Walmart confounds me

To be honest, I consider myself fairly new to handguns. Many think I am a guru, but the guys I shoot with know better. I have had a carry permit for 14 years in various states. But even though I had handguns and a permit, I never worked to improve. Pistols were toys. Rifles were serious. So I have a lot of experience loading for and shooting rifles. But this year I got serious about handguns. Go to every shoot offered. I buy a lot of ammo, as I don't have a progressive. WHAT IS IT WITH WALMART??? Every time I ask for somebody to get me a box of ammo, they stare at me for a second. Then they ask me if this is for a handgun. I nod. Another stare, as they hand me the box. Now to pay for it. Up front, they reach for it, recognize it for what it is, and glance at me. It is scanned. "Is this for a handgun?" Now everybody is looking. Sigh. Yeah, it's for a handgun. The cashier simply says a number. I pay and leave. I once bought a box of '06 shells to see if they would ask me "is this for a hangun?" They did, and I said yes (don't own a T/C). Bought a box of 40 ammo for my SIG, they asked, and I said no. As a handloader, buying ammo is kind of new to me. Are they all like this? I half expected to get asked for ID and carry permit, unless they called the cops instead. Reckon they are a bit paranoid?

It's actually in their P.O.S. (point of service) software. Walmart has their own software developers and they write almost all of the software that they use. The cashiers cannot ring up an ammo transaction unless they specify whether the ammo is for a handgun or not. The savvy ones will just enter 'y' if they know it can be used as handgun ammo. The dumber ones will ask you about the box of 30-30 rounds.

Now exactly why corporate tracks that is a mystery to me.

They always ask me the "is this for a handgun?" question, too.

I get carded at the Target on Colorado Avenue in Denver when I buy wine. I am 50 plus years old. The computers require the clerks to scan the back of my DL. Dah..............

My experience has never been like that at my local Wally World. At mine you must pay for your ammo back at the sporting goods area. I rarely get a comment other than, "Do you need anything else?". Or once, during hunting season a very inexperienced young fellow said, "Good luck with your hunting." Mind you I was buying 40S&W JHP's, so I simple said to him, "I hope not." left it at that and departed. I don't think he had a clue about what I meant.

The same thing happens to me;
http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum/...dgun-ammo.html

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Originally Posted by SGT

My experience has never been like that at my local Wally World. At mine you must pay for your ammo back at the sporting goods area. I rarely get a comment other than, "Do you need anything else?". Or once, during hunting season a very inexperienced young fellow said, "Good luck with your hunting." Mind you I was buying 40S&W JHP's, so I simple said to him, "I hope not." left it at that and departed. I don't think he had a clue about what I meant.

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LOL...Good one, never had them ask me at the checkout...which I usually do back at the sporting goods counter...the Mrs works at the store and I get a decent discount so it's all good!

Part of the reason for the age query is the Federal requirement for purchasers of handgun ammo to be 21 or older. Since .22 rimfire can be used in handguns or long guns, even that falls under the same restriction. Don't expect sales clerks getting minimum wage to know more than what the prompts on their register tell them.

The reason for the question, and the logging in the software, is so that WW can know what to buy and when... THEY TRACK EVERYTHING... They'll tell you or at least they know, how many handguns are out there, how many rounds go thru them... and everything else you can imagine... they are experts in tracking need for product, they have their own meteorologists and they know what sells in a snow storm, and it ain't just snow shovels, they know how much beer to stock, for any given sunday... it's incredible how much they know. Scary really.

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Originally Posted by oakchas

The reason for the question, and the logging in the software, is so that WW can know what to buy and when... THEY TRACK EVERYTHING... They'll tell you or at least they know, how many handguns are out there, how many rounds go thru them... and everything else you can imagine... they are experts in tracking need for product, they have their own meteorologists and they know what sells in a snow storm, and it ain't just snow shovels, they know how much beer to stock, for any given sunday... it's incredible how much they know. Scary really.

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This is true. Back when I was consulting with their IT dept (15 years ago), they were the only retailer that I knew of at that time, that tracked real-time inventory at each store. They could tell me at any given moment how many pairs of jeans in size x they had on the shelf at that moment at store y. They are the kings of data collection and mining.

One of the other CCW forums i read for a while, someone asked 'where did you go first carrying with your permit". The winner was Walmart.

Strange. I buy most of my ammo from Wally Mart and I have NEVER had them ask me that question. The only thing they ever asked me was when I said I'd like some .40 cal ammo, they said "just one box?" Of course, I said "no...make it 6 boxes". I've paid for my ammo either at the hunting/gun counter or up front at the registers.

If I buy it from Walmart, I buy it from a guy who is a retired LEO and knows me, so he never asks anything.

When I asked him about this... he told me ... in some states it is illegal for anyone under 21 yrs old to buy handgun ammo, because they cannot own a handgun legally until they are 21 (which is true here) . So, if you are buying .22, .357, etc for a rifle... it's considered OK if you are over 18, because 18 yr olds can buy rifle ammo.

Now, others that have been standing there when he wasn't working, have asked that question. One ask me if some 30-06 ammo was for a handgun.

I always buy ammo at Wally World. The only question i've been asked is "are you at least 21". I always say "Yeah, a long time ago". They give me a weird look.

Might be fun to simply tell the cashier they're suppositories and see what he/she gives you as a facial expression - or rings up.