BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

[WesternHunter]

Where I live we have a bunch of sporting goods chains. Many of those chains that have a hunting department also have always had a large selection of handguns in addition to rifles an shotguns.

Within the last year and a half or so some of these sporting goods chains have either merged with another company, been totally aqcuired by their parent company, or bought out by another compeditor all together. Once this happens I've noticed that the handgun section seems to vanish within these stores. I mean it seem these newly formed sporting goods stores have decided to get out of the handgun market all together ::-k

Two of the oldest sporting goods chains in my area were Gart Brothers and it's compeditor Dave Cook. Gart Brothers acquired Dave Cook stores and liquidated them. Both always catered to not only team sports, but also to hunting and fishing sports as well, and they always sold handguns and handgun accessories. Gart Brothers became Gart Sports but still sold handguns under the new store name. It's parent company called Sports Authority who has totally taken over and changed all Garts Sports stores to Sport Authority very recently. I noticed when this happened that none of the Sports Authority stores sell handguns anymore.

The same thing happened with Galyans stores, who sold handguns as well. Dicks Sporting Goods bought Galyans and liquidated all the handguns from inventory. Dick's has become anti-handgun too ::-k

I wonder!! Is this a subtle sign of things to come. Even some Walmart stores are getting out of selling guns all together.

Of all the major sporting goods stores in my area now only Sportsmans Warehouse and Gander Mountain still sell handguns. What does the future hold. Are places staring to become anti-handgun, but pro long gun? What's been happening in your area?

[kevin davis]

Kmart and Walmart are both out of the handgun business for politically correct reasons. Our only chain here is Academy and they still sell handguns. We are fortunate to have a number of gun stores (not chains) that have a good choice of handguns for sale. Best bet is buy now and keep for later

[blackbear]

I bought my first handgun, a .22 revolver, at a Target store in Edina, Minnesota. I also bought a .22 Marlin rifle at Target around 1970.

[tim]

I have never been a big box shopper, so i haven't noticed. I do know that the local gun shops still carry lots of different guns, from pistols to assault weapons.

Who cares what the big boxes do, they usually don't support your community like the local shop does. I am a bit biased though. lol

tim

[expatriate]

Wal-mart got out of the handgun business for the most part back in about '96 when Sheryl Crow had a hit song that talked about kids killing each other with a gun they bought at Wal-mart. I remember the news story when it was announced -- it was directly in response to the song. And yet one happy thing about Alaska is that Wal-mart still sells handguns here. Political correctness and left wing ideology don't survive up here long.

Political correctness is getting way out of hand, and I suspect that the trend is going to continue. Sportsmen are becoming increasingly marginalized and have thus been removed from the demographic national box stores are after. Think about it -- when was the last time you saw a hunter depicted favorably in any movie or TV show? Every time you see one on TV or in a movie, he's (always male, of course) uneducated, unsightly, self-centered, destructive, often drinking, with no ethics whatsoever beyond his own perverse needs. What nationally visible stores want to be associated with that? Somebody apparently decided that Eddie Bauer represents a rugged outdoor lifestyle. :laugh: Interesting how porn is going mainstream and condoms are on the shelf and on TV -- but firearms and sportsmen are being shoved off into small, out of the way specialty shops.

I gave up on Target a long time ago. They used to be great, but lately have become all about Mossimo and Eddie Bauer. Also, during one of the last times I was in a Target I was waiting for my wife to exit the ladies room. I had nothing else to do, so I just looked around. That's when I noticed the layout of the store. They had signs hanging from the rafters above the main aisles, just where your line of vision hit the border between the aisle and the ceiling joists. The signs were simple -- red or white like the decor, and each had one consisted of a word in big letters: "want", "need", "satisfaction", etc. It was pure psychology -- subliminal messaging put at the edge of your peripheral vision as you're walking down the aisles, with the sole intent of putting a thought in your head as you headed for the merchandise. They didn't have such signs in the smaller aisles -- just the main ones where you're looking farther into the store and had a wider peripheral view. I saw that and decided that any store that's willing to play dirty pool to get my money doesn't need my business.

[WesternHunter]

You said it right expatriate.

Sadly though Wal-Mart will very soon stop selling all firearm related products. Long guns targets, ammo, gun care supplies, etc. This is according to the sporting goods dept manager at a wal-mart near my house. None of the newer stores sell any firearms related stuff and he said that all stores will soon follow. Times are certainly changing. I was on the rifle team my high school had in the late 80's and til I graduated in '91. Probably was one of the very last school sponsored shooting teams. That was not so long ago, and back then school shootings were virtually unheard of. No high school today that I know of would even think of sponsoring a precision shooting team.

My dad who grew up in the great depression era tells me that my grandfather bought dad his first shotgun as an early teenager in 1938 or 1939 at a farm/feed store and dad later bought some of his own rifles and shotguns as an adult after WWII at a department store, or what was know as a dry goods store in his day ( yeah my dad is much older than most dads of people from my generation) back when they sold sporting goods. He said even most hardware stores also sold firearms prior to the early 70's. I recall in the early 80's our neighborhood pharmacy sold revolvers and pistols. I specifically remember seeing them on display behind the counter.

Heck I even remember when Eddie Bauer was still a rugged outdoor equipment store, though to my knowledge they never sold any firearms. Yet I'm sure many a hunter bought rugged clothing and camping gear there. They seemed to start slowly phasing out their rugged outdoor gear and clothing in about 1991, 92, 93, and were pretty much stricktly a causual sportswear clothing store by 1994. Sad how the worlds view of firearms and hunting has changed in such a short time.

[Hiker]

I purchased my first big game rifle from Dave Cooks. It was nice to have 2 large sporting chains back then. I agree, with you on these new yuppy type sporting good stores aren't really interested in hunting or guns, let alone handguns. I quit shopping at Eddie Bauers years ago when they came out against fur and quit using coyote in their coats.

[Ardeekay]

...2 years ago, while in Flo-Duh.. for the winter, I decided that I had to buy a rifle, so went to above... and picked out a .270 bolt rifle... I bought it...and they would not let me touch it... walked me out to my vehicle... and told me to "leave the premises" !!! this was Inverness Fla. walmart !!!! I thought it was cute at the time, was in some 'shock'... and finally got ticked off at their attitude, and now I only shop at 'wally-world' when I can't get something someplace else... I just needed some 44mag ammo, and shopped at WW.. they were cheaper, but I could not take their attitude towards shooting.... sneer would be close to what they do... I will gladly pay a few bucks more for a box of ammo to not be looked down at by some 'dye-head' with a ring in her lip(s)..... Just my opinion.. RDK

[gobears1997]

:](*,)

I recently went to Walmart to price a Ruger mini 14. To my dismay they have removed ALL firearms sales. They no longer carry rifle ammunition either. Just some shotgun shells. Sportsmen need to remember that we are a multibillion dollar buying demographic . Don't let the PC babies at these corporations dictate to us what is acceptable and what is not. If Walmart doesn't want our business, somone will be happy to take our money. Thank god for the local gunshops, Bass Pro and Cabela's.

[Bullbuster]

Please correct me if i'm wrong but if my memory serves me correctly Target stopped carrying all gun stuff after Columbine as the stuff was purchased at the local Target store. I have never seen anything beyond a couple packs of cleaning patches and a snake bore cleaner in any Target store.
When I lived in Lemoore, CA ('00-05) the local Wal-Mart stopped selling guns in part to they released a gun to a fellon after the 10 day wait time and without the background check coming back. That took effect state wide shotly after that. The Wal-Mart here have only air rifles and a basic selection of ammo mostly shotgun and rifle. I have 5 (3 supers) within a 20 minute drive. Same thing at the Super up the road from my folks in WA state.
The dick's sporting goods stores here are doing away with all guns at the start of the year in part to new company changes. Aside from Bass Pro they have the best selection of hunting gear around.
The K-marts following suit as well. They have little in the way cammo and carry shotgun shells and a few boxes of rifle ammo. The one down the street still have a couple M/L's and a shotgun or two and thats it.
The bass pro is up the road but the prices are high and I only go when i can get a military discount to save a couple bucks.
Its sad times when you could walk into most and big name store and get a gun and now its hard to find a piece of cammo much less gun products.

[WesternHunter]

It will be a real sad day if Cabels, Bass Pro, Gander Mnt, and Sportsmans Warehouse ever decide to cave in to the Politically Correct movement.

I guess now that I think about it, that this is really nothing new. Think about the days not long ago when Sears Roebuck, Montomery Wards, Marshall Fields, Maceys, and other large stores sold firearms, hunting gears, and had sporting goods departments that catered to hunters and anglers.

Despite all this I still shop at Sears, though mostly just for certain Craftsman tools and again when Levis jeans go on sale and I happen to need a new pair.

I guess this gun sale banishing is nothing new and has slowly been happening since before I was born. I've said before that I recall as a young boy in the early 1980s a local privately owned neighborhood pharmacy only five blocks down the street from my parents home sold revolvers and pistols. They had them clearly on display behind the main counter. This was up until about 1983 or 1984 or so, then one day the pharmacy was held-up by four robbers. In addition to making off with the cash they also made off with the entire inventory of handguns. Never saw anymore guns on display in that pharmacy after that. I guess the owner decided to stop selling them.

[Romey]

I thought I had heard the pres of Walmart say they would never stop selling rifles and shotguns mostly due to the founder putting that in a clause, apparently he was a serious waterfowler. Im not sure how much water that holds though,enough to be spoken I suppose.

Fear Not Western Hunter, In the town I grew up part of my life in, the pharmacy sold a few guns and hunting supplies now they are out of the drug buiss and a full time fully stockedfirearms dealer.
I always thought it nice to have a place to get ones prescriptions filled and minnows all at once though!

[NH Hunter]

WesternHunter and Hiker,

I know what you mean about Gart Bros. I've been hunting in CO for the last 13 years and I could always get my last minute stuff at Gart's in Denver. It was on the way from the airport to my friends house. The last couple of years, since it changed to Sports Authority, their selection has been absolute crap. I stopped this year to pick up Triple 7 and primers since I couldn't bring them on the plane. They didn't carry any blackpowder stuff at all. The sad thing is we also stopped at Bass Pro off of I-70. This was the Thursday prior to the muzzleloader opener in CO and they had NO Triple 7...fresh out. What were these people thinking. NOBODY can bring blackpowder on a plane. Everybody coming in from out of state on a plane has to buy it in CO. The guy at Bass Pro told me "just use Pyrodex, they're the same anyway". I'm glad I don't use that guy for reloading advice since you're supposed to reduce the load by 15% when you use Triple 7. The only place we found Triple 7 was at Sportsman's Warehouse. I called them up and the guy said "Come on down, we've got tons". I'm sure some smaller shops may have had it too but I don't know where a lot of them are and they're probably not open at 9 at night.

The local WalMarts around here in NH are getting rid of most of their shooting stuff. Only one of about five around here carry much of anything for the shooting sports. I asked my brother, a WalMart manager, what the deal was and he said it was all about floor space. The stores that do a good business in firearms stuff will still have it but the ones who don't sell enough will lose it.

I bought my Remington 700 Mtn Rifle at a Woolworth's store in VT. $299 on sale. One of the best firearms deals I ever got. They had a pretty good selection but that was in the late 80's. The store is gone now.

[WesternHunter]

Anymore now I give my business (for shooting, cleaning, and reloading) exclusively to Sportsmans Warehouse. No one locally even comes close to having as much a reloading selection that Sportmans has.

I expected much more from the new Bass Pro off of I-70 in the way of reloading stuff, but have been hugely disappointed the few times I've shopped there. Seems that Bass Pro is more concerned with events, wall taxidermy mounts, jewelery, nick nacks, and sportswear rather than the stuff that true hunters or shooters care about or need. I only make my way there if I see an add in the newspaper for shotshell target loads at dirt cheap prices. They have had a few good sales on those. They do have a good selection of hunting clothing too. I do like the Redhead brand outdoor wool socks and gloves. Quality for price on those heavy wool socks and gloves just can't be beat.

[Don Fischer]

It is difficult to fight the bad image when you look around the internet and see what some guys are saying. I recall on GBO about a year ago some guy bragging about going down the road at 60 mph in his jeep ans putting a clip full os 223's out of his M-16 into a hiway sign. I see signatures that are rather in your face. Not particularly offensive to most hunters but I'd say very much so to others. I have read arguments that others have made that so long as it's legal it's ethical and that they have the right to sound off anyway they want. They do but, people are watching and listening. The great debate over para military type weapons gets supporters bashing non-supporters, nobody wins!

I remember when we used handguns for plinking and some hunted with them. It brought out the speciality handguns like the XP100, certainly a hunting weapon just like the T/C and others like them. But the talk changed to best guns to hide for defence and the best loads to shoot other people. Even tho that is a rather rare occurence, many talk about it like there's a bad guy behind every bush and we need to shoot him. We add fuel to the fire of lies that already exist.

Handguns are the easiest to attack, after all what is their purpose? Especially the auto loading types. We can denight all we want but they have one only truely good use. and to many dwell on that. The movie industry doesn't care if what they produce is right or wrong, they want entertainment that people will buy and the stero type red neck with a gun is more saleable that Mr Rodgers is a deer hunter that does it cleanly.

Far to many of us have been our own worst enemy in this thing that has taken years and years to reach this point. Rather than condem that redneck in your face attitude, we support the morons right to be that way. Well your experiencing the long term effect of it.

I like hand guns. I have several. I have one autoloader, a 9mm that is a personnal defence weapon, Ruger P-89. I don't show it to anyone that might be even a bit queezy about it and I seldom talk of it excetp around other shooters. I have several old DA's, a 38 spec, a 32 Long and a 22 RF. I will show them to others but ues caution in doing so. People that don't want to understand won't! I also own a High sdandard HD Military I like to plink with. I keep them all out of sight when I go somewhere to shoot till I get there. I also do not argue with any anti. I allow them they belief's and make no effort to convert them or humilify them. I will never play their game by their rules.

If there is an answer to beat back this trend, I don't know what it is but I'm sure it's not more in your face I'm proud to be a redneck crap. I should add that I have seen little of that on this site. Several others, it's a different story.