Ammo 'straw purchase'

[stanislaskasava]

I was in wal-mart yesterday buying various ammo with some friends. We were all planning on shooting and sharing so one guy offered to buy one of the boxes of .22lr that I had in my pile to spread the cost amongst us. Strangely, the cashier stubbornly protested, deeming it a 'straw purchase' which she could be fired for unless she prevented it.

Has anybody ever heard of this bizarre policy? We bought about $200 of .22lr, .223, 9mm, .45acp, .410g and 12g. She said because I was the one who asked for it out of the case that I had to pay for it. I said "well I changed my mind, put it back on the shelf and then take it off and give it to him cus he wants some." He was already buying other ammo and I still had some .22lr in my pile.

Can anyone make sense of this or is it just a 'wal-mart' thing?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Miggy]

Sounds like a V-Tech over-reacting thing to me. AFAIK there is no such thing as ammo straw purchase.

[SammyIamToday]

It's a Walmart sporting goods employee. Which can be anywhere from rocket scientist to primordial ooze. Sounds like this one was closer to the latter.

[Miggy]

I found this:

Federal law imposes several restrictions on the transfer and possession of firearm ammunition. The law prohibits the possession of ammunition by convicted felons, controlled substance users, and anyone subject to a domestic violence restraining order, among others, and it prohibits transferring ammunition to such persons as well. It prohibits the sale or transfer of (1) long gun ammunition to anyone under age 18 and (2) handgun ammunition to anyone under age 21. It also strictly regulates armor-piercing handgun bullets.

So I stand corrected. There is a law against straw purchase of ammunition. But the WalMart associate basically called your buddy a Felon.

[purple88yj]

I had the same situation happen to me once at a Wal-Mart.

The local gun shop didn't have a problem with me and a couple of buddies splitting the cost of a lot of ammo though.


Guess who makes a lot more money now...

[Muzz]

SamIAM,

rocket scientist to primordial ooze

I like that... Very true.

Yeah, its pretty much a WM thing. WM cororate policy on anything related to compliance is 'overkill'. That question they ask you when you buy .22 or 9mm ammo, "Is this for a handgun or a rifle?" - they aren't allowed to sell it to you, or anyone else in your party afterward, if you answer "handgun", and you aren't 21 years old.

The training that the sporting goods associates get is highly confusing and intense/frightening because it is done on a computer - its so disconnected from the sales floor, that there is no way they can feel safe about doing anything related to firearms unless they were already a 'gun person' and knew the reality before they got there. They scare the associates so thoroughly that they can't even function, instead of actually teaching them anything.

This is the real reason so many stores have stopped selling guns at all. It isn't because they are opposed to guns - WM isn't opposed to anything that turns an overall profit. Its because one bad sale reported in the media and taken to court would hurt them so much that it 'isn't worth the risk' to them. Its the same reason they went to prepackaged meats - possible legal liability.

Like purple88yj said, your favorite gunstore would treat you guys better, and appreciate/deserve your money alot more.

My .02 ...

[AutoFan]

Last time I bought handgun ammo at a WalMart, they asked the "handgun or rifle" question. I answered "shotgun" and they never batted an eye...

[stanislaskasava]

I found this:


So I stand corrected. There is a law against straw purchase of ammunition. But the WalMart associate basically called your buddy a Felon.

The part that I can't figure out is that my friend was already buying other ammo. So somehow the employee found a way to rationalize selling him ammunition, just not the ammo that I had already touched.

This is an 'airsoft only' wal-mart -- they just cleared out the sporting rifles recently.

I had just been to my favorite gunstore the day before and they were all out of .223 so wal-mart was the closest option. I guess the minor hassle was the trade off for convenience.

[ccw9mm]

We were all planning on shooting and sharing so one guy offered to buy one of the boxes of .22lr that I had in my pile to spread the cost amongst us. Strangely, the cashier stubbornly protested, deeming it a 'straw purchase' ...

Your friend was the most-alive "straw" that cashier had ever seen, I'll bet. Straw purchase, my left heinie. Twaddle, pure and simple. Go elsewhere permanently, and make it known why to the store's manager.

[me]

Ok so I was not the only one to deal with this recently. I went out with a soon to be 21 year old friend to pick up ammo for our weekly range trip. I am away at college so he supplies the guns, I pick-up the ammo and we shoot at his club. As we were out at the sportting goods counter I looked at him after asking for 100 .45 and asked if we had enough .40 or needed more? The guy then ID both of us and said since he was not 21 I could not buy the .40 but still sold me the .45. ALL I DID WAS ASK HOW MUCH WE STILL HAD OR STILL NEEDED.

[Pete]

Wal*Mart does not want our money, this is patently obvious. They want to replace the ammo on the shelves with toilet paper or DVDs.
I don't stand in their way, I buy ammo in a gun shop.