Is Wal-Mart Good For The Gun Sales Business?

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Treo

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I don't consider WM to be a pro second amendment entity in any sense.
My concern is that by taking business away from Mom & Pop gunshops, WM could put them out of business and then continue their trend of phasing out firearms related merchandise, thus limiting or eliminating firearms outlets in a given area.

Does anyone else see this as a cause for concern or a good reason not to purchase firearms and related merchandise from Wal-Mart?
 
You could say the same about many other lines of merchandise. The skim the cream of lines that appeal and are afforadable to the masses Just try to buy a quality tool there, power or hand, good luck!!
 
Dont forget about simple suply and demand. Yes I agree with you that WM will cause the mom and pop shops to close down. Conversly now that WM is ceasing their sales of all handguns and in most areas Rifle and shotguns, you will see that with suply drying up demand will soar. Hence the next wave of mom and pop will come in and fill the void.

Gotta love capitalism and free enterprise :)
 
Why pick on walmart? Cabellas, bass pro, dick's sporting goods, etc, are all guilty. I wouldn't buy a snap cap from any of them.
 
I wouldn't consider Walmart to be a big player in the weapons/ammo sales game, personally. Their selection of long guns is extremely limited in quality and quantity, their muzzleloaders are of average to marginal quality and their ammo selection basically sucks. I wouldn't look for them to be a big threat to the big boys like Gander Mountain or Cabelas, nor would I expect them to make a big dent in the business of specialty shops that carry everything a shooter could need.

The only redeeming feature about Walmart's weapons/ammo department is that they sell Winchester white box in 100 round double packs for $22 bucks a box, whereas Gander Mountain gets $42 a box.
 
Walmart has both amazing buying power and marketing power. They sell what they think will make them money and if they were anti-second ammendment, they would not sell any firearms or ammunition. Pick on someone your own size! :)
 
Wal Mart may not be a threat to Gander Mountain or Cabella's. And to give them a poke too, I'll bet you that Cabella's is the only gun shop in Sidney Ne, although I don't see them getting out of the gun business.
 
In my case Wal-Mart is good for the LGS. My favorite gun store is kind of out of the way and I get out of the habit of going there. Several times now I've been browsing at W-M and come close to buying one of their specials. Each time I realized that I COULD buy this gun mostly because it's cheap and convenient but the gun I really wanted was either at the LGS or they would be very happy to order it for me.

It's also a little surprising that Wal-Mart does not beat up on the LGS very badly price-wise. It's often the other way around. I suppose that high priced gun shops are more vulnerable to W-M's competition.

End result: I have never bought a gun at W-M but they have gotten me in the mood. ;)
 
Not this again.

Look - Wal-Mart is a part of the same free market system that mom & pop shops are. I will gladly support mom & pop shops, provided that I'm not completely bent over a barrel doing so. If I can find it cheaper (or at least within a reasonable price range) at a mom & pop, they get my money. If not, it's Wal-Mart, or Bass Pro, or whoever has the best price/availabilty, etc.

I don't really like Wal-Mart, but I do understand that as a consumer, I have the responsibility to make an informed and reasonable choice based on my needs and budget. if that means going with one of the big box stores, so be it.
 
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