Alrighty folks lend me an ear for a minute or two, ole PONY_DRIVER has a few thoughts to share. Regardless of your opinion about Wal-mart they DO INFACT support our second amendment rights. Listen on…Wal-mart is in the business of making money, plain and simple. Considering that hunters spend over $70 Billion (“B” as in Billion) dollars a year they want a part of that pie. They only sell products that the bean counters approve and that they believe they have a good chance of turning a good profit on, part of that inventory is our beloved sporting goods section.
Most Wal-marts have a gun counter and ammo plainly visible, this serves us well on several levels. 1. We have a semi official “guy” section to hang out in! 2. They are plainly visible and as such are in the (sub?) consciousness of everyone who passes by. 3. Seeing guns whenever you pass by the sporting goods is subconscious reinforcement and aids in their passive acceptance of said guns. 4. It doesn’t hurt to see “normal” looking people handling guns instead of the stereotypical redneck with beer belly in a wife beater T-shirt.

Now for the most basic gun “wants” and “needs” you don’t need to spend more money at a gun shop! If you want a no frills gun, by all means get it at Wal-mart! (How many other department stores still sell guns?) Why spend $140+ dollars for a Marlin Model 60 at a store when you can pay $98-109 at Walmart? This brings me to my initial point of buying ammunition at Walmart. Due to store policy and state/federal laws if one buys certain types of ammunition the cashier is prompted with several questions.

Not to long ago it was SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for me to answer “No it’s not for a handgun, and yes I’m over 21”. At this point the cashier usually looked at me like I was stupid and said “wha”? I’d calmly explain to them that the system was going to prompt them and ask if the ammo was for a hand gun, yes or no, and was I over 21.

The reasons for me always saying “No” were pretty simple. First I didn’t even own a .22LR handgun, and second who really cared? We all know that a .22LR will fist in either a handgun or long gun right? Well folks the other night it hit me. They really don’t know what I’m going to be shooting these out of, and I had the perfect opportunity to tip the scales in our favor as gun owners! There is no doubt in my feeble mind that someone somewhere collects and analyses statistics about the number and kind of ammo sold in each store/region/state/ and nation as a whole. You may or may not be aware of the big push to have all handguns (all guns really) declared illegal and collected from the likes of VPC, The Brady Campaign, et al. One of the statistics that they no doubt compile is the amount of “handgun” ammunition sold and in which store/area it’s sold in, and I’m willing to bet money that they also attempt to compare this number to the number of people shot in a given area. Well I really can’t do much about the number of people who get shot in any given area (save my house ) but I can help tip the numbers in our favor! By answering “yes” to the question “is this for a handgun” I can (and do) artificially inflate the numbers for handgun ammo sold in a given store/area. By inflating the numbers in our favor we can therefore REDUCE the apparent number/ratio of handgun ammo sold to shootings in a particular area, and as a whole! Long yes, Convoluted? Most definitely (but it makes sense to me!), anyhow folks we have nothing to loose and everything to gain by playing the system for all it’s worth.

Walmart will continue to sell guns as long as they’re still profitable. If they quit selling guns all together we will have lost our last big ally in our fight for freedom. There was a time not too long ago when you could pick up a good .22 at any Western Auto and when Abercrombie & Fitch were actually outfitters and not some yuppie clothing store.

If they continue to sell ammo (.22lr,9mm) cheap, I will buy it. They just need to get a damn training program on service. Especialy in the sports section. Jason

They DID discontinue selling CO2 powered air rifles. They still sell pellets, CO2 cartridges, but no air rifles. The only air rifles they sell are pump spring action.

[:(]

Dude, I'm with you on that one, but that's something we can fix! A few phonecalls or letters to the manager should get things in order! IMHO it's better to fix a problem like shitty service than sinking the ship.

Don't be so sure, it may be a regional thing. My brother just recently bought a CO2-powered [b]handgun[/b] there, and I do think (although I'm not sure about it) that I saw a model of rifle there that was CO-2 powered as well.

Why don't you sell your idea to large corps?

[url]http://ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=185218&page=1[/url]

The last time I looked my local Walmart still sold C02 HANDGUNS as well as long guns. Again I think this is a regional thing. Some Wally worlds don't ask if the ammo is for a handgun or not...even on the ones that do ask the cashier blows right past with "no","yes" beep, beep, beep...total.

NSFJojo, Not to sound ense but I didn't get your post...this is meant as a individuals chance to play the system in our favor..I'm not trying to make a buck.

The Walmart in my town told me they have applied for there own FFL so they can get back to selling guns sooner.  They are the only gunstore within 100 miles and they are just as pisses off about having to pull thier guns as anyone.

And they sell all handgun calibers.  Most are very inexpensive.

PEACE_MINUS_ONE

I sincerely hope they get it. I have my own gripes about Walmart, and I do my best to vote with my wallet so to speak. I hunt high and low for products made right here in the USA. I also like the fact that I can get ammo cheaper at Wally world than the gunshops. Granted ya can't run down to WM and pick up a box of 7mm08 or .500NE but I did see a few boxes of .300Wby Mag last time I was there. Also they're turning the local WM into a Supercenter and therefore have put a shitload of ammo out on the racks so you don't need anyone to unlock a case to get it for you. I'm betting that they sell more now.

I have bought guns and ammo from Wal-mart in the past and will continue to if the price is right.  I'm poor and poor people look for deals on everything!

Keving67

Me too! $$$ Talks. If everyone could afford expensive shit Walmart wouldn't be here.