What would this make you think?

[Aaryq]

Howdy folks. Imagine, if you will, you're in line at Wal-Mart's outdoor's section. A younger looking guy is in front of you and he asks the cashier for some shotgun shells.
The guy behind the counter asks "what kind of shells?"
The young guy replies, "I don't know. I just need some shotgun shells...12 gauge."
The guy behind the counter asks, "What are you shooting?"
The young guy tells him, "I don't know, I just need some shotgun shells."
The guy behind the counter turns around and gives him a box of 25 7 or 7 1/2 shot. The young guy shows his ID, gives him some cash, puts it in a bag and walks out of sight.

First reaction to this scenario is:

**ETA** See post 15.

 

[mister_wilburn]

Well, in Texas you can pick them up without having to talk to a cashier (shotgun shells only), and in Alabama too. Sounds to me like someone told him to go pick up shells and didn't tell him why. Probably not for hunting.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

I would think the guy didn't know what kind of shotgun shells he wanted and the cashier gave him one of the the most common kinds. Then again, I wouldn't think anything of it.

Could be as simple as the guy isn't a shooter and a friend invited him to go shooting this weekend and asked him to pick up his own shells.

 

[kingpin008]

+1. Vigilance is a good thing, but sometimes people just don't know what they need/want.

 

[Kali Endgame]

Hey, buddy, can I go with you?

My first time buying 06 ammo, I had no idea what grain or brand I wanted. Uh, that box?

 

[Zen21Tao]

I would pry a little more into what the shotgun is going to be used for. Not to violate his privacy, but to ensure he gets the right ammo for what he needs it for. There are a number of valid reasons why he could have answered that way without any of them having "ill intent." For example, maybe he is going on his first hunting trip and doesn't know what he would be hunting, maybe he wants to go to a trap and skeet range or rifle/shotgun range and doesn't know what he will be shooting at (paper targets, clay pidgins, textbooks, etc.), or maybe he wanted self-defense rounds for home defense and didn't know how to answer the question without tactfully saying "humans."

 

[Bezoar]

on the other hand, you never know, he could be one of the thousands of people who inherit grampaws shotgun, and have no clue other then caliber, and how to load it.

And since when do we need to go tell the 19 year old pimpled highschooler working the walmart register
-what were going to do with ammunition we purchase,
Its a free country, if i want to go to wally world and buy some shotgun shells, im going to do so, and screw that idiot behind the register for "gun and ammo guidance"

fictional hypothosis here:

50 year old, skeet shooting competitor: i need a box of "x brand shotgun shells, in y chamber size, and z shot size and f load weight"

17 year old clerk: what for? target? pheasent? etc,

Shooter: just give me my ammo kid

clerk: no, not untill you tell me the gun your using and what for because the
ammunition you requested isnt "good enough" for anything serious..
need at least an ounce of 000 buck

or

inexperienced shooter; hi i need some black powder for a bp revolver i just
bought
clerk: cool for you dude, what kind of black powder you need?

shooter: just black powder like the barrel says, i think the manual said dupont or goex.

clerk: hm, i dont know on dupont or goex, but we do have some cans of
black powder here labeled dupont smokeless,, *open can* yep its
black ok"

shooter; ok ill take a few cans.

3 hours later, shooter ends up in emergency room having plastic surgeons try to make a shattered stump look somewhat like a hand so it doesnt scare little children.

See? cover all angles before getting bad ideas. Who knows, maybe he was just a goot little public skool boy who was trying to overcome state educated fear on guns by going out to get some ammo for pappies shotgun.

or he could have been sent out on an errand to get ammo for a 12 guage and wasnt told anything about what the shooter wanted.

 

[earplug]

Hey when the wife sends me out to buy soap or paper towels Its a 50/50 chance I'll get it wrong, same when I send her out for motor oil.
The 12 ga buyer will get it right in time. This time A year I'm guessing hunting season is out and there just going to shoot stuff.

 

[Prince Yamato]

Not your problem. Mind your own damn business. If he's going to do something malicious, that's why you have CCW.

 

[SteelyNirvana]

My first time buying 06 ammo, I had no idea what grain or brand I wanted. Uh, that box?

Sounds like me when I bought my first box of 30-30 shells.

Me: Hi, I need some 30-30 shells please.
Guy behind counter: Okay,what grain and Winchester or Remington.
Me: Uh,it doesn't matter I just bought the gun and need some ammo to target practice with.
GBC:Well,we got 170gr core lokt,150 &170gr power-point.
Me:Hmm..just gimme one box of the Remington's and one box of the 170 Winchesters.

Next time I'll know specifically what to ask for

 

[GhostlyKarliion]

first reaction? assuming I'm at work...

"Sir, it is important for me to know what size your chamber is before recommending shotgun shells, using the wrong length could cause serious injury or death. You may use the store phone, can you call someone and find out exactly what you need?"

I'd be near the counter for any ammunition sale in my store on my shift (considering I'm literally the only active hunter/shooter on that shift, still working on getting some people back interested in it) if this guy wound up blowing the breech on his shotgun open and injuring himself, it would come back to me as I was the one supervising the sale.

If I'm not at work it isn't my place to force my advise, but I certainly would offer it to try and keep him from doing something stupid and getting hurt, who knows, maybe he could be a very responsible shooter and hunter one day, and then he'd know exactly what kind of shotgun shells he needed. What’s more though he would be a more responsible hunter/shooter, thanks to your efforts.

sheesh people, gotta remember that we are here to offer a leg up to those novice about firearms, not kick them back to the bottom of the ladder.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

He doesn't shoot--a friend or family member asked him to pick up a box of shells--7 or 7.5 is pretty stnd for target or general utility--if the kid brought that home it would likely be of use to any shotgunner in some capacity.

Or he's a novice / crazy about to go off (with little training to boot) that knows he needs '12 ga'. Let's hope the former.

The Walmart clerk sounds like he is a good guy and wanted to help out--I wouldn't sell ANY weapon or ammo to someone not having any idea what they planned to do with the gun.

 

[Nil]

Sounds more trouble free than my usual interactions with Wal-Mart employees behind the sporting goods counter.

Me - "Hey, can I get 4 packs of the 9mm Winchester white box 100 round box."
Employee - "Uh...." *searches, completely lost, for about 15 seconds while I point it out* "This one?"
M - "No, it's in the cabinet on the left, middle shelf, on the right side."
E - "This one?"
M - "No, that's Remington. The 9mm Winchester 100 round box."
E - "This?"
M - "No. To the right."
E - "Is this it?"
M - "Yeah, can I get 4 of them please."
E - "We only have 1."

That's pretty much how it goes. It gets really fun once I ask them to search for a specific grain or ask for more than one ammo type.

 

[M2 Carbine]

If I was the guy behind the counter I'd tell him there are all kinds of SG shells for different uses and if he wanted to tell me what he needed them for I'd advise him on what kind to get.

Other than that I'd sell him the smallest pellet size, lowest power shells I had.

 

[Aaryq]

Good. I was talking with my Sgt at work earlier this week and I was talking about my first time buying shotgun shells for myself (about 3-4 years ago). The Sgt told me that he was surprised that no one did more to gather more information about my intent with those shotgun shells. He got me thinking about it and in retrospect, at least in our occupation, it did seem a little suspicious. The clerk gave me 7 1/2 shot and I had a BLAST (get it) shooting it. My old man was teaching me the basics for patterns and clays. I think, if the clerk did suspect anything, he gave me some of the shotgun shells on the not-as-effective for 2-leggers end of the spectrum.

Anywho, thanks for your responses and it's good to know that you folks would take the high road and try to help a new shooter and not think that he was going to do something evil.

 

[Wheeler44]

My wife bought some shotgun shells for a nephew as a birthday present. He had recently inherited (from me) a model 37 Ithaca 12 Ga. She brought home some nice rabbit and small game shells. In 20 Ga. ha ha hah. I think I still have them around here somewhere. Could be a similar situation.

 

[10 Ring Tao]

Hes not going to do a whole lot of damage with 7.5s, so who cares?

 

[Outlaws]

I would think the kid is going out to boonies and will just be shooting beer cans or whatever else he has laying around. There is zero reason to ask outside of general conversation. But if someone doesn't want to talk to you, you have no reason to not sell. Just because someone doesn't talk to the cops doesn't mean they have something to hide, they might just be sick of society and government thinking they have any business in your business.

There has been three times I have been buying a large amount of shotgun shells at WallyWorld and been given odd looks by housewives who are behind me in the line while putting them on the counter. Twice I just smiled, which believe it or not, seemed to fuel the fire in their eyes.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

I think, if the clerk did suspect anything, he gave me some of the shotgun shells on the not-as-effective for 2-leggers end of the spectrum.

Oh, you tricked us into telling the truth. Walmart always seems to have the 7.5 and 3/3.5 dram as the cheapest shotshell to buy in quantity. I doubt the clerk was trying to make you less leathal in any conscious way--that's just the cheapest general use shell they usually stock and it works for target and small general pests/game.

Inside of a dwelling or at close range, against a '2-legger' not wearing body armour, that load is just as sure a man killer as anything and much safer than buckshot for the folks next door.

Thanks for a fun thread.

 

[Zen21Tao]

These happened at Wally world when I had to have someone from another dept call to sporting goods to help me.

I remember one time I asked for "7mm Remington Mag" and the guy layed down a box of 7mm Wetherby Mag and said "were out of the 'Remington stuff' but we have this."

There was another time I asked to see a 12 gauge shotgun (IRC it was a Rem 870) which they happened to be out of. So the kid does the ... obvious... he hands me a 20 gauge and says "we don't have it in 12 gauge but here is a 20 gauge, you can just cut it down" (I think he honestly thought "gauge" had to do with length of the barrel or something).

 

[qlajlu]

Some of the answers remind me of a family situation many, many years ago when my brother-in-law asked his wife, my wife's sister, to pick up some 12-gauge .30-06 shells for him because he wasn't going to make it to the store before deer season started in just a couple of days. My sister-in-law was completely clueless (as my wife would have been) even having grown up in a shooting family. Needless to say, my sister-in-law was less than happy with my brother-in-law over the incident, but it did make for some good laughs through the years afterward.

"Sir, it is important for me to know what size your chamber is before recommending shotgun shells, using the wrong length could cause serious injury or death. You may use the store phone, can you call someone and find out exactly what you need?"

GhostlyKarliion has a very good point and, in my estimation, this would be the only relevant question to be asked in this situation.

Oh, and just for giggles: