Walmart and thoughts on stopping gun sales

[Robster]

Saw this on another forum. Thought it was well written.

I just read today's Outdoor Wire and in it is this article:

FEATURE
Walmart Never Was a Gun Store

A lot of folks are outraged at Walmart discontinuing the sale of ARs and now certain kinds of ammunition. I guess they feel like this monster corporation has betrayed them, and that we should boycott or punish them for not supporting the Second Amendment. Well, um, we should have never started buying our gun stuff there in the first place. We abandoned real gun stores for convenience, and to save a couple dollars. Gun stores went out of business, and here we are.

I could care less. In fact, it would not bother me if Walmart stopped selling guns and gun and hunting related accessories all together. They’ve never been a real gun/hunting store anyway. Though I’m sure there are exceptions, those behind the counter are, in most cases, not qualified to sale or even handle a gun, and I doubt any of them know the difference between a caliber and a cartridge. And based on my experience; their enthusiasm for customer care almost equals my interest in cat videos.

When I was growing up there was a local bait & tackle/gun shop about two miles from my house. On weekends—during my paper route—I’d stop there on my bike. The guy behind the counter would let me look at and fondle the guns that interested me, and he even knew a thing or two about firearms…and young boys. I could usually talk him out of some part I needed, that was just lying in the clutter on his workbench. (If you grew up near my hometown—and are older than 50—you will remember Ray’s Bait Shop. I’d rather go back there for one hour than spend a day in Cabela’s.)

We’ve seen the death of the local gun shop. With that, we’ve lost places where real and practical knowledge could be dispensed. Walmart has contributed to this near extinction; they retail firearms so cheap the local guy cannot compete. (Few realize how small profit margins are on guns.) What they fail to deliver is service—service before, during, and most importantly, after the sale. And those conducting the sale do not have the experience to get that feeling when someone is trying to buy a gun with possible bad intentions in mind. (You do realize an FFL dealer can deny a sale to anyone they think might be a danger, don’t you? Local gun shop owners take this seriously.)

And then there’s the knowledge they do not have to share. Local gun shops are operated by folks who are experienced with, and passionate about, what they do and the things they sale. That passion carries over to the customer. The absence of that passion is like a cancer to the gun and hunting industry. It’s why Walmart could care less about your firearms or hunting interests—they have none of their own. It’s also the reason some gun manufactures are struggling; they hired management types from other industries who lack our passion.

Be mad at Walmart if you like, I could care less what they sale. When I buy gun stuff I’m going to buy it from a guy who smells like Hoppe’s #9, a guy who was installing a trigger on a rifle that morning, a guy who closed his shop early yesterday to go to the range, a guy who frequently has a shop full of like-minded folks bitching about anti-gunners, a guy who knows what a pre-64 model 70 is, who Jeff Cooper was, and who actually gives a [bleep] if I hit what I shoot at, or ever come back in his shop again.

With this help from Walmart the local gun shop can once again be real. With all the new gun owners in our ranks, they’ve never been needed more than right now!

You think Walmart is a gun store? Well, bless your heart. You’ve never been in a real gun store, have you?

[edk]

Agree - well written.

I have to admit guilt as to the occasional Walmart purchase of a brick or two of 22s over the years. However long before this recent news I had given up due to the hassle of getting service at the counter if there was any stock as it always seems to be a feast of famine matter at Walmart. Thankfully we now have a LGS that is thriving in a big way for all of the reasons in the above editorial. It is even giving other shops in a decent radius a run for their money as those shops now stock largely black polymer firearms whereas my local guy as a selection ranging from milsurp to sporterized Springfield 1903s, at least a dozen used Ruger #1s and used revolvers from classic S&Ws, Ruger, Dan Wesson and so on. Of course he sells black stuff too but if you need a repair or re-blue by the in-house gunsmith he's got you covered.

Long live the LGS!

[Fowler]

I pretty much swore off Wally World years ago after they ran every ma and pa shop out of town (not only outdoors but in every other sales type business as well) only to slowly crank their pricing up in each department as soon as the small shop was gone. I frankly hate the big box outdoors stores as well, Cabelas and Bass Pro are not any more affordable than small shops but they draw the crowds. I wander through one today and can’t find anything I want to buy that I can afford these days.

I know in a lot of rural areas this will be tougher, Wally World is often the only local source for ammo and such. But the law of supply and demand perhaps the hardware stores will put their small guns and ammo counters back in as had years ago.

There are times where Walmart is the only place to get what you need and so even though you try and avoid them you can’t fully and such is life. They are just pandering to the politicians and pressure after all if they really believed in this move they would have pulled all the ammo and guns right away and destroyed them eating the loss. I don’t really think much less of Walmart today than I did before the blew up, hard to have much less of an opinion of them than I did before.

[magnumwheelman]

unfortunately I spend more time in Walmart than I ever used to... I don't like to shop there at all... but ( I take my 83 year old mother shopping Friday afternoons, & she used to work at a Walmart, so she wants to shop there )... I don't like how they & the internet have pushed out all the retail stores in my area, but that is what it is... I do have to make a couple comments about Walmart & Guns... if they ban concealed carry, Mother is going to have to learn to shop somewhere else... & I don't think I've ever bought an actual gun or box of ammo from Walmart... I have purchased some hunting related items ( for example a compact binoculars, that broke the 1st time I tried to use them hunting )

& this may be a braisen comment, but the guys out there slinging AR's over their shoulders to go shopping are dumb asses... yes it may be your constitutional right, but apparently being an idiot is also protected by the constitution

[contender]

Truly an interesting angle many may not have thought of.

The only hitch in that idea of a LGS returning,,, is the ATF,, making it harder for small dealers. It used to be a guy could start a small shop, out of his garage or whatever,, work part time at it,, and build a business. Once he built a business & reputation,, he would grow into a full time store.
The ATF & Clinton run off a LOT of FFL's back when! Hard to get them boys back!

But,, hopefully,, we can see a return of real gun shops.

[JM]

The small town I grew up in had many Bait & Tackle Shops/Gun Shops. There were also several family owned stores. With the exception of a couple of Gun Shops, all the other businesses are gone. The largest Bait & Tackle Shop sponsored an annual fishing derby that drew tourism to the area. Of course that's also gone. Thanks Walmart!

[balin]

With all the class action lawsuits that Walmart had brought against them years ago by their employees for being forced to work through lunch, or off the clock till the job was done. Or the refusal to pay over time for hours worked after their shift ended. I choose to not support them. If I want others to support me then I need to support them even when I have no stake in it or when it would be in my financial interests to not support them.

[caryc]

The Walmart in Hemet Calif. does not sell guns except for BB and Pellet guns. They do sell ammo which I buy once in a while.

Their store so they can sell or not sell anything they want.

I just went to the DMV in Hemet. Made an appointment two months ago. I got my real ID license with the gold bear on it so I can purchase ammo with no hassle.

[Snyd]

Whatever. I don't really care either. But, the reason is one that concerns me. Fred Meyer has done the same thing as well as Dicks. They are kowtowing to the loony leftists gun control agenda. It's a political, feel good do nothing move. We're supposed to think it's because they care about the children. Bottom line is they are afraid of being put out of business by the leftist commies. If you don't do what they want they will shut you up, shut you down, sue your ass off and put you out of business.

my Snyd remarks....

[balin]

I figure a businesses job is to make the most money they can for the owner or stock holder. If a business is making a political or moral decision that is not in the owners or stock holders best interest and without their express permission then the business is not doing it's job. I may not like a decision but if it is made to make the most profits then the company is doing what they should. Then i get to choose whether to shop there. And that all is as should be in a capitalist system.