eldeguello

There is another discount outlet cqalled K-Mart. When they first opened up, they were really doing well for maybe 20 years before Wally World showed up. They once had a GREAT sporting goods operatiuon, including guns!

Then K-Mart decided to be politically correct, andd stopped selling guns, ammo, etc.

Now, K-Mart is for all intents and purposes, bankrupt.I realize their plight is due to manythings besides not selling guns anymore. Wal Mart helped put them out of business. But Wal Mart was a redneck store, started by a redneck, in redneck country, and essentially catering to such folks-the heart and soul of America, no less! So now, Wally World is going to abandon us common folks, and get snooty?? NOT a good idea. They could just end up like K-Mart too! Besides, there are people other than us red necks who buy guns now and then. Hell, even John Kerry has his "trusty 12-gauge" that he carrieswhile "sneaking around on his belly, looking for a deer....." Bet he didn't buy his at Wal Mart!

Doe Dumper

I honestly believe that Wal Mart has gotten as big as they ever will and are probably about to start the long decline... They have completely gotten away fromt heir roots and we all know what a tree without roots does at the first sign of a storm..

xd9x19

I'm curious. Does anyone live near a Wal-mart in a rural area that has stopped selling guns? I live in Memphis. Two of the three Wal-marts in my area have stopped selling them in the last year. They have also cut back on the amount of hunting equipment that they carry in season.

Wal-mart's statement was that they were going to discontinue sales in stores where the space could be used for more profitable items. I'm sure that has been true in the two stores around me. One store down the street from my work stocked a lot of hunting stuff the first year they were open....and they ended up with a LOT of stuff on clearance at the end of the season. They didn't stock near as much stuff the next year.

I think the "they stopped selling guns to be politically correct" statements are bogus. Keeping unprofitable items in stores just to keep the NRA and other gun owners happy is just as "politically correct" as not doing it for the Brady Bunch & Co.

Californiadoctor

Wal-Mart has not carried guns in California for several years butup until recently my local Wal-Mart did carry a fair amount of other hunting related products, including ammunition. However, recently they have substantially cut back on hunting related productsfor sale in the store. I am afraid it is just a response to the declining number of people who hunt. Hunting license sales have been steadily declining in California for many years despite continued strong population growth.

Caldoc

CalNewbie

Walmart voluntarily surrendered its permit/license (whatever) to sell firearms in California around 3 years ago. The idiot sales associates were not following the regs, were failing to do background checks, etc. They were going to lose the right to sell them anyway, so they took the easy way out.

A friend bought an 870 shotgun from them when they did sell firearms. Aside from being a drawn-out and painful experience he had to give the gun back to the sales associate when she handed it to him and explain to her that there's a waiting period.

Regarding Walmart's in other states, the company announced that they would be phasing our firearm sales in the areas where the business didn't make sense. If the product doesn't turn we can't expect them to stock it. They're not selling a lot of snow shovels down here either. They can make more money selling crap made by Chinese virtual slave laborors.

eldeguello

The Wal Marts here (Hagerstown MD, Chambersburg and Waynesboro PA) are surrounded by rural areas in four different states within 25 miles of all three stores. I believe everyone around here in PA, MD, W. VA and VA are deer hunters! I'm going to watch closelywhat happens in these three stores....

4TRACKS

Yes once in a while I noticed a good deal on a new gun a W-M but usualy something I didnt need .
Our local Wal -Mart got rid of there guns around the end of December .
I didnt notice any big sale or nothing .
I asumed they shipped them top another store ?[:@]

bigpapa

So here is the scoop I got. I asked the guy at our local Wal Mart what was up and he said that the company is taking guns out of all the stores EXCEPT the stores with the top 1000 sales. It was planned to be out of all except the top 500 but they changed it recently to 1000. There are 2 reasons given 1) not enough sales to justify keeping the guns 2) lot's of stores are not keeping proper paperwork on what guns are being sold and to whom. The Wal Mart I go to has the largest gun sales in the south east regon and he said he is being shipped guns from all over for him to sell. He said his ability to sell guns will probably last about another year or so. So it all depends on sale volume.

Knightia

I can see it being both a poltically correct move on there part-& also economic. They will likely notmake bad press or be suied for selling horseshoe sets- ball bats, golf clubs that are used in a criminal manner to kill someone - as they might selling firearms & ammo?

They have 2 walmarts in town - incasper now here- the older store still sells firearms( except handguns are no longer for sale(and why is that??))- the new store about 8 miles from the other does not sell firearms but does still sell ammo( for now).

There is no shortage of hunters or persons wanting to buy all types offirearms in this state- including handguns & others not used for hunting nessarlly.

I see from a old story on walmart( below)& items on the local news thatthey have a few reasons given- lack of sales in the comunity ( - there marketing plans etc



If there plan is to sell in more urban areas why are they even in this state? If there plan is to market to upscale urban/metrosexuals[:'(]-[&:]- i could see where that may effect gun sales in other places to (Dc, nyc, nj,ma, ca etc etc-& that therelocal firearms restrictions& lack of hunting areasin urban areas- will Obviously mean lower firearmsales in those places. Those factors dont come into play in this state. They are obviously not going by demand or overallsales numbers here....

And if thats the plan -I think there cutting there own necks in this case& there will be more of there stores not selling firearms in the future here& elsewhere i think.

I have bought a number of firearms in there stores in the past( most all American made)& many other places in town-including a few atthe new sportsmans warehouse store recently....sales that would have prob went to walmart.

They git rid of there sporting goods( guns, hunting -fishing, reloading)at walmart -as seems to be part ofthere marketing plans/stradigy here.... i will have many less reasons to vist there stores at all.

..( last yrs story)............................................ ..................................................

Wal-Mart to Stop Gun Sales at 1,000 Stores


AP Business Writer
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has decided to stop selling guns in about a third of its U.S. stores in what it calls a marketing decision based on lack of demand in some places, a company spokeswoman said Friday.
The world's largest retailer decided last month to remove firearms from about 1,000 stores in favor of stocking other sporting goods, in line with a ``Store of the Community'' strategy for boosting sales by paying closer attention to local differences in demand.
``This decision is based on diminished customer relevancy and demand in these markets,'' said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Jolanda Stewart.
Stewart declined to specify what stores were affected.
Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., has about 1,200 discount stores and 1,900 Supercenters, which include a full grocery section, in all 50 states. Wal-Mart says it sells rifles and shotguns. In Alaska, it also sells handguns.
``As with all merchandise decisions that we make, our decision to remove guns from Wal-Mart locations is simply based on the lack of customer purchase history of firearms in a given community,'' Stewart said.
Wal-Mart's experimental new Supercenter for more upscale shoppers, which opened last month in the affluent Dallas suburb of Plano, does not carry guns.
As Wal-Mart seeks growth by moving from rural America into cities and suburbs, it finds it needs to retune its inventory to appeal to more urban consumers.
The Plano store is a testing ground for ideas, from trendier products to more subdued interiors, that are part of a broad effort at Wal-Mart to rekindle sluggish growth by luring more affluent shoppers away from faster-growing rivals such as Target Corp.
Chief Executive Lee Scott has said that in communities like Plano, Wal-Mart's sports department should shift from a traditional emphasis on hunting and fishing to more home fitness and exercise products.

04/14/06 14:17

hinkleid

Here in Idaho all the Wal-Marts I have been to sell firearms (long guns only). Some have that spinning case, but think they are all moving to behind the counter.
I would not make a SERIOUS gun purchase at Wal*Mart. I did buy a Ruger 10/22 for my kid, and was about $50-$75 less than I could find anywhere else.
More serious purchases = Sportsmans Warehouse or Cabelas depending on price comparing exact model/caliber, latest was a place called Impact Guns.
I know Gunsmiths are great and do alot, which is why I will use them if I ever need gun work, but am not paying idiotic prices to support them. There is a place here a mom and pop gunshop, and the guy is great (super friendly, and great service) but he wanted about $125 more for a Browning A-Bolt I bought at a Sportsman's Warehouse (Actually over $170 I saved at Sportsmans Warehouse as they also gave a 5% military discount). I like the smile and great service, but I like the $$$ in my pocket more.