Attn: Wal-Mart shoppers

[Lupinus]

I have no "gun shops" near me. That is to say I have nothing near me that is strictly a gun store. The two places I go to are an Outdoors type store that has things for fishing, hunting, boating, etc etc as well as a great selections of guns. The other is a hardware store with a lare selection of hunting gear and guns. The hardware store is a bit cheaper and on the way but I go to the sporting goods store quite often as well.

It's been about three months since I have stepped foot in a walmart and considerably longer since I bout ammo or gun related stuff from them. A brick of 22 at the hardware store is 10.95, at the sporting goods store 13.95. Thats only a few dollars more then walmart and I am willing to pay a few dollars extra to have an enjoyable shopping experience with people who are interested and know what is what.

 

[possum]

my step dad is a manager at the higher levels of the chain and said that they are gonna only sell guns in the areas that have a history of good gun sales. the stores that don't sale that many he said was taking a loss and it wasn't worth the effort. though this has happened, there are still gonna be stores in your area that you can go to to purchase guns. for me for example i used to could go 10 minutes down the road and get one but now i have to go to the mahattan store 20-25 minutes away, but who really buys guns from wal-mart, i never have, not saying that i wouldn't but just never have in the past.

 

[Axman]

SoCal, The Big 5 stores in my area seem to have a fair selection of long arms. The ammo prices are not too bad either. But then, you're in California!

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

Out here in Portland, Ore, Walmarts have a very poor selections of firearms & ammo. A local chain named Bi-Mart is where I buy a lot of my ammo and gun accessories. They are like small Wallmarts. It is employee owned and the stores are a lot cleaner than Walmart's IMHO. For my gun purchases it is local gun stores or gun shows. Every once in a while I will purchase something at Big5.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Every once in a while I will purchase something at Big5.

Really? Last time I called them they said they no longer sell rifles or ammo. Maybe some of them do.

 

[javacodeman]

Just to pile on for stats purposes...

My local Wal-Marts (North Charleston and Goose Creek) still sell guns and ammo. I can get my ammo requirments (.40 S&W 180 grain Full Metal Jacket and .22 Mini-Mag Long Rifle Hollow Points) much cheaper too. I still patronize my local gun shop my buying guns and range membership (not to mention the $4 on targets every other week). I take a pretty much laise faire (sp?) attitude and let market economics make the decisions for businesses.

 

[grislyatoms]

That's one of the reasons why I deal with the "little guys". However, if the "little guys" expect me to pay MSRP, I have no problem going elsewhere.

 

[mr.trooper]

Wally-World has forced a lot of gun stores out of business . . . and now plans to shut down their gun areas too?

I don't want to sound like an elitist, but is this really the case? Most gun stores that I have been in sell "better" guns than Wal-Mart. Not that a gun from them is bad somehow, but I don't think Wal-Mart is serving the same customer base as a local gunstore is. I guess I could sort of see it from the perspective of ammo sales, but even then, my guess is that you can't by anything but the most popular calibers at a wally-world.

I can see wal-mart phasing out gun sales in some areas. I get the impression that Wal-Mart is trying hard to "customize" their stores to the areas that they are in. Cases in point, there are some walmarts now selling reloading supplies, and I know of one wal-mart in Idaho that has a full service fly shop in it. Perhaps my impression is incorrect, but it makes sense to cater to your customers needs.
__________________

You can order jsut about any gun at walmart. They only keep sporting rifles in stock, but the guy behind the counter has a big red catalogue of every gun and accessory walmart can order. Just about any gun you can think of; AR-15s, Mini-14s, hi-capacity handguns, ect. can be ordered from Walmart at competative prices....or at least you could 4 years ago, wich was the last time i actualy looked at the catalogue.