Wal-Mart and guns update

[Questor]

Wal-Mart is changing its marketing emphasis to serve different customer bases. For example, urban, hispanic, rural. Part of this change is due to its growth into areas that are different from its original markets, which were primarily rural. This explains the replacement, for example, of guns with home fitness products.  In some markets, they will be employing consumer electronics specialists called "know-it-alls" to serve markets where electronics are big.

The issue of Wal-Mart dropping guns from some stores appears to be due to the company's expansion, and not due to an anti-gun bias.

This summarizes an article in today's Wall Street Journal.

[victorcharlie]

I'm hearing it's due to some store's inability to comply with ATF regulations.  If the ATF pulls the firearm license, then the whole chain looses the license, not just the store who committed the violation.  As america's largest gun retailer, Walmart draws a lot of attention from the ATF.   Thus, Walmart has pulled gun sales back to stores who do enough volume to warrant a "gun room manager", or someone to make sure the paper work is correct and complete.

[nomosendero]

Yes, some of both.

I talked to a sporting goods manager in a Walmart nearby & he told me about the nightmare that he
goes through daily in paperwork, it was amazing. As VC said, they are the biggest gun retailer, so they are under the microscope!!

[jvs]

WalMarts is the one that the Liberals focused on.  Dropping the rifles from inventory is WalMarts way of appeasing those Liberals.

This is the sort of stuff that goes on behind your back.  I'm willing to bet that, somewhere behind the scenes, those Liberals threatened WalMarts with a Boycott and bad press.

[tscott]

I asked the local Walmart Sporting Mgr. why no more guns. This guy is some 400lb. kid with a belly down to his knees. Can't pull his pants up. His answer: "the paperwork got to be too much of a hassle"! What? All they need is somebody who is competant, to check legal and to file appropriately. As a Senior I am grateful for these types of people. I will be able to find employment for however long I wish!

[nabob]

What does being overweight have to do with anything? Save the derision for the attitude, not his physical appearance. We can't all be beautiful.

[tscott]

I'm sorry I came off like this... It wasn't about weight. It was about his sloven nature, and the lousy way he treated all in a customer environment. Folks would just have to be there. Please accept my regrets!

[nabob]

I hear ya. Fat or not, there's no excuse for a bad attitude from someone supposed to be serving the public. I often wonder what the heck has happened to "service with a smile" or "the customer is always right." Sometimes, it seems like I'm annoying the retail salespeople just by showing up to spend my money.

[Savage .250]

 My local Wal-Mart guy said it`s all about if they(guns) sell or not.  This one didn`t sell that many so they dropped them but kept shells as they sell good.
   Another Wal-Mart in Deland, Fl sells guns and ammo. Maybe 20 miles in between,
   go figure.