bought a 10/22 from sports athority

[230RN]

Sorry, HardKnox, but I can't muster much sympathy for your tale of woe.

As, I am sure, our British, Canadian, and Australian friends couldn't, either.

Nor could, I am equally certain, some poor dirt farmer in Africa (or any number of other places around the world) whose wife and daughter were raped and whose cattle were eaten by ravaging bands of warlords... or government agents.

Nope.

And every FFL in the nation knows what's going on with the BATFE's rigorous and rigid "enforcement" of paperwork errors.

Perhaps you'd rather they lose their license and you'd have to go to the Mom 'n Pop store and pay the extra $50?

And the parting remark? Sounds like it was a joke, to me, but then again, I wasn't there.

Sorry, this may not be very High Road, but I just can't weep for you. I think the anger and resentment you felt was unfairly directed at the store, its personnel, and its policies.

And I shall leave unstated the correct direction for your ire.

There. I said it and I ain't takin' it back.

 

[ColinthePilot]

A friend and I were buying ammo at Wally World in MD in December and the woman working the desk asked to see ID. Ok, no problem. My buddy is a bit of a baby-face and you gotta be 21 to by handgun ammo.
Next thing I know, she's copying his whole drivers license onto a clipboard.
Me: Whats that?
Worker: Oh we have to take all this information down when we sell ammo.
Me: Why?
Worker: Oh, the feds make us do it.
Me: No they don't.
Worker: Thats what they told us.

I explained that I wasn't trying to be a jerk, but that it must be a local walmart policy. But, again, no big deal. We got our ammo at a good price and had fun with it.
My other fun wally world ammo purchase was a bulk .22LR purchase. The cashier asked me whether it was for pistol or rifle. I told him rifle, but asked why it mattered or if he was just interested. He said that they have to ask because you only have to be 18 for rifle ammo but 21 for handgun ammo. :banghead:

 

[CBS220]

I've purchased firearms at Walmart before. Very friendly, and the clerks talked with me the whole time. But, a manager did have to carry it out (store policy or something).

 

[JWarren]

I probably would have laughed and replied with a "I'll try not to." Honestly, it seems like a joke to me, no reason to get worked up over it.

Whether it should be taken as a joke or not depends on tone, body language, etc. I'd see.

But at the same time, I wonder this... If a person makes a racist comment in a joking manner-- say-- some kind of stereotype, 99% of people would understand the inappropriate nature of the comment. A person making a racist comment would not be given the benefit laughing it off because the comment is insensitive.

In a country where WE face scrutiny and criticism every day, should we NOT call the inappropriate nature of such comments out?

All activism is worth nothing if you do not address the bias behind it all.



-- John

 

[ranger335v]

"...an hour and a half after i walk in the lady hands me the box and said "please dont shoot anyone in the parking lot"

Sounds like an attempt at a small joke. Lighten up a little.

The proceedures for filling out the #4@^& BATF forms comes from the static the dealers get over any small deviation from what the lords of the agency want when they can find an "error"; not really the sellers fault.

The "assisted" walk out comes from the companies legal eagles trying to reduce fear and resulting liability from the sheeple in the store, it isn't something the local managment dreamed up. Just go along with it, it's not worth getting your knickers in a knot over but if it bothers you that much just don't go there anymore and pay the extra 20%.

 

[Wedge]

I bought a bunch of birdshot bulk packs at a Wal-Mart once. One of the employees ringing me up asked me what I need all those for. In retrospect maybe I should have told him I work at the post office but that may have put me in a bad place. Either way I didn't appreciate the negativity of the employee.

On Friday I bought dip, chips, wine and a couple bricks of .22LR. The kid behind the counter made a feeble attempt at a joke, something about the wild party I was throwing. I laughed and that was that.

I've made the walk of shame, twice. Once at a Wal-mart which was painful when I bought my Mossberg and once at Galyan's when I bought my Blackhawk. I was in college, didn't make much money and in both cases saved at least 30% what the local stores were carrying. For the Blackhawk because I opened a store credit card and some other deals going on, I actually got it below their cost!

However, now that I do make a little more money and have a LOT less free time I think that paying $50 extra WOULD be worth it to me. The Wal-mart experience was the longest, I think my wife and I waited about 40 minutes before it was all said and done. And the Galyan's was up in NY so it didn't matter how long it was going to take because I still had to go to the county clerk with my receipt to get the gun added to my pistol permit, go back to the store and then have a walk of shame.

Last two guns I bought were from local places and I spent longer talking to the clerks than the actual process. That is a precious hour of my weekend that I saved. AND the local guys were about $10 cheaper than the big chains

 

[Big Daddy K]

The Wal Mart in New Boston Texas is great. Guy sold me a gun and sold a hunting liscense to another customer at the same time. He had it down and knew what he was doing.

 

[foghornl]

Wal-Mart has been doing the "Walk-of-Shame" for years, since at least 1990 or so.

When I bought my Marlin Mdl 30AW, I had to almost run to keep up with the Sporting Goods Mgr carrying it to the front door.

I put gun in trunk, then went back in and bought several boxes of ammo. Yeah, SG mgr said they couldn't sell ammo in the same transaction...wierd.

 

[junyo]

One time at Cabelas, I had already run done the paperwork once, but there was a problem with my card (reestablishing my home branch in another state froze my funds for a day) so I had to pick up the next day. The gun counter was super busy, but the clerks at the checkout remembered me and that I was pretty much done, so they handed me my case, rung it up and sent me on my way. Next day I get a frantic call from the manager, because of course they should've had me do the paperwork again. I'm like "Unless I was convicted of a felony in the 20 hours between visits, what's the problem?' And the manager proceeded to educate me on how the BATFE shoves it up their [bleep] if there's the slightest issue with the paperwork. So I drove back out and they gave me a s'load of gift certificates for not being too much of a tool about it.

So yeah, I can see why the big boxes with employees that only fill out the paperwork occasionally are ridiculously meticulous about it. Although that last comment she could've kept to herself.

 

[jabotinsky]

Bought a 10/22 at a local gun shop, paid $225. Salesman was new, had to ask for help on forms, couldn't work the case lock...the whole transaction took forever. Wanted to talk me up to the higher end laminate model with bull barrel...I thought it weighed too much for my tastes.

Some of the Wally's by me don't even have guns any more. Went to Dick's the other weekend and got a cheap brick of Thunderbolts, but there were only long guns to look at and the selection and section generally were depressing. Some nice fishing stuff, though.

Some days I buy ammo from a small shop to try & help them out. Sometimes I buy online if the price is right and it doesn't add a lot to shipping (and order number doesn't start with a a letter at Cheaper n' Dirt).

I want the merchant to add value; either through great prices, service or wisdom.

A retired cop up in the hills near me runs a little shop, and he helped me out with a cheap FFL transfer. I'll try to help him out when I can. Even if he is always trying to push a Yugo AK on me.

 

[WoofersInc]

I always get a kick out of having the gun being walked out of the store by an employee. Once I was talking to one of the guys during the walk and he was saying it was a safety issue and they didn't want to hand over a gun to someone in the store. I asked him "what about the concealed carry permit I showed you when buying it". You could see that he had no clue that by having my CCW that I also had my gun on me.
I take all the stuff with a grain of salt. I still get the gun at reasonable price.