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Some Walmarts refusing to sell ammo on 3rd shift.

Jack House

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
2,611
Location
I80, USA
I haven't bought ammo at walmart in a long time. Normally my Dad wants to go to Walmart with me, and since he works Swingshift, we go in late at night, usually around 12:00 AM. So we used to buy ammo at night, but now no one will help us(They keep all the ammo locked up except for shotgun ammo), so we actually ran out of 9mm ammo because that's where most of it came from! I think I'll get up early tomorrow and drop $30(3 boxes/150 rounds) to resupply my 9mm levels.

I'm not making this personal, just trying to tell you why I don't like their policy, but I will just have to work around it. And I'll make sure to really stock up this time. I might even buy $50 worth if I feel like it.
By law handgun ammo has to be locked up. The reason it is hard to get help is because the 10pm-7am guys are understaffed and overworked. They're usually given multiple departments and expected to get as much crap out as possible, but it's impossible to get everything out. They get chewed out at the end of the night for not performing miracles, so many of the overnighters see customers as massive burdens. Atleast that is the way it is at this Wal-Mart. If you want something, you're generally going to have to have them paged, unless you know who to look for. It's crap, but management doesn't care.

There is no corporate policy that prevents the sell of ammo after 10pm. But from my experience, management is allowed to just invent whatever policies they want, so long as it doesn't cause too much headache for corporate. Talk to the store manager, if they do not change policies, talk to the district manager. You should get a satisfactory response there.
 

marshaul

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
11,188
Location
Fairfax County, Virginia
Well if the store is open 24 hours then they should sell their products 24 hours and not have managers just come up with policies.

That's up to the store to decide, based on their cost-benefit analysis.

Should the Subway inside the Walmart also be forced to stay open 24 hours? After all, subs are legal, and the Walmart is open. And of course no 24 hour grocery store should be permitted to have a pharmacy which closes at 10 pm, right?
 
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JesterP99

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2011
Messages
172
Location
Richmond, Va
In Virginia, you can't buy alcohol after 11pm (I think) and before 6am. I mean, I don't see a problem not selling ammunition after midnight, besides at not all of Walmart's employees are smart enough to card, only the ones that actually know how to sell ammunition.

Honestly, I don't have any problem with it. I mean, its whatever to me.
 

.40S&W

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2012
Messages
74
Location
earth
Cite?

Handgun ammo sits right out on the open shelves at Gander Mtn, Academy, and Bass Pro.

The Academy here keeps their handgun ammo locked up but the shotgun ammo is out in the open. Different locations do different things apparently.
 

SovereignAxe

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2011
Messages
791
Location
Elizabethton, TN
Ever notice how the fitting rooms are closed after 10pm? If you're lucky the craft section will be open after 10. It wouldn't surprise me to not have anyone manning sporting goods.
 

KYGlockster

Activist Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
Messages
1,842
Location
Ashland, KY
Can someone cite this law that says pistol ammo has to be Locked up? if there is one it must be a state or local law, because there is no federal law. Every gun store around my hometown, and even wal-mart keeps handgun ammo out in the open.
 

Uber_Olafsun

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2009
Messages
583
Location
Alexandria, Virginia, United States
That's up to the store to decide, based on their cost-benefit analysis.

Should the Subway inside the Walmart also be forced to stay open 24 hours? After all, subs are legal, and the Walmart is open. And of course no 24 hour grocery store should be permitted to have a pharmacy which closes at 10 pm, right?

If it is actually a wal mart policy that is one thing. From what was posted it sounds like the local store manager made the decision. Wally world isn't too big on managers making decisions on behalf of wal mart.
 

bforbaker

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2012
Messages
16
Location
London, KY
I've never had a problem buying handgun ammo at my Wal-Mart.
I almost always buy mine after midnight.
 

MKEgal

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
4,383
Location
in front of my computer, WI
Uber_Olafsun said:
Well if the store is open 24 hours then they should sell their products 24 hours and not have managers just come up with policies.
Uber_Olafsun said:
If it is actually a wal mart policy that is one thing. From what was posted it sounds like the local store manager made the decision. Wally world isn't too big on managers making decisions on behalf of wal mart.
That.
Unless there's a law in that state saying that rifle/handgun ammo can't be sold between whatever hours (to stop overnight gang warfare??), if the store is open for business 24/7 all of their legal products should be equally purchasable whenever they're open.

Since many of you have talked about some ammo (shotgun) being easily & freely available, not locked up, & purchasable whenever strikes your fancy, obviously there isn't a law against selling it at whatever hour of the day or night.

Take names, call the 800 number, call again if the store or regional manager doesn't call you back & apologize for the nighttime bozo making things up. Call every time it happens.
Or shop somewhere else when they get annoying enough.
Online is nice.
 

ncwabbit

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2011
Messages
670
Location
rural religious usa
Me thinks it is WalMart Corp policy

The three local Walmarts in the Goldboro NC area also do not allow ammunition to be sold after a certain time at night. I complained to the manager(s) and received the same comment from all three...

'gee i think it is a local county sheriff rule...' (they are in the same county so didn't think any more about it!!)

all ammunition is under lock and key...

wabbit
 

DWCook

Activist Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2010
Messages
432
Location
Lenexa, Kansas
I'm still going to challenge the employee who tells me they can't sell after 10pm. If it is a legal product that can be sold all hours at the business, I will not accept some made up policy. It's a product that's meant to be sold and there is no law or policy that's states you can't sell after a certain time.
 

Redbaron007

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2011
Messages
1,613
Location
SW MO
No problem here buying ammo after 10 p.m. Sometimes a little slow getting someone there to open the cabinet but no other problems.

When ammo was in demand and many many places had none; I would go to Wally World at 10 p.m. to buy 9mm just when they were bringing it out from the truck load. If there is a rule, more than likely it is developed by the manager.
 

nonameisgood

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2008
Messages
1,008
Location
Big D
I am shocked that every store I choose to patronize does not stay open 24/7. So that I may buy my products whenever the heck I want to.

The problem is not that a store has a policy, it is that people are making things up, rather than simply having a policy. Telling a consumer that "federal law prohibits sales after 10 p.m." is a lie which makes the consumer think that the WalMart is being responsible. Rather, the WalMart is simply not willing to accommodate the wants/needs/desires of a customer. It is perfectly acceptable to limit sales for business reasons (such as Academy limiting me to 2, 3 or 4 boxes when supplies were short) but not to blame the law for such a decision. The other effect of telling a lie about the law is that the customer will remain inconvenienced instead of seeking out another supplier (which realistically does not exist in most markets.)

But I do agree that being indignant about being inconvenienced is just that, and does not rise to the level an infraction of your rights. But many people simply don't have other other options, and they rely on WalMart simply because WM has drive every other option out of the marketplace. And that brings a bit of responsibility to consistently provide what consumers need (if you're going to drive everyone else out of business.)
 

HighFlyingA380

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2011
Messages
301
Location
West St. Louis County (Ellisville)
I've never had problems buying ammo late at night, even while OCing. But I'm not gonna have to worry about it anymore, since I just found a dealer near me that is much, much cheaper than Wally World.

In Virginia, you can't buy alcohol after 11pm (I think) and before 6am. I mean, I don't see a problem not selling ammunition after midnight, besides at not all of Walmart's employees are smart enough to card, only the ones that actually know how to sell ammunition.

Honestly, I don't have any problem with it. I mean, its whatever to me.
Since 'most' of their employees are not smart enough, or simply not trained on the ammunition age limits, it pops up on their screen when they scan it. Just like the alcohol, they cannot complete the transaction without entering your DOB. ps: Personally, I feel the time restrictions on alcohol are stupid too, but that's a whole different discussion.
 

Aknazer

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2011
Messages
1,760
Location
California
I've never had issues buying ammo late at night and in fact have been approached on multiple occasions by walmart employees asking if I needed some ammo even though it was past 10pm. Also for those mentioning shotgun ammo out and not locked up, I've looked at that as well and I've noticed that it is always bird/skeet shot and not slugs or any type of buckshot. I'm guessing that they view this type of ammo less-lethal and not really in a threat to be stolen.
 

WhatTimeIsIt?

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Messages
188
Location
$
I've never had problems buying ammo at night at a few Walmarts around Hampton Roads. But I wouldn't be surprised if some Walmarts chose to close their ammo register at night, or any other special department. I would find it strange if they kept someone at the register, but would choose to simply not sell ammo. It would be stupid, but they can set the rule if they want to. I would just hope they'd have the courage to say it was their policy, not try to pass it off as corporate policy or a law.
 
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