Cabela's - In bed with the man. TALF!

[edho]

So I have an ax to grind with Cabela's.

The WSJ had an article "Federal Intervention Pits 'Gets' vs. 'Get-Nots'" 06/15/09 - that mentioned Cabela's got +-$400 million in TALF assistance. "World's Foremost Bank" a subsidiary of Cabelas runs the in store credit card ops. Apparently this was done in early April. While I am opposed to government intervention/bailouts/subsidy in general, I find this particularly disturbing. We see those who take bailout bucks being told to cap pay (GS), what auto nameplates to retire (GM), fire a ceo , what kind of cars to build... the evidence is clear - the cheap money comes with strings...
It is also pretty clear that the "beneficiaries" of the GovBucks had no clue that the strings were going to be used in the manner that they were used in.

Now apply the same heavy handed abilities/tactics to a government that historically is no friend to the 2nd amendment.. I don't like it!

I have no idea what this might look like, NO ONE DOES!
Might Cabela's be told what it can/cannot carry in inventory?
Might Cabela's be encouraged to give access (privately possibly) to the computer version of the gun log book?

At the same time any of their competitors who say NO to TALF (or are too small to get it) are at a competitive disadvantage. Unless they get in line for TALF also...

I bought my first gun in April - at Cabela's :banghead:

I am a newbee here....
Am I just paranoid?
How does this sit with you all?
Thanks

 

[huntsman]

I am a newbee here....
Am I just paranoid?
How does this sit with you all?

When it comes to .gov there ain't no free lunch; sometimes we forget that as citizens so it should be no surprise that a big corp forgets it.

It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.

 

[RobNDenver]

Seems like a much better topic for APS than the High Road. Maybe the moderators will suggest as much. I'd say welcome, but your first post is about politics and not guns.

What kind of gun did you buy from Cabela's? How do you like it? What accessories did you buy with it? Where do you shoot it?

 

[CoRoMo]

Welcome to THR.

Might Cabela's be told what it can/cannot carry in inventory?
Might Cabela's be encouraged to give access (privately possibly) to the computer version of the gun log book?

I'd say there is a bit of paranoia in those ideas because the government only has strings attached to the Cabela's bank, not the retail operation. The fed can't simply control the store with the power it has over the bank. However, there's also a bit of truth in the notion that the fed will surely look at this opportunity from every angle possible for the purpose of controlling something, anything.

 

[Monster Zero]

Can so

It's already been proven that the federal bailouts result in the government getting whatever he wants from the bailee.

If this means helping a retailer make business decisions or granting access to proprietary information, it's already been done, in the banking, mortgage, and car industries and probably others that I can't think of right now.

I suggest not buying firearms or anything firearm related at Cabela's.

I myself won't be buying anything from them, just on principle. YMMV.

 

[maskedman504]

My order of 1k 7.62x39, 1k .223 and 500 .45 just arrived and it came in these awesome plastic storage boxes no extra charge!

 

[chuckusaret]

I'd say there is a bit of paranoia in those ideas because the government only has strings attached to the Cabela's bank, not the retail operation.

You must be joking. The government can control who gets to use the banks money and without a bank credit line Cabela's is out of business.

 

[searcher451]

Right. Let's boycott Cabela's. Great. And the folks at WallyWorld no doubt bank down the street at that government-intervention operation, so let's stop buying guns and ammo from them, too. And let's see, the guy on Gunbroker who is selling that nice piece I've had my eye on on does his banking with that other place the government had to step in and bail out, so I'd better hightail it out of that auction, too. And my local FFL -- nice fella -- drives by the bank that was taken over when he heads in to work each day, so I'd better stop dealing with him, too.

Are we all nuts?

But it's all politics anyway and has no place on The High Road.

 

[Rockwell1]

The ATF csn walk into Cabella's at will and inspect their paperwork, they don't need TALF to do it.

So yes you're a little parnoid.

 

[maskedman504]

 

[HoosierQ]

Everybody is a little paranoid right now. Cabela's is certainly not hiding the fact that they carry and sell a lot of guns...unlike Wal Mart who seems pretty ambivilent about selling guns. I remember when hardware stores sold guns...and Sears too!

At any rate, all this money funny business is not about our guns...this thing to which you refer is not about Cabela's gun inventory. Whether or not all this bailout stuff is good for the economy is certainly a question...but it is not about guns. Cabela's is a big corporation now and they issue credit cards that people can buy anything with, from any store, and they are probably all tangled up because of that in all the other banking woes.

With all due respect, on this specific topic, I think some posters above are fanning the flames a bit. Cabela's is not going to stop selling guns or handguns or ammo or reloading supplies as a condition of this deal! I am 100% confident of that. Cabela's is not going to be asked to stop selling same as the result of this deal! I am 99% confident of that.

Whether or not Cabela's has made serious business mistakes by issuing credit cards and getting tangled up in that mess is a different matter. Hopefully they have not run themselves out of business...in which case they won't be selling kayaks anymore either.

 

[everallm]

To reiterate the point of the bad ole man coming in and using TARP/TALF to hunt down a firearm, say a seized Colt AR.

Weapon is seized in a drug bust, manufacturer and serial number recorded, say it's a Colt with S/N 123456789.

ATF goes to Colt and asks who they sold the weapon to, Billy Bob Wholesalers of Texas.

ATF goes to Billy Bob and looks who they sold it to, Cabela's of Alabama.

ATF goes to Cabela's and looks at the 4473 and bound book, sold to Jim Bob of Mountain Falls.

ATF goes to Jim Bob and starts there.

No hunt through some sales inventory system, no secret squirrel, back door, financial leverage.

As for the

A government that historically is no friend to the 2nd amendment

That would be the same one where we were told by all the Chicken Little's that an AWB would be the first bit of legislation signed, all hanguns would be registered, you would have to list all your firearms on your tax return, magazines will be restricted to 10 rounds etc etc etc.

The current government MAY well at some later point become 2A unfriendly, at the moment there is no "historic" (since Nov 04 2008) facts to support that comment.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

The current government MAY well at some later point become 2A unfriendly, at the moment there is no "historic" (since Nov 04 2008) facts to support that comment.

What about Eric Holder's AWB comment? I know Pelosi "shot it down" (or pretended to), but I don't think we have an all clear or anything until at least the Dem majority goes away.

 

[bearmgc]

Don't know for sure, but this thread may get yanked because of the political stuff in it. I used to buy alot of stuff from Cabelas years ago and have their credit card. But in recent years, their stuff has gone up, way overpriced. There's other places online, as well as local places that can beat their prices for me. Sometimes comes a time where ya have to say adios to an old friend, who changed over the years, not for the better. For me, Cabela is one of them old friends, that I no longer frequent.

 

[TurboFC3S]

TALF is nothing like TARP, it's not 'assistance' ... learn what TALF is before making silly assumptions.