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Wal-Mart Rethinks Gun Policy

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Posted on Apr 16, 2008
Flickr / tasteful_tn

A year after the Virginia Tech massacre, the world’s No. 1 gun merchant has agreed to tighter controls over firearm sales. One-third of Wal-Mart stores will no longer sell guns, another third will have stricter rules, and the other third ... well, baby steps. Needless to say, the National Rifle Association is outraged.


Guardian:

Wal-Mart, which sells more guns than any company in the world, agreed to co-operate with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bi-partisan group led by New York’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg. The group has been pushing for greater safeguards at retail outlets on the sale of firearms which fuel murder rates in America’s urban areas.

Under the agreement, Wal-Mart will tighten rules at about a third of its 3,200 stores across the country. A further third will stop trading guns altogether, though for reasons of declining sales.

The new restrictions include more extensive background checks on Wal-Mart staff selling guns; all gun sales will be filmed and the videotape kept for six months; and where guns are later used in crime, extra scrutiny will be given to the original purchaser should they try to buy another weapon.

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By Airsoft King, April 3, 2012 at 1:31 am Link to this comment

Gun policies can only do so much to protect the people from harm, as more often than not, people who are out to cause harm will manage to get their hands on a gun regardless of whether it is readily available.

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By jackpine savage, April 16, 2008 at 3:31 pm Link to this comment

That’s a good question, Aegrus.  Unfortunately, my distaste for Wal-Mart has kept me from visiting their stores while in foreign countries…somehow it feels even dirtier than the idea of going into one in America.

I was given some stuff bought at one in Germany once, by the mother of an Austrian girlfriend.  She ranted and raved against America all the time…and then went to Wal-Mart.  It took me a long time to explain what i found so funny.

I do know that the Chinese have adopted the rough equivalent of EU consumer safety laws.  This means that the semi-toxic stuff made in China can’t be sold in a Chinese Wal-Mart; it can only be shipped to America.

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By kdnc, April 16, 2008 at 10:20 am Link to this comment

This is such a relief, I can feel the crime rate dropping already in my neighborhood! This kind of policy is a no-brainer since the areas in this country (Washington DC)and around the world (London)where there is the most gun control also have the lowest rates of violent crime. Thank heavens for thinking people! Why haven’t folks understood that criminals have long been using Wal-mart as a major supplier for their guns? Hopefully other stores will follow suit and soon all of America will be as safe as our brothers and sisters in the DC area.

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By R.M., April 16, 2008 at 8:32 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

The second ammendment, at the time of it’s drafting, allowed flintlocks and deuling pistols…not fully automatic assault weapons.  Could VA Tech have happened with single shot powder and ball weapons?

How bout we be pro-active now and prohibit Phasers, Plasma rifles, and Particle beams before they are being sold at Wal-Mart…Oh…and don’t forget the dreaded BFG.

If you practice with your flintlock, you can still go out into the woods and give an innocent creature the ultimate “Bad Day”.  No need to totally give up killing…but…at least think about it…don’t kill anything today maybe…or “Don’t teach your kids to kill!”

Cheers,

R.M.

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By Chris, April 16, 2008 at 7:50 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

You corporate buffoons can cry about guns all you want. America will never give them up. At the rate the government is stealing our civil liberties, it won’t be long before we need them for their true intention. To defend ourselves against a tyrannical government!

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By Aegrus, April 16, 2008 at 5:29 am Link to this comment

JS, would you suppose since China has Wal-Mart now, is it nationalistic for the Chinese to buy from these stores? As I’ve read, it was completely re-configured to match Chinese culture. Hell, perhaps they sell American-Made fireworks or Mexican-made stuff in these stores. I’m really curious as to what this store looks like in China.

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By TDoff, April 16, 2008 at 5:25 am Link to this comment

It’s about time!

Finally, an enlightened WalMart is adopting a policy which will re-establish the vitality of the small, neighborhood business.

At first, of course, your neighborhood gun dealer will hang out on the same corners as your pharmaceutical supplier.

But as business booms, and with investment capital from the NRA and China, firearm merchants will be able to afford small storefront establishments, ex-porno shops near schools will be much in demand.

And some day, a Sam ‘The Merchant’ Walberg will come along, and overnight, Sam’s Weapon Superstores will spring up across the nation, occupying abandoned WalMarts, forced to close because of frequent armed robberies.

US capitalism, doncha love it?

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By jackpine savage, April 16, 2008 at 4:41 am Link to this comment

Wal-Mart shows us, yet again, what it means to be an upstanding corporate citizen in these United States.  If it wasn’t for Wal-Mart, people would probably be bitter and angry.  As it stands, those feelings of angst can all be washed away by visiting the new face of America and getting a little consumer crack fix.  “the prices are so low, i can’t afford NOT to buy this piece of Chinese plastic crap that i’ll throw away in 2 months because it’s broken.”

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