Yawn

That was my first response to the “Walmart stops selling some ammo and some guns and asks for no open carry in their stores” kerfuffle. It was also my second response.

Yes, I understand the larger anti-gun picture painted by these actions, especially when viewed in conjunction with the openly anti-gun comments of their CEO which accompanied the announcement. And no, I don’t take kindly to any of it. But at the end of the day, I really don’t care very much whether or not Wally World carries guns and ammo.

Do you know what percentage of the retail stores in this country don’t carry guns and ammo? Neither do I, but let’s just agree that the precise number falls somewhere around most of them. They don’t carry guns or ammunition at AutoZone, or Target (ironically), or Home Depot, either. There are a lot of stores in this country, and the vast, vast majority do not sell guns or ammunition.

This is just a simple win-win for Walmart. Margins on gun sales are thin at best, and how many guns were they really selling, anyway? And even if there’s a better margin on ammunition, it still couldn’t have been a huge money maker for them once it’s priced at Walmart levels. Now they can pose and preen about how they are “doing something,” when the something they are doing won’t actually do anything more than perhaps mildly inconvenience a few gun people. At any rate, you can rest assured it will not hurt their profitability one bit.

And as long as we’re talking about useless virtue signaling, your principled boycott won’t hurt them, either. If it makes you feel better, go right ahead and boycott, but understand that it’s just an impotent action which actually changes nothing except for the ability to woof to everybody about your principles. You know…kind of like what Wal-Mart is doing.

And while I understand the inconvenience factor for folks who might not have a lot of local options, the internet solves that problem pretty easily. Sure, you might have to plan ahead a bit for a trip to the range, but in times like these, shouldn’t you be keeping a decent supply of ammunition on hand anyway? And after all wouldn’t you prefer to support a local gun store, or online retailers like Midway or Brownell’s or Lucky Gunner or Ammoman anyway? (Or any of the plethora of other outlets available on the internet.) I know I would, and from that perspective, it looks like the glass is half-full.

And as a postscript, I will add that I actually find it humorous that so many on the left…who normally consider chains like Walmart to be their sworn enemy…are cheering this action (but would likely still never set foot in a Walmart and support them with dollars.)

And at the same time, folks on our team who would urge you to support your local gun store over the big chains are now wailing and gnashing their teeth over Walmart’s sudden but inevitable betrayal.