i voted online. ill note that i have made 2 purchases from local shops, but these were cheaper items where the online price difference would have been minimal (mossy 500 and a 10/22).
ALL of my other purchases have been online in one form or another. with a little work you can find amazing deals that you just cant find in person.
if you refuse to buy online you are depriving yourself of, say, 99.5% of the guns being sold right now. i still roam my local shops to check out what they have and to pick up accessories. ammo is one thing i still regularly buy from local guys. the shipping cost of ammo usually makes it cost effective to buy locally.
one thing to note is that if your state has sales tax, like mine does, you dont pay sales tax when buying from an out of state online source. ive found that the tax savings usually makes up for the $20 shipping and $20 ffl transfer fee. when this is true, you just compare the base price for said firearm.
i have made around 15 separate firearm purchases online. none of these have turned out badly. i always received what i was expecting and haven't had any real surprises. maybe i have been lucky, but i like to think i buy smart. i always take my time looking around.
a few tips for new online buyers:
-research online retailers you havent used.
-do not buy from unrated gunbroker users
-be smart, if a deal is too good to be true, feel it out.
-use your "bookmarks" feature in your web browser when you find something that looks like a good deal. continue to search for that item to make sure you cant find a better deal!
-keep track of the retailers who treated you well so you can check with them first when you want to make another purchase.
so far my favorite online retailer is buds. IMHO they do everything right.
good luck to you all