too much time with the customer that passed me when I was coming in...TOO MUCH TIME ???(the guy was sitting around eating..store was not busy) The same guy says most people that come in their are "on tour"(guess that means tire-kickers)WTF wonder what sales/biz class he took???...I asked the guy about an accessory for my bushy (the extra mag holder that goes around the stock) he says he doesn’t stock "frilly" items from magazines??? Maybe I looked like I was "on tour" to him??? Maybe I looked young??? I left quickly after this...This seems to be the typical stuff most people get when they go to a "gun shop"...If they wanna beat the big boys and sell stuff at a higher price point... there is only one way to do it CUSTOMER SERVICE....we are not just there for your convenience…just my .02

Where I live the two local guys are complete ripp-offs. They are the only game in town though.
I'll buy from Wally World any time of the day before I buy from them.
A 20 round box of Wolf .223 ammo for $5.00? Get real.
Kesselring's is ok, they have a huge selection, the customer service is hot or miss, the guys who work the pistol counter act like they are Gods gift to the customer.
Old man Kesselring (Ron) has stated this about AR15's: I don't know why anyone would want it, it dosen't shoot very well, it jams all the time and most of the people who buy them are not my regular type of customer."
Right after this he pulls down a Colt 20 inch pre-ban blocked lower Sporter and says this one is a deal at $1700. No extras, just the AR15.
Of course everyone in Washington State is a dot.com millionare or they are rich Boeing workers, that is why he can charge $400 for a SAR-1.

Well nothing is 100% certain.  Like any other business, the organizations have to earn your business.  You don't, at least I don't go to them for their good looks.  Have you tried to order ammo thru the internet from Eric the Ammoman?

Just stopped by Wal-Mart on the way to the range today and bought some UMC .223 for $3.97 a box. Damn, that's just a hair less than the "sale" or "bulk" prices at other stores. Oh yes, capitalism is alive and well. [:)]

And just for the Wal-Mart whiners, the store at the range I shot at had PMC .223 on sale for $3.99 a box so I tossed some biz their way, too. Spreadin' the wealth....

John, just out of curiosity, if I walked into Seneca Arms and you didn't know me from Adam, are you saying that you wouldn't sell me ammunition?

By the way, Joe, my wife IS a Boeing worker. You and I must have drastically different definitions of "rich". We might live comfortably, moreso than some and less so than others, but I would hardly call us rich.

A local gun shop once lost a gun sale to me and didn't even know it.  I was looking at his stock and had come in a few times before looking at a certain handgun I liked.  The guy behind the counter was chatting away about guns with a gunshop groupie (one of those "customers" that come in the shop every day because they have nothing better to do or are retired).  The guy behind the counter was showing him the new HS 2000 and raving on an on about it.  That was actually the gun I was looking for.  I never could get a word in edge wise.  He would always say something like, "Someone will be with you in a moment" but he was the only freakin' employee in there at the time.  After patiently waiting about 10 minutes, I left his shop.

I guess he was more interested in showing off his stuff to someone that probably wouldn't buy it than helping a potential customer.

USPC40

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I live in redlands right now and just came back from that nightmare, wal-mart has infact pulled all guns&ammo.

Eastside??  Try heading a little further east.  Fall City Firearms has a good reputation.

I dunno, I usually find the people there to be generally ok, just RUSHED.  I only make it up there personally on Saturdays, and the store is usually packed.

Boeing workers generally make LESS than equivalently-skilled workers on the outside.  I've been there on contract, and people have left for 150% pay increases -- yes, that's correct, they've left to make two and a half times as much, doing the same sorts of jobs elsewhere.

The tradeoff is less bureaucracy, a nicer work environment, more pay, and more job stability -- but they're no longer working on stuff for really cool airplanes like they were at Boeing.  Noticed the "30,000 layoffs at Boeing" headlines this week??

As far as the dot.com "millionaires", have you checked the stock market lately??  I know more people who are unemployed and bankrupt thanks to the dot.coms than people who made millions.  And I mean I know them personally, as in "friends and former coworkers".  For a lot of them, if they screwed up on how they handled their millions in stock-market gains in early 2000, they now owe more in taxes than they can ever hope to make in their remaining lifetimes.

The negative effects of the FDCGH's will be felt for years to come.

President Bush has created another department (of tyranny?), homeland security. It's to be headed by anti-gun wacko Tom Ridge. Does anyone else think that this could turn into a Militia extermination JBT hit squad?

+++ From GOA +++
In May of 1994, then Rep. Tom Ridge teamed up with President Bill Clinton, Sarah Brady (HCI) and Rep. Charles Schumer (D-NY) to pass the semi-auto gun and magazine ban. By casting his vote for the gun ban in a narrow 216 to 214 loss for America's gun owners, Ridge's one vote can arguably be blamed for its passage and subsequent inclusion in the Clinton crime bill of 1994. In August of 1994, after GOA led a coalition of grassroots activists which nearly defeated the Clinton crime bill, Ridge continued his opposition to America's gun owners. He voted for the rule to bring the crime bill and its gun ban to the floor for a vote. (Ridge was one of only 42 Republicans to do so.) He then voted for final passage of the crime bill -- one of only 46 Republicans to do so. In the Spring of 1995, Sarah Brady teamed up with newly elected Gov. Tom Ridge to push one of Pennsylvania's most restrictive state gun control laws in a long time -- Act 17. As Pennsylvania's Governor, Ridge presided over the passage of Act 17, and then signed it into law. GOA opposed this bill from its inception and teamed up with several pro-gun state organizations to lead the national charge against the bill. Act 17 registered and taxed long gun buyers and placed other restrictions on Pennsylvanians' gun rights. ..

Edited by: hondo68   at: 9/21/01 6:43:53 am


I got this from another forum, it fits.

Par for the course in California.


I'll check my local Wal Mart later today but last weekend mine was floor to ceiling ammo...

You must be talking about the lower grade Internal Engineering/ white collar type jobs. The people on the floor do pretty well and have good benefits, especially compared to what is available on the outside. 150% of my wife's pay would be over $60 an hour. No way would anyone pay that much for similar work. I worked there myself for 7 years but left to go to work for a railroad to help diversify our income. The pay is pretty much the same. I never did like having all of our eggs in Boeing's basket.

And yes, the few times I have been there, the Fall City gunshop seemed pretty decent. I used to not really consider that far out part of the "Eastside" per se, but with the explosion of suburbia out there, I suppose it might as well now be included.

Can't stand shopping at Walmart. Never fails after waiting forever in line the person in front of me is buying some clothes that the price scanner cant read.

Damn!  Sounds like I have a good Wal-mart.  I bought 2 boxes of .270 on Sept 12th.  The store has no waiting periods of any kind, either.

I go for the best price.  I have never seen a decent price at Walmart, K-mart etc.  I generally buy ammo by the case mail order or at gun shows.  If I see a good price I will buy a gun at a gun shop.  For the last year I have been ordering my guns from gunfinder.net.  I tell the guy what I want, he gives me his best price.  When the gun comes in he calls me to let me know.  If I have cannot make it until after hours or on the weekend he is flexible.  The best part is I do not have to deal with an idiot (Walmart) or an arrogant asshole (gun shop).  I get what I want when I want it and don't have to haggle.

Walmart is okay here. They never ask me the stupid "is this ammo for a handgun?" question even though the computer beeps loudly when they scan it.  

They did card me for spray paint though. That really pissed me off. When I asked the clerk  why, she said "you could inhale it or somrthing". Geez...

Missouri Bottom Range, Maryland Heights, MO
Marshall's Gun Shop. Dellwood, Missouri. Tried and CONVICTED on charges of gun running to felons.

Speciality Products West, Glendale CA.  In the mid-80's, sold me a Browning Hi-Power but removed the factory 2nd magazine from the foam well in the box, and was selling them separate!

Been there, had it done to me.  

I went by Wal-Mart today to get some 9mm Ammo. Now before you say anything gunshops (at least the ones in my area) are closed on Sundays. I have never been treated more like a criminal. After waiting forever for the one clerk to call in a NICS check on the guy in front of me, I asked for some 9mm. He said they had 100 rounds for $11. i said I'd take a box. He then asked if I was 21. I responded it was for a rifle, a 9mm Carbine. I even told him the make and model. He gave this wierd look like he'd never heard of a 9mm Longgun. He sold me the ammo. and I headed for the meat department to pick up some steak and hamburger meat. When I came up to the counter, I noticed the Sporting Goods guy a little ways away watching me. I then headed out to my vehicle and I see him try his best to follow me undetected. Well, I get to my truck and start loading my rifle. I then see him turn around and head in. This BATF wannabe went to far in following me to make sure I was really buying ammo. for a rifle. In addition his following abilities leave something to be desired since I knew he was there.

I cant believe it! cc where are you in FL? We can have some big fun with this yahoo! I am in Rockledge, and I have no problem there.

cc48510, they were probably after your license plate number to give it to BATF.