Re: AR15's at Walmart
"Vote with your dollars" is what they say. When I was a kid (and that wasn't very long ago), Walmart had a decent selection of firearms and ammunition. It's not a gun store, but you could walk in and expect to find at least Rem700, Win70, and Weatherby Vanguard in 30-06 and 270win- along with a few 243win and at least a couple Marlin 30-30s. They also had ruger 10/22s, and a selection of shotguns from Winchester (1300), Remington (870 and 1187), NEF, and Beretta. My first firearms (bought by my dad) were a 10/22, a NEF break-action single-shot .401, and a Marlin 30-30- all bought from Walmart. Now, none of the Walmarts in my area carry firearms. Now many here may say "Yea, a win for the little guy..." but, is it really? At the end of the day, a loss of choice hurts the consumer (the real little guy). It was after Columbine that Kmart stopped carrying ammunition. Big box stores with national and global footprints are "low hanging fruit" for those that would see gun sales stopped. These corporations are opposed only to that which costs them money. If anti-firearm ownership backlash will (potentially) cost them more than sales will earn, then sales will stop. Once that is won, then it is on to Bass Pro shops (they're a fishing store anyway), Academy, Big Five, Dick's, Gander Mountain, Cabelas, etc. Now that all of the big money players are out of the way, the local shops will fold up for lack of funds to fight. Battle won- or lost depending on how you look at it.
One other thing. On a business trip to Nebraska, I stopped into a Walmart and saw Ar15s in the sporting goods section. That whetted my appetite and I soon bought a LR-308 from a local shop. The door can, and occasionally does, swing both ways...