Funny thing happened at Walmart...

[grammontS]

HA, '21YO' has been in my rear view mirror for 50 years but I got asked every time I bought ammo form WM, for my driver's license so they could put my birthdate into their register or it wouldn't accept the sale.

In Massachusetts I have to show them my carry license to buy ammo.

 

[Golfanaticshooter]

This is a little off subject, but why does anyone shop at Walmart?

 

[1KPerDay]

I haven't bought any ammo at Walmart in years, but when they asked me I told them "both". I left it up to them how they key it into their computer.

If they wanted to pin me down further, I told them "both, I have both rifles and handguns in .22, and I can't tell you right now in which of them I will use it."

I always say “machine gun” and watch their heads explode

 

[Old Dog]

Have I told you guys lately how much I enjoy a good Wal-Mart thread?

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Keep in mind that at WalMart you were just up against a company policy and sales rule. However, had you made a comparable slip of the tongue (e.g., "My brother said he'd like a gun like this. I'll take it.") to an FFL for a firearm purchase, that definitely would have killed the sale immediately. If the Wally World staff is as savvy as the average LGS clerk, they could have simply told you no sale, and explained why.

I can't buy a gun as a gift for my brother?

Have I told you guys lately how much I enjoy a good Wal-Mart thread?

Probably within the last couple weeks

 

[Trunk Monkey]

It's been my experience is there is absolutely no point and arguing with a sales associate from Walmart. Even if you're right they'll claim company policy and still won't do what you're asking them to do.

I don't think I've bought ammunition in a Walmart since Obama was President but for other things I don't waste my time arguing with the sales associate.

 

[Riomouse911]

You gotta remember these people are almost never gun-savvy folks, they’re sent to a particular store department to stock shelves and hand customers merchandise. Having worked in retail many years ago I found clerks were rarely trying to screw you over, they’re just doing what they’re told to do. If they deviate from that, they get disciplined or fired.

Yeah, the board-room level corporate actions of many publicly traded companies grates on me, so when that happens I don’t take it out on the people at the bottom my family and I just quit buying the products or shopping at their stores altogether.

Stay safe.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

It shouldn’t be up to the counter clerk to judge the efficacy of your intended use with a product they have for sale. Otherwise they wouldn’t sell a funnel, garden hose, and a case of beer to anybody under 30. If they have it for sale there should be no questions on its sale unless you are acting lime a crazy person (which you clearly weren’t).

 

[Cannibul]

It shouldn’t be up to the counter clerk to judge the efficacy of your intended use with a product they have for sale. Otherwise they wouldn’t sell a funnel, garden hose, and a case of beer to anybody under 30. If they have it for sale there should be no questions on its sale unless you are acting lime a crazy person (which you clearly weren’t).

Blame Federal law.

You have to be 18 to purchase rifle ammo, and 21 to purchase handgun ammo.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

The local WalMart does not sell any pistol ammunition, company policy, not federal law. Saying you're buying .22 ammo for a handgun at WalMart = no sale. I have a .22 LR ArmaLite AR-7 Explorer rifle and a Charter Arms AR-7 Explorer II pistol so, of course, I only shoot WalMart .22 ammo in my AR-7 rifle never in my AR-7 pistol.

It's not up to the counter clerk to decide what store policies are imposed by their employer (and policies that may have been badly explained by their manager to boot). You like your job, you follow store policy. I suspect the rules are the result of complying with threats by lawyers or gun control advocacy groups. Following that path helped KMart survive as they did, hunh?

Last published Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Institute of Justice, US DoJ survey showed 91% of firearms using prison imates who carried or used a gun in the crime for which they were currently in prison acquired their weapon from sources other than commercial retail sales (gunshop, pawnshop, gunshow, flea market). Twould be interesting if they surveyed prison inmates on how they acquired their ammo too.

These restrictions affect the law abiding. I am tired of complying with restrictions that really don't work, burden me, and take funds away from policies that might actually impact crime.

 

[Alex Clayton]

Wal Mart sells .22 ammo. It can be used in a handgun or a rifle. So what magic takes place that make the .22 ammo they sell not work in a handgun?

Where this all started was yet another gun law. The feds long ago decided all hand gun ammo had to be sold in a way to track it. The dealer had to have the buyer sign a bound book to log the sale. Well back then there was not many rifles that used hand gun ammo. .22 was of course the big one. As always happens when gun laws are passed the people writing them often know nothing. So this put the dealers on the spot. Some would sell things like .22 ammo to people who were 18-20 if they said it was for a rifle. The dealer "could" do this. Some did not want to take the chance. They long ago did away with the bound book but, they never changed the law about hand gun ammo. So it's up to the dealer. If they ask and you say rifle they "can" sell the ammo to someone 18-20 years old. Some do not want to chance it, some do not know how the law works. When dealing with a place like a Wally the person may have no clue how any gun laws work.

 

[Alex Clayton]

This is a little off subject, but why does anyone shop at Walmart?

LOL, I long ago stopped but for reasons I do not understand my Wife still loves the place. She long ago stopped bothering to ask me to go with her so I don't care. At times when there is a panic like this going on I do give her a list of .22 ammo to look for while there. Some times she will come home with whatever the limit is on some I wanted. So win win for me

 

[whughett]

Could have been your youthful good looks. I was well into my thirties before bar tenders quit asking for ID.

 

[minuteman1970]

I have been to Walmarts in NYS that not only ask for your pistol license when buying handgun ammo, but also checked to ensure that a pistol of the specific caliber you wanted ammo for was listed on your license. This of course was before they pulled all pistol ammo from the shelves.

 

[Dead Eye Duck]

I gave up going to Wal Mart period. Used to be a great store now its caught up in all the politics

 

[illinoisburt]

This is a little off subject, but why does anyone shop at Walmart?

Because for many years now they are hands down the best grocery stores for prices and selection in many areas, especially rural areas. Other stuff, not so much.

 

[buck460XVR]

This is a little off subject, but why does anyone shop at Walmart?

Kinda like asking "Why does anyone play Golf?".

In the small town I live in, Walmart is one of only three grocery stores. One of the other two is an ALDIs, which has limited selection. The other one, you can only afford to buy what they have on sale this week. It is also only one of three stores that actually sells hardware. The only store in town that sells camping supplies. One of three that sells garden supplies. One of two that sells pet supplies. One of two that sells hunting gear. Next closest town with stores other than a WalMart is 45 miles away. For the most part, our WalMart has good selections and the best prices. I know most of the folks that work there and other than the handgun ammo thing(which has been well known for quite a while), I have no real issues with it. They are the only place in town where I can get 16 ga. Pheasant loads. That in itself is enough reason to shop there.

Have I told you guys lately how much I enjoy a good Wal-Mart thread?

Kinda why in my previous post on the first page I wrote....."For the amount of times I see Walmart in the title of a thread here, this site should be called "The WalMart Road". The more I read this thread, I'm thinkin' maybe it should be called the "Long and Whining Road".

 

[Alex Clayton]

Kinda like asking "Why does anyone play Golf?".

In the small town I live in, Walmart is one of only three grocery stores. One of the other two is an ALDIs, which has limited selection. The other one, you can only afford to buy what they have on sale this week. It is also only one of three stores that actually sells hardware. The only store in town that sells camping supplies. One of three that sells garden supplies. One of two that sells pet supplies. One of two that sells hunting gear. Next closest town with stores other than a WalMart is 45 miles away. For the most part, our WalMart has good selections and the best prices. I know most of the folks that work there and other than the handgun ammo thing(which has been well known for quite a while), I have no real issues with it. They are the only place in town where I can get 16 ga. Pheasant loads. That in itself is enough reason to shop there.



Kinda why in my previous post on the first page I wrote....."For the amount of times I see Walmart in the title of a thread here, this site should be called "The WalMart Road". The more I read this thread, I'm thinkin' maybe it should be called the "Long and Whining Road".

LOL, that was great. I no longer shop at the Wally's here just because online ordering got so good. I never did enjoy going to the damn store, any store. When Wally opened here Wife and I did love the store as it was cheap, had damn near everything, so it was convenient. The political "stuff" matters not to me as I do NOT like the boys from Google, Bill from Microsoft, or the people from Comcast either. Sadly some of these places get some of my money because there is little competition to give the business to.
While back some bunch of people was staging a protest of the local Wally over something. They were caught buying the stuff to make the signs at a Wally. When confronted they said "but the stuff is so much cheaper here" ROTFLMAO!
So since Wife still loves the store and is going anyway? Tell her swing by the ammo counter and see if they have any of what I want. Long as I do not have to go it's great with me

 

[entropy]

This is a little off subject, but why does anyone shop at Walmart?

In my case it's because I get a 10% discount, and I'm there 40 hours a week anyway.

A friend of mine worked at WM*** for over 15 years. I asked her, why didn't you ever become a dept. manager, or more?



She said ''I have a conscience.''

I just passed my 15 year anniversary, and that's exactly why I'm not a manager.

That's on you.

No one ever needs to mention rifle/pistol/shotgun to a sales clerk, especially those that pass for clerks at a Walmart.

Just say, "I'll take 5 boxes of CCI 22LR ammo, please."

Yes, you do at Walmart. They are supposed to ask. It's pointless now, because we don't sell 'handgun" ammo, but they are supposed to ask for calibers pistols are commonly chambered in-.22 LR and WRM are the only two left, so they will ask for those calibers. Just say rifle. It's easier on everyone.

 

[Old Dog]

So, to expand on my feelings about Wal-Mart: I have found that there are certain items (even with tax included) that can be had on sale cheaper than at my regional military base exchanges and commissaries. I used to go to Wal-mart only for ammunition, as the prices (for what it carried) were usually better than anywhere else, even on-line. Note that I said "for what it carried." I never had any illusions about the wide variety or selection of premium ammo, but for range fodder (WWB 9mm, .45 ACP, Federal hundred round boxes of .223 55 grain or 9mm 115 grain, even generic green box Remington JHPs or WWB JHPs) you couldn't beat the prices.

Now that no handgun ammunition is sold there, I rarely visit, although, since it's closer to me than the military bases, I'll pop in now and then for windshield washer fluid, toilet paper or paper towels, or something I'm not willing to buy at a premium price elsewhere.

For the life of me, I've never understood the myriad complaints about the big box discount stores whenever these threads pop up. They are ... what they are. They provide jobs to people in communities who might not otherwise be able to find decent part or full-time employment. And yes, the employees might not always be the sharpest crayons in the box nor is the management as enlightened as the average THR member.

They simply provide goods at a reasonable price point for people who can't afford to shop at the name-brand department stores or upscale food markets.

I don't give a rat's butt if nobody here wants to give any love to Wal-Mart, but for the sake of humanity, quit complaining on-line about these places. Pretty sure we all know what's going on, no further need to keep preaching to the choir.

 

[Styx]

This is a little off subject, but why does anyone shop at Walmart?

Good prices, everything in on spot, and there's one within 5-15 minutes drive from most places Im at. I still shop there.

 

[herrwalther]

I wonder, since they no longer sell "pistol ammo" anymore, does that mean they will remove all the calibers that pistols can be chambered in? 22LR and anything the BFR is chambered in come to mind as pistol rounds. Probably not. If they start over thinking their inane policies the whole place will fall apart.

 

[Alex Clayton]

I wonder, since they no longer sell "pistol ammo" anymore, does that mean they will remove all the calibers that pistols can be chambered in? 22LR and anything the BFR is chambered in come to mind as pistol rounds. Probably not. If they start over thinking their inane policies the whole place will fall apart.

Just as with gun laws, corporations who come up with gun policy often know nothing about the guns they are trying to make rules for. The Wally change was their legal team coming up with stuff to protect them. A LOT of the Wally's just stopped selling anything, gun, ammo, the works. As a Corporation they look at the bottom line of course. For the vast majority of the stores they could just stop selling the stuff and it made not a blip on their sheet at yearly. Now when they finally do away with ammo sales on line again? Then you "may" see some of these stores change again. When shooters have no choice but to buy at a local place then the sales will of course be MUCH larger. Really will not matter much if Wally does or not. Hell when Wally's started to open a lot of the shooting public was all upset they were since they could undercut the small places. Then when Wally quit selling the same people were upset??
For every Wally that stops selling the stuff some other stores will be glad to get the business.

 

[redneck2]

Somehow many here seem to think that WM will fall apart if they don’t sell a few boxes of ammo. I’m not a super retail expert, but I’m quite certain WM makes a whole lot greater gross profit on items other than sporting goods. I suspect sporting goods are more a loss leader to draw in customers.

When I was at Purdue I had to do a research article for a business class. I interviewed the owner of the largest sporting goods store in the area. I told him I wanted to start a sporting goods store, mainly firearms. He said the only reason he sold guns was because it was expected, and he would have gotten out of guns totally if he had his way.

 

[Alex Clayton]

Somehow many here seem to think that WM will fall apart if they don’t sell a few boxes of ammo. I’m not a super retail expert, but I’m quite certain WM makes a whole lot greater gross profit on items other than sporting goods. I suspect sporting goods are more a loss leader to draw in customers.

When I was at Purdue I had to do a research article for a business class. I interviewed the owner of the largest sporting goods store in the area. I told him I wanted to start a sporting goods store, mainly firearms. He said the only reason he sold guns was because it was expected, and he would have gotten out of guns totally if he had his way.

No doubt a lot of the big box places only sold them to get the people in the store. Figuring they would of course buy other stuff while there. Before K-Mart folded here we bought a gun there and it was easy to see they were NOT interested in the things. Pretty sure they too gave up on them before the finally just pulled the plug. I did used to like to go there for shotshells when we were blasting clay. They often had the kind of ammo we used for that at a price that no one seemed to match. I would walk in, put a bunch of it in my cart and check out with nothing else. No doubt though a lot of people who were there for the ammo of course did a lot of shopping while there.