Anyone else miss Wal-Marts handguns?

[Hal]

Thread on incompetent sporting good help at WM got me thinking.

Blue, got me thinking too,,,,'bout what a pompus buch of jack-holes gun owners are at times.

Wally World is a JOKE; when it comes down to sporting good sales people being helpful!

They hire folks that don't know the sun rises in the east;

AND

Yes, I have been more than blessed; not only by GOD, but
by hard work and having an understanding family as they
made some significant sacrifices to support my gun habit.
But, it gave me an opportunity to share with other's the
joys of the shooting sports.

Dan,
I used to have a great deal of respect for you. That pretty much evaporated when I read the first coment above. Having worked in retail for a number of years, I can tell you straight out. Well. maybe those folks don't know East from West,,,,but they sure as !#4@$ know he difference between stading in a welfare line and standing in line to collect a pay check. Sorry bud, cops and such don't have an exclusive lock on hard work and sacrifice and family values.

 

[RustyHammer]

First handgun I ever owned came from Wal-Farts. (20+ years ago.)
Still have it to this day.

Bought a Marlin Mod. 60, SS, .22 LR w/ scope from many moons ago too.

Times have changed and so have they.

Rusty

 

[Ala Dan]

Greeting's Hal-

"Who you going to call when the boy's come for you"?
And I ain't talk'in about the boys in blue (or brown)
uniforms; I'm talk'in about the boys in the hood!

Cuz, more than likely you will dial 911 and say some
thing like "Mr. policeman I need help really quick, as
there is a drug addict/sex offender/parolee from the
state lock-up facility trying to break in my house".
"PLEASE HURRY"

And only minutes later, a man and/or woman behind
the badge shows up; putting there life on the line
to rid you of YOUR problem. With NO respect, NO
hail of glory, NO commendations, NOT even a "Thank
You Officer" he/she goes about their daily beat; having
to deal with some of the world's worst scum bag's,
that NOBOBY else cares to deal with!

Friend, don't began to tell me about hard work and
family values; as its the STRESS of being on the bubble
all the time. Someone, always wanting to take a "pot
shot" at you; either verbally or physically. Lastly, its
the officer on the beat whose patrol vechile is full of
teddy bears; so when you have to inform a family
member that their loved one has been killed in a
car accident, you can open the trunk and give a
small child one of these teddy bears. It's the LEO
whose life expectancy is only 60 years old; and
whose suicide rate is 9 times higher than the
national average! It's the PRESSURE of the job
partner; but that's part of the dealings of life,
NOBODY said it would be fair.

Respectfully,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[Hal]

Dan,
Your missing the point.

The point is, those "idiots", "losers", "mental deficients", etc, etc, (I've heard just about all the deragtory descriptions) that work at Wal Mart, K-mart or whatever mart,,, that everyone is so eager to dump on,,, are putting in a honest days work, for an honest day's pay.

They (in my book anyhow) are deserving of a small measure of respect,,,,not ridicule for that.


While I'm at it,,,and more to the topic,,,,maybe,,just maybe,,the reason Wally doesn't sell handguns anymore is because of the "low quality" of the customer? Think about it. Read any number of posts dealing with ____- mart and ask yourself if that's the type of customer YOU'D want to shop in your store.....all "attitude", "all mouth" and ready to run screaming to the home office over the smallest little thing.(real or imagined)

Truth is, as a gun owner,,,it's everyones responsibility to be a "good will" ambassador. It doesn't take but a second to thank the "Droid behind the counter" instead of rolling your eyes and muttering "clueless" as you walk away. As a uniformed officer, I'm sure you understand the importance of acting "by the book" while in uniform, on or off duty. Well, that's exactly how a gun/ammo buyer has to start conducting themself in public these days.

I expected better from you than to ridicule someone over what they do for a living. Maybe that US vs THEM gulf is wide after all.

 

[Ala Dan]

I'll Forgive & Forget!

Got'cha Hal- you are certainly correct; at least
those poor folks behind the counter are working for
a living; and are not totally dependent of some form
of government assistance! Beisdes, I remember
the fellow who sold me that S&W model 67 and later
the 6" Colt Python well; as he was a former police
officer for the City Of Bombingham. Funny thing, his
last name was KOPP! Turned out, he was
very intelligent and really new his inventory of
weapons and supplies.

Sorry Hal, for the mis-interpertation as I thought
you were getting down on us LEO's? Speaking of
which, the reason I got into the business in the
first place was cause I like meeting/greeting/or
dealing with the public; not that I like to cause
anyone any harm. Unfortunately, some of those
folks that you meet/greet/or deal with won't let
you be nice to them. Then, you have to go to a
back-up plan! And most of the time, they
really don't care for that either.

Hey, my friend if I can ever be of help; don't
hesitate to holler! Take Care-

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[brookstexas]

Don't forget

Sears, Target etc used to sell guns...

 

[Dorrin79]

back in the day (like, 50 years before I was born) you could get guns anywhere.

As to Walmart, I don't mind that they quit selling handguns, now that Academy Sports sells them (at least in Texas). Not-so-good selection, and not-so-helpful employees, but their prices (if you know what you want and they have it) are amazingly low.

Good prices on ammo too, although they don't have the WWB 9mm 100rd packs.

 

[Dr.Rob]

As I understand it you can still buy handguns at Walmart here in Colorado, but they must be special ordered.

I remember passing on a Makarov from Wally World in the final days of over the counter sales NIB Izmash for $130.

I also recall taking a trip to a Sam's Club for some reason and coming across a pallette of .50 cal CVA in-line rifles in blister packs with starter kits for $50 or $60 total. (At the time wal mart had stocked up on cheap in-line rifles but the DOW had not yet allowed in-line rifles, so all the unsold surplus rifles from all the Wal-Mart stores ended up at this one Sam's Club.

Now that the DOW allows inline rifles proces are back up.

 

[J.J.]

In Texas for sure Wal-Mart does not sell handguns special order or otherwise...

 

[zpo]

I used to work at walmart, so here is what I think I know.

1. the ATF 4473 is the only gun form to fill out. You either check long gun or hand gun. Its not the paperwork.

2. Alaska is supposed to be the only state that walmart still sells pistols to because of wildlife.

3. some guy who had been in a mental hospital at one time bought a pistol and went to his local courthouse to visit a judge, shot several people including the judge. the judge organized the survivors into one of those all American lawsuits saying walmart was to blame for not knowing he was not sane. last I heard the lawsuit was tied up in red tape, but for those wishing for wally world pistols, its a possibility that if walmart wins, they might start selling pistols again. but its been a year since I worked there, so who knows.

 

[blue86buick]

Never had the opportunity to buy them...

....as i turned 21 last fall, but I just got a rifle from them for the first time. Got a hella good deal on it too, as it was in the wrong rack. I had actually just stopped in to ask for their special order catalogue, to see if there were any pistols in there. No pistols available, but I still walked out with a gun I didn't *really* need and hadn't planned to buy. (Marlin 336W 30-30 lever)

 

[Peter Gun]

I never saw a Walmart w/ handguns, but i used to get a kick out of shopping at Sports Authority in MD. I loved going in there and talking as loud as I could about calibre and magazine capacity while snapping the slides loudly, pulling triggers, and snapping cylinders on every single gun in the case. The sheeple would turn and run! Wal mart would have been even more fun.

On another note: those of you that have good gun shops in the area should be ashamed if you buy anything gun-related from walmart. They dont respect your rights and will only have good prices until they drive all the local shops out of business. Then they either raise prices or stop selling firearms and you're out of luck. I mention this because I was forced to go to the Walmart in Williston, VT the other day and was horrified at the large business their firearms counter was doing. Right across the street from this place is the best gun shop most people will ever see. Huge selection, good prices, knowledgeable help. There are two other shops within 20 miles I would also say are very good. This walmart's prices are poor except for bulk ammo (12ga, 9mm) and counter help is completely ignorant. I dont get it.

 

[Majic]

I loved going in there and talking as loud as I could about calibre and magazine capacity while snapping the slides loudly, pulling triggers, and snapping cylinders on every single gun in the case.

So that's how you treat someone else's firearm?

But what's the point? Are you one of the counter commandos we all see? Actions like that are what gives us gun owners the perceived bad reputations.

 

[Peter Gun]

The point is I hate wal mart and other big box stores and if I can have some fun scaring foolish people while hurting their business at the same time, I like it!!

 

[Majic]

So you dislike some retailers, but why take it out on the firearms? The firearm could be damaged and another shooter will have to deal with your frustration as they have to have it repaired.
Suppose some of those so called foolish people were potential shooters who turned away because of your actions?
Actions like this seen by anti's only fuel their point and hurts our image. We must be accoutable for our actions and hold ourselves to a higher degree to get any respect and lose the uneducated, imbecile, good-for-nothing, character flawed tag that is being placed on all of us gun owners (especially us handgun owners) as a group.

 

[Adventurer_96]

I remember when WalMart pulled a Sheryl Crow album because it had the lyric, "WalMart's selling handguns to kids," or something to that effect.

The irony of it was, as I recall, that they'd stopped selling handguns prior to the song coming out.