Wal-Mart Firearms and Ammo Policy Change

[ralph]

Oh, and another tip of the hat to the equally pointless virtue signaling OC folks.

No one gives half a fuck about your ideological purity. Y'alls actions have not done a damn thing to "normalize guns." You made it look bizarre.

+1, I couldn’t agree with you more.

[scw2]

I don't understand whom they are trying to appease. The folks who would be cheered by this aren't going to Walmart because they exploit their workers and because Walmart has been gutting their local downtowns.

I wonder if they’re trying to improve their ESG score so investors with that mandate don’t avoid their stock.

[Joe in PNG]

Argue whatever you want about the rationality and ultimate morality of WalMart's decision, it was a well calculated bit of virtue signaling which will probably help their bottom line.

I don't understand how that is going to happen. You can break down the client base as such:
1-People who patronize the business, and don't care, and will continue to do whatever.
2-People who don't patronize the business, who will look at this in a positive light, and will begin to patronize the business
3-People who patronize the business, and will look at this in a negative light, and will no longer patronize the business

For the bottom line to increase, they need to win enough people from group 2 to offset the people from group 3.
I just don't see that happening.

[davidwords]

Guys and gals, if you didn't read the whole CEO letter you need to. This isn't about a store just not selling ammo to look good, this is the largest retailer *advocating* a curtailment of the Bill of Rights.

"We do not sell military-style rifles, and we believe the reauthorization of the Assault Weapons ban should be debated to determine its effectiveness...I'm sending letters to the White House and the Congressional leadership that call for action on these common sense measures. "

I am not generally someone who boycotts, but this is a three orders of magnitude more significant than Dick's Sporting goods. If Wal-Mart bears significant financial losses in all sectors (not just ammo), we will likely be in good shape for another decade. If not, things will get worse.

I like Wal-Mart (which makes this sting) and I live in the country, with Wal-Mart the only store at all near my house which has fresh produce. Still, I will plan on buying everything elsewhere now. I will even patronize other stores if they are not 2nd Amendment friendly, because Wal-Mart has taken a stand and it matters much more. Starbucks, Target and others are asking people not to open carry, but it is Wal-Mart that is making a point about changes in law and now partnering with Bloomberg's Everytown for Gun Safety.

Wal-Mart leaders want to undermine your Bill of Rights.

This one is the one to fight.

Shop somewhere else.

[scjbash]

Walmart told the Mercer County, WV Deputy Sheriff's Association that because of the new open carry ban they wouldn't be able to host their annual fundraiser. After a ton of complaints they backtracked and blamed it on miscommunication. The DSA told them to pound sand.

[RoyGBiv]

[BillSWPA]

Oh, and another tip of the hat to the equally pointless virtue signaling OC folks.

No one gives half a fuck about your ideological purity. Y'alls actions have not done a damn thing to "normalize guns." You made it look bizarre.

Quoted in part because I can only click "like" once.

I have not read the entire thread, but in case it has not been mentioned, Walgreens, CVS, and Wegmans have now also now enacted policies prohibiting open carry in their stores.

https://www.wtae.com/article/walgree...tores/28929430

The article is not 100% clear about whether the signage will ban open carry only, or any carry of guns. While it will have no impact on my concealed carry in Pennsylvania, a "no guns" sign in neighboring Ohio has the force of law, and will force me to leave my gun in my car in a place wherein I would have otherwise carried it without a problem.

How many more businesses will adopt such policies before the open carry fools finally realize how much harm they are doing to our rights?

In other threads, the open carry supporters specifically declined to talk about their absolutely abysmal track record of "normalizing" guns, and instead spent post after post quoting statutes to argue for the legality of their actions. They continually failed to address the repeatedly made point that just because something is legal does not make it responsible, helpful, or wise.

[OlongJohnson]

I have probably skipped a page or two on this thread, but here are some ideas I haven't seen anyone entertain as possible. We're just all assuming they're not the case, but they seem to be within the realm of possibility.

What if the management team at Walmart, like most of the elites in this country, just simply doesn't get it on gun control? What if the events that have happened recently, including one in one of their stores, has caused them to reflect on the situation, and asked themselves what they can do to help make things better? Maybe they, because they think like the cultural/economic elites they are and haven't really grappled with the issues at a detailed level, believe that taking a step to avoid contributing to the problems is actually an ethical thing to do?

What if they're looking beyond mass shootings? Given that stores are really, really good at figuring out what their customers buy and how that's connected to other behaviors and life situations, maybe they've figured out that Walmart actually supplies ammunition to a lot of people they (and everyone here) wish wouldn't have it. Maybe they're saying to themselves, "Sure, they'll buy it somewhere else, but we won't be participating in that problem."

Maybe they realize that they will be causing problems for good people, but at the same time, whether through naivete or based on actual cold, hard data, believe that they are actually going to make the world a better place with this action?

I'm not saying any of that is true, I'm just pointing out that I haven't yet seen any evidence it isn't true. Just a lot of jumping to conclusions.

[Cypher]

Walmart should add security to its stores if its going to ban guns, says former Hardee's CEO

https://video.foxnews.com/v/60838101...#sp=show-clips

But they're not banning guns, they're banning open carry

[fixer]

I have probably skipped a page or two on this thread, but here are some ideas I haven't seen anyone entertain as possible. We're just all assuming they're not the case, but they seem to be within the realm of possibility.

What if the management team at Walmart, like most of the elites in this country, just simply doesn't get it on gun control? What if the events that have happened recently, including one in one of their stores, has caused them to reflect on the situation, and asked themselves what they can do to help make things better? Maybe they, because they think like the cultural/economic elites they are and haven't really grappled with the issues at a detailed level, believe that taking a step to avoid contributing to the problems is actually an ethical thing to do?

What if they're looking beyond mass shootings? Given that stores are really, really good at figuring out what their customers buy and how that's connected to other behaviors and life situations, maybe they've figured out that Walmart actually supplies ammunition to a lot of people they (and everyone here) wish wouldn't have it. Maybe they're saying to themselves, "Sure, they'll buy it somewhere else, but we won't be participating in that problem."

Maybe they realize that they will be causing problems for good people, but at the same time, whether through naivete or based on actual cold, hard data, believe that they are actually going to make the world a better place with this action?

I'm not saying any of that is true, I'm just pointing out that I haven't yet seen any evidence it isn't true. Just a lot of jumping to conclusions.

This is entirely possible and reasonable explanation. Given what I've experienced in 11 years working with and alongside VP level managers in two different major oil companies, this line of thinking and mindset is prevalent.

Prevalent doesn't really cover it...its more than prevalent. Its bone-marrow deep.

Its something along the lines of: I'm a/the leader. Therefore what I say, think, do, is leadership. Therefore whatever I say/do/think is the right thing to do. This is compounded by the fact that 99% of the VP's haven't had dirt or grease under their nails ever, or at most, 30 years ago in a part time college job. They don't think about downstream consequences.


Example: We had a guy slice up his thumb with a pocket knife while opening some packaging...1 day later, a corporate email was sent out banning personal use knives at all locations.

Another possibility is that the legal department has spooked the management team. Something along the lines of--" we've reviewed the situation, and we have tremendous exposure to liability by selling ammo in the current fashion."

Boom...overnight ammo sale reconfiguration.