Wal-Mart Sets New Policy on Background Checks for Gun Sales That Exceeds Federal Law

Associated Press ^ | Jul 3, 2002 | Brian Skoloff

[I_Publius]

Jul 3, 2002

Wal-Mart Sets New Policy on Background Checks for Gun Sales That Exceeds Federal Law

By Brian Skoloff
Associated Press Writer

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Wal-Mart, the nation's biggest gun seller, is strengthening its policy on background checks of firearms buyers beyond the requirements of federal law.

The retail giant directed its stores to hold up sales in which the time limit for a background check had expired because of concern criminals could still get guns, spokeswoman Jessica Moser Eldred said.

Potential gun buyers nationwide undergo a background check through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The dealer can sell a gun, though, if the check isn't completed within three business days.

Managers at Wal-Mart's 2,600 American stores must wait until the check is made, no matter how long it takes, before selling a gun, according to the memo signed by company executives. The memo was dated May 31 and the policy is now in effect.

The policy applies only to rifles and shotguns, since Wal-Mart does not sell handguns.

"We wanted to make sure we were doing our part to keep guns out of the hands of those who should not be getting them," Eldred said.

Law enforcement officials are notified if an ineligible buyer gets a gun because the time limit expired, said Gary Wick, assistant operations manager for the national background-check system.

Policies such as Wal-Mart's can help prevent potentially dangerous situations, he said, especially when law officers try to retrieve the gun.

"Then it becomes an officer safety issue, because a lot of people will get upset when an officer comes after a gun they have bought," Wick said.

The National Rifle Association said it is considering its response to Wal-Mart's policy. The group disagrees with the policy "in the sense that it penalizes law abiding citizens," said spokesman Andrew Arulanandam.

AP-ES-07-03-02 1726EDT

This story can be found at: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA5IP3Q73D.html

[Viva Le Dissention]

I am a product of Washington and Lee University, one of the two excellent institutions of higher learning in the town.

But, anyhow--I like it there. I'm in Indy now, but I think I'll carry myself back to old Virginny (they are trying to change our state song--can you believe it?!) in a month or so.

Are you from the Lexington area?

[Grampa Dave]

What a truck load of Bravo Sierra, "Everything I've bought in Wal-Mart is made in China.

I have never bought anything made in China in a Walmart, a Costco, a Home Depot or my local Ace Store.

My mother taught me how to read. It is very easy to read, "Made in China". If it is made in China I don't buy it. I despise the ChiComs and will not buy anything they make.

If you think WalMart is stocked with a lot of Made in China stuff, try buying a good dress/suit for your wife not made in China in any store. My wife's birthday was in April, and we did not find a good suit for her not made in China until last month. We just didn't buy the ChiCom products.

We probably buy 20 to 50 items from Walmart each month. Not a damn one of them have ever come from China!

Our local stores carry more China Crap than WalMart does.

We go to WalMart for their selection of products, inventory and prices, and we buy a ton of not made in China Products each month from them with no more problem than any other store.

So try reading these words "Made in USA or some other country before you buy anything at WalMart. Actually you probably haven't bought anything from them.

[wku man]

Speak for yourself, newbie. I shop almost exclusively at the Super Wal-Mart down the road. I will contact Wal-Mart, and I will tell then that I will take my business elsewhere if they don't reverse this dumb-a** decision. A lot more Freepers than will admit it shop at Wal-Mart, and I'd be willing to bet the substantial amount I spend there each month that if we all boycott those Bentonville pricks, they'd definitely feel it. Who's with me?

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[Viva Le Dissention]

Let's not even compare K-Mart and Wal-Mart. It's like comparing a Ferrari to a Ford Probe.

Wal-Mart eats K-Mart for lunch. One of the main reasons that K-Mart is in chapter 11 right now is because it tried to go toe-to-toe with Wal-Mart, in the form of a price war. I'm not sure who at K-Mart thought of this, and I'm not sure who approved it. It was dumb and it put K-Mart in bankruptcy court. I think they have learned their lesson. K-Mart would be smart to take a cue from Target or Family Dollar and go after a different market segment than Wal-Mart does. K-Mart has the unfortunate position of being directly in Wal-Mart's line of fire, and that's not a good place to be.

In all the years of Wal-Mart, I've only known one company to go head-to-head with Wal-Mart and walk away a winner, and that was Coke. As you might remember, a few years ago Wal-Mart stopped selling Coke. Coke was complaining about poor shelf position (Sam's Cola was getting the prime merchandising spots on the shelf) and Wal-Mart's attitude was,
"Hey, we have Sam's Cola, we don't need you. Get lost." Coke said,
"All right, see ya soon." Not long after, Wal-Mart had to come back to Coke, hat in hand so they could get Coke back on the shelves.

Now, Wal-Mart is currently suing Visa for anti-trust violations (Wal-Mart claims that Visa is bundling illegally by requring that Wal-Mart take all Visa cards, including the ones that carry a higher than normal percentage of transaction fee. Most Visa cards carry a 2% fee per transaction that the retailer has to pay, but corporate cards and fleet cards and a few others carry a higher rate. Visa won't let Wal-Mart take just SOME Visa cards, so Wal-Mart is suing them for anti-trust/) and my speculation is that Visa will come out on top, and that'll be the second time that Wal-Mart has lost a toe-to-toe battle with another corporation.

I got off track, but I kind of like Wal-Mart--not to shop at, but as the ultimate acheivement of the American dream. Here's a guy, Sam Walton--ordinary guy like you and me, managed some Ben Franklin five-and-dime stores and a JC Penny in Arkansas. From absolutely nothing he built the largest corporation on the face of the Earth. Talk about Bill Gates all you want--if Walton was still alive, he would have WAY more money than Gates--plus Walton actually earned his money!

All in all, not bad for a guy who was told by everyone that a town with less than 30,000 people couldn't support a discount store very long. He was right, everyone else was wrong, and I love him for it.

I got off track, but to even compare K-Mart to Wal-Mart is nearly sacreligious.

[Viva Le Dissention]

You're tilting at windmills, but whatever.

[cajun-jack]

Mr. Sam would turn over in his grave (and is probably spinning round and round now) remember when wally world's motto was "buy American" and Mr. Sam would find companies that were going out of business and give them a contract? Remember that???? his greedy damn heirs certianly don't and not only do they not understand why people refer to it as "mao mart" but they don't care.....they send people all over the u.s. to trade shows and if an item looks like it has potential....they buy one or two and send them to china as a protype and in a few months all the mao marts will be flooded with that item at 1/4 to 1/3 of the price as the trade show.....Wal Mart and dimmycrats both suck a "big green one" but that's just my opinion. Jack

[Arleigh]

I'd promise to boycott WalMart, but can you boycott a store you never planned to patronize in the first place? I can proudly say that I have never set foot in a WalMart, much less spent even one cent there!

[Arleigh]

Let's not even compare K-Mart and Wal-Mart. It's like comparing a Ferrari to a Ford Probe.

Boy, I didn't know the Probe was that hot a car....

[smoking camels]

Excellant response.

[The Raven]

Looks like an insurance issue

[epow]

Buying a gun at WM, or any other mass merchandiser, because of the couple of bucks you think you're saving often ends up costing more in frustration and dissatisfaction than it's worth. I was in a privately owned gun store a few years ago when a customer brought in a new S&W 44. mag he had just picked up earlier that day. Right out of the box the gun froze up. The trigger couldn't be pulled and the cylinder was bound up tight. The dealer took it back to his workroom and opened the sideplate, turned it over and dumped out a tangled clump of steel shavings. He then blew out the lockwork with compressed air and everything worked fine. Try taking a defective gun back to the minimum wage clerk at the WM gun counter for help or advice and see how far you get. At best that customer would have been told to ship the gun back to S&W, and he would have been without it for several weeks.

I once stood around a WM gun counter in NC for an hour or so just to see what kind of advice and information the clerks were giving potential buyers. Those guys, and the one lady, barely knew which end of a gun the bullet comes out. The clerk who claimed to be an experienced hunter was giving out more bad info on ammo and guns than the other two combined. Pitiful.

[Indrid Cold]

Actually, Wal-Mart is under no obligation to deliver the gun to you whether you pass the background check or not. The way the current law is set up, the gun dealer must wait up to three business days to get a "proceed" on the form 4473. If one is not forthcoming, he may, AT HIS OWN DISCRETION, transfer the firearm anyway. I see 2 reasons Wal-Mart is opting out:

1) They don't really need one gun sale that badly anyway. and;

2) If they transfer the firearm and a "denied" response comes back later, ATF will be on that customer's doorstep within 48 hours to reposess the weapon. Guess who never shops at Wal-Mart again?

[epow]

Guess who never shops at Wal-Mart again?

Me?

Actually, it won't be me because I won't be buying it there to begin with.

Stores like WM shouldn't be selling guns if they are so worried about who's buying them. Years ago they quit selling handguns because it wasn't politically correct. Now they won't let a customer carry his newly purchased shotgun out of the store, they have an employee come and carry it out the front door where he can pick it up. Buy your guns from a locally owned firearms store where you're treated like a responsible adult.

[truth_session]

"So try reading these words Made in USA"

I did. I tried buying a whetstone there once it said made in America on the outside of the package. When I opened it up it had a little sheeth for the whetstone and on it was the words "Made in China." I was double crossed!! I don't even try anymore.

[BlessingInDisguise]

Thanks, I already had that favoritized though. I'm a regular customer of gunbroker and auction arms....:) I never have bought a gun or even ammo at walmart or kmart before anyways. I was talking about other stuff. Where am I supposed to shop now since I'm supposed to be boycotting all these stores under general principle?...hehe

[BlessingInDisguise]

Do they sell pistol ammo? I guess I've never even looked. The best gun store in Bismarck here is Gun City. They have a hell of a selection. Great place to shop!

[truth_session]

"Actually you probably haven't bought anything from them."

Nice one, calling me a liar. I could walk to my local wal-mart, btw. We buy a lot of groceries from them. And a lot of their crap is made in China, if you would read the packages.

[doug from upland]

I am in agreement. The conservative position on this is that a private business should be able to set the policy it wishes without governmental interference. That is what Wal-Mart did. If they suffer because of it, they made a bad business decision.

[Cowboy Bob]

I'm not from Lexington, but rather a graduate of VMI (Class of 1980). I went back to visit in 2000 for my 20th reunion - my first visit since graduation.

Having traveled all around the US, I don't think there's a better place to go to college than in the Shenandoah Valley. The only problem for me was that there weren't any jobs to keep me in the area after graduation.

I envy your situation! If I had been living back East, I'd probably visiting Lexinton on a more regular basis.

[MissL]

I do like Walmart because they have the best prices but if it a matter of principle or 50 cents I will get my light bulbs, cleaning supplies or food staples elsewhere. At this point I drive 15 miles to a super center to shop every two weeks...because I live in a downtown urban area. $20 more every couple weeks will not be a burden....it was just that I hated being taken advantage of by the neigborhood grocery. Walmart is the "King" or "Queen" but we do not have to bow !!!