Sporting Goods Clerks

[dale2242]

My granddaughter is going to shoot a ODF&W free youth pheasant hunt this month.
It is held on the local game commission wildlife area so steel shot is mandatory.
She was low on ammo, 20 ga 3in shells.
We are all aware of the ammo shortage and she found 2 boxes of 3 in. steel shot ammo at the local Bi Mart.
She was unaware that you have to be 18 to buy ammo in Oregon . She is 14.
The clerk refused to sell to her because she was too young.
We a ok with that, BUT.
She came back with mom and dad to purchase it for her.
The clerk refused to sell it to them.
I had talked to this clerk before and knew he was a real jerk .
Now there is a really upset grandpa, me.
I called the store manager and told him what happened and explained that was legal for parents to buy ammo for their children and that he had better talk to his clerk. How else would kids get ammo if parents didn`t buy it for them.
He said he would take care of it and to have the parents come in and buy the shot shells.
I was amazed it lasted long enough for them to come back to buy them.
Mom and dad came back and bought both boxes.
Alls well that ends well.
End of rant.

[starnbar]

When something like that happens you need to call corporate too give them the store location and time and date. The clerk was correct in the age requirement however when the youngster is accompanied by a adult the sale point is moot and is a judgement call by a clerk who is now denying a lawful sale of goods.

[waksupi]

The clerk just wasn't educated on what constitutes a straw purchase.

[fixit]

Maybe, or maybe he's just a horse's patoot! OP stated that this clerk is a known jerk, and I have run into my share of those in my lifetime, too. The sad truth about low wage help, you frequently get low quality work.

[Plate plinker]

The clerk just wasn't educated on what constitutes a straw purchase.

This^^^^^
He equates ammo with firearm sales. Probably to smart for his own good.

[country gent]

A few Christmas ago I bought the grandsons a red Ryder bb gun at the local wall-marts store policy was fill out 4473 and the back ground check. The 2 daisy slingshots were probably more powerful LOL

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

well, I'm glad to hear she got the shells she needed.
I have one friend looking for a certain flavor of shotgun shells and has been coming up empty from all the usual sources...and this person asked me to be on the lookout...I suspect there will be some at the local gunshow next month.

[Finster101]

How things have changed. I remember being 9 or 10 and buying .22 shorts at a little general store at my grandmother's in KY.

[MUSTANG]

How things have changed. I remember being 9 or 10 and buying .22 shorts at a little general store at my grandmother's in KY.

Yep; .22's, 410's, 20 Gauge, 16 Gauge, and 12 Gauge at that age - AND those little general stores would break up a box so we could buy a couple to a handful of rounds from the box.

[Shawlerbrook]

I find it interesting that the antis want training, background checks etc. for buying guns and ammo but any idiot can sell the stuff.

[Gator 45/70]

A few Christmas ago I bought the grandsons a red Ryder bb gun at the local wall-marts store policy was fill out 4473 and the back ground check. The 2 daisy slingshots were probably more powerful LOL

There has to be more to this story, Give it up please ?

[Plate plinker]

I find it interesting that the antis want training, background checks etc. for buying guns and ammo but any idiot can sell the stuff.

Yeah that’s so true. Had a cop friend that was murdered because of a idiot dealer. Let’s just say the FFL took himself on a vacation to the illustrious grey bar hotel.

[country gent]

No My daughter Son and law took me Christmas shopping I saw the boys eyeing the red ryder display. So I put 1 in the cart with some other items. It was out on the floor a pallet load of them. When I got to the checker register I was informed the bb gun had to be ran thru sporting good counter due to paper work. I gave the son in law the money and he went back, ID, 4473 and back ground check just like a gun behind the counter.

I used to skip my last study hall walk up to the hardware and by 22s and shotgun shells walk back and ride the buss home. The owner never had a problem but the it was only him and me that knew

[JoeJames]

How things have changed. I remember being 9 or 10 and buying .22 shorts at a little general store at my grandmother's in KY.Same here at my uncle's country store in 1962 when I was 11.

[richhodg66]

A few Christmas ago I bought the grandsons a red Ryder bb gun at the local wall-marts store policy was fill out 4473 and the back ground check. The 2 daisy slingshots were probably more powerful LOL

Wal Mart seriously requires a background check and 4473 for a BB gun?

I doubt I ever would, but sure won't be buying a gun from them now.

[Taylor]

Walmart considers BBs ammo

[MrWolf]

A few Christmas ago I bought the grandsons a red Ryder bb gun at the local wall-marts store policy was fill out 4473 and the back ground check. The 2 daisy slingshots were probably more powerful LOL

Ha, try Jersey. The bb gun requires the 4473 but those slingshot are considered weapons of mass destruction and are illegal in New Jersey. So glad I left there.

[bedbugbilly]

dale - sorry for what happened - I just wanted to say that it is always nice to hear about young folks who are learning to shoot the right way and enjoying the fun of hunting and the outdoors - that was the way it was when I was a kid and the way it should be = kudos to your grand-daughter and I'm sure that you are really proud of her.

[Hogtamer]

At least they have jobs, not sitting at home on the public dole!

[Shepherd2]

In the early 50s when I was 10-11 years old my dad would call the hardware store and tell them I would be stopping in to get a box of .22 or 3 or 4 shotgun shells. By the time I was 15 or so no phone call was necessary.

BBs we bought on our own whenever we had the money. No age restriction. We were always collecting empty pop bottles to cash in for BBs.

[contender1]

No matter what the business is,, there are stupid employees, un-educated employees, power tripping employees, & other undesirables working in places they shouldn't be. And in todays climate of "I can sit on my rear end & the government will give me money,,, vs working" attitude,, it's often a sad reflection of what employers have to work with.
Sounds like a polite, yet firm written letter to corporate with specific details may or may not get results. But at least you'll be on record complaining about the clerk.

The comment about the BB gun, and a 4473,,, is interesting. Could it be that the State has mandated a BB gun as a firearm? The 4473 is a FEDERAL form,, and it's use is governed by the federal regulations. Seems a polite but firm letter to the State Attorney General, ATF, Corporate, & any & all organizations in Ohio that fight for gun owners needs to be sent. In it,, ask WHY a private company is using the 4473 for purposes OTHER than intended, or allowed by law.
Case in point;
Many years ago, a local wally world had a sale on Ruger 10/22's. I wanted one of that model. The clerk told me I had to fill out (2) identical 4473's to complete the purchase. He said; "One goes to the ATF & one is sent to corporate." I politely asked for the manager. When one arrived, I politely inquired about this. I ALSO pointed out to the manager the PRINTED portion at the top of the form about; "Prepare in original only." And in my discussion I said for the store to send one to corporate was illegal, and de facto registration. The manager said; "It's store policy & if you want one, you must comply with store rules."
So, I politely did as asked, making sure I noted the clerk, and the managers name etc. I then filed a complaint with the AFT, Wally world corporate, and even the NRA-ILA.
That wally world STOPPED that policy.
And in a follow-up, I was able to point out how firearm THEFT was occurring at that wally world,, by employees. (My best friend was a Federal agent.) Apparently, a few employees had figured out a way to "add a firearm to a 4473" and it go out the back door.

Now,, when I fill out a 4473 at any FFL I'm not familiar with,, I mark through the empty space for any additional purchases. (That's legal BTW. ATF explained that one to me.)

So, I'd question the laws in Ohio, and if the STATE mandates the BB guns as firearms,, then there MAY be an exception for the State by the ATF for the use of the form. I'm not current on all the Ohio laws. But I am a member of the OGCA,, and haven't heard about this process by the wally world.

[Budzilla 19]

Year or so back, had a young little twit of a clerk ask me for my drivers license for plastic airsoft bb’s. I asked why, he said it was sporting goods policy. So I politely told him to put them wherever he could fit them, if you understand that statement, and walked out!! Store name?................. who else? DICKS sporting goods. Never went back to that, or any other Dicks sporting goods.
But a 4473 for a BB GUN? Crazy

[Burnt Fingers]

Do BB guns even have a serial number?

[444ttd]

back in the early to mid '80s(when i was 12yo), i got all my ammo from k-mart or gee bee's(think super wal mart 2day, with guns and ammo). i would buy 30-30, 12, 16 and 20 ga, 30-06 and 22 rimfire(esp the 22) and they never cared. i think i was 16yo or so, when k mart had a policy (about 2 weeks before big game season) that they needed a driver license and a form to purchase ammo. well, they didn't sell any ammo and the "complaints"(i won't say what bad words were used!!!!:) ) got so bad from customers, that the policy went away.

when i was 18 or 19yo, i started reloading my own and never went back. my local gun store has a guy that is quite knowledgeable about guns and ammo, but the same store has less than knowledgeable (about the same iq as a tennis ball) people.

let me blow off the dust of my brainpan and i think it was $7.99 for a box of 30-30 and $9.99 for a box of '06 in the mid '80s. for 22lr it was about $.79 for 50 and about $7 or 8 for 500. i would spend $2.50 - 3.00 for 100 of the cci 36gr hp mini mags for hunting squirrel. the last box of 22lr ammo that i ever bought was around $16 - 17 for 525 rounds. i think it was bush jr time, but i'm not sure. i also remember, but not sure of the time, that my friend(RIP) got his new 338 RUM (i mean new, it must have been '02 or 03) and it was about $100-120 per box of 20 cartridges!!!!

i'm getting old, ain't i?

[David2011]

Tractor Supply wanted my driver's license to purchase a Red Ryder. I was clearly old enough, approaching retirement at the time. I bought it elsewhere. When my brother was 8 and I was 11 we walked to K-Mart and each bought a Marksman BB/pellet/dart pistol, unaccompanied. Nobody thought anything of it.

[Friends call me Pac]

Late 70's before I had a driver's license I would go to Kmart for .22 shells for squirrel hunting. I would have to claim I was using them in a rifle only because I could buy them for a rifle but not for a handgun. That makes a lot of sense huh? Started hunting with a 30.06 at 16 and never had an issue buying ammo for it.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Our hardware store in Bethlehem, PA had a card file where a note from the parents that gave permission to kids to buy ammunition was kept. Once you were 'on file' you could buy ammo whenever you had the money. My first purchase, age 7?, was a box of Western shorts - 55 cents.

[jonp]

Late 70's before I had a driver's license I would go to Kmart for .22 shells for squirrel hunting. I would have to claim I was using them in a rifle only because I could buy them for a rifle but not for a handgun. That makes a lot of sense huh? Started hunting with a 30.06 at 16 and never had an issue buying ammo for it.

I'm trying to remember where I got that question. Only had it once or twice but I've bought ammo across most of the country. As for the BB gun I'm wondering how that 4473 was filled out as I'm not aware that Daisy puts SN on them and Feds won't run that as there is nothing to run because bb guns are not considered firearms. I'd have put it back and got one online.

When I was a kid it was not uncommon to buy 22lr on the way to hunt woodchucks at the hardware store or buy pea shooters either. We also bought cigarettes for people and ran them back to their house for a few nickels spent on penny candy. Omer would ask us who they were for and then hand them over.

[shooterg]

How things have changed. I remember being 9 or 10 and buying .22 shorts at a little general store at my grandmother's in KY.

Yup. Remember reaching UP to the counter to put the loose change ($0.39 ?) there in exchange for a box of .22's . The local hardware would even sell individual shotshells when I wanted a couple to use in Gramps old 12 ga. Champion to bust a bunch of pigeons robbing the hogs corn(get a dozen sometimes as they lit on the ground, sometimes had to butt stroke 'em to finish the job, the old single shot still has electric tape on the grip where a crack developed from too much of that) . Maybe 7 when I first bought .22, the shotgun was too much for me until 11 or so. Sure wish my grandson could grow up like I did - he gets a "sample" when he's with us but that's not enough.

[William Yanda]

" uncommon to buy 22lr on the way to hunt woodchucks at the hardware store " jonp
Did you mean buy 22lr at the hardware store on the way to hunt woodchucks?"

[toallmy]

A lot has changed - when I was in high school I carried a bolt action 22 rifle to school , ( as a project in shop class ) to refinish the wood , & steel . Carried it on the bus both ways .
Fast forward - recently I was asked for ID when buying some magic markers .

[Walks]

When I turned 16 and got My DL, My Dad would send Me down to the old Pachmayr store near downtown LA. With a signed check, without an amount written it. Ammo, powder, primers everything but new guns. Even picked up a repaired Colt once.
Did the same thing at Bower's Wholesale.

[GregLaROCHE]

I think I agree that kids under 18 (maybe 16) shouldn’t be able to buy ammo alone. I’m not saying I don’t think kids shouldn’t have ammo. I was alone in the woods at twelve with a 22. I did my share of experimenting, like ricocheting off water, throwing some into campfires, etc. My dad probably didn’t know to what extent I was experimenting, but he kept tabs on me, making sure I didn’t get too out of hand. Also, my father had already deeply instilled in me the importance of being safe. Well maybe I deviated a little. My point is we think of kids who have been properly trained in firearms not being allowed to by ammo, but imagine if kids in the inter cities could just walk in and by ammo, not to shoot, but to experiment with. ie taking bullets apart for the powder to make a bomb.

[Kraschenbirn]

A lot has changed - when I was in high school I carried a bolt action 22 rifle to school , ( as a project in shop class ) to refinish the wood , & steel . Carried it on the bus both ways .
Fast forward - recently I was asked for ID when buying some magic markers .

Yup!! On Thursdays, several of us who shot on the Boy Scout/Explorers rifle team carried our cased .22 target rifles to school and checked them into the auto shop tool crib. After school, we picked them up and rode a city bus out to the National Guard Armory for practice and, afterwards, rode a bus home. I don't recall anyone so much as even giving us strange looks.

Bill

[Gator 45/70]

I think I agree that kids under 18 (maybe 16) shouldn’t be able to buy ammo alone. I’m not saying I don’t think kids shouldn’t have ammo. I was alone in the woods at twelve with a 22. I did my share of experimenting, like ricocheting off water, throwing some into campfires, etc. My dad probably didn’t know to what extent I was experimenting, but he kept tabs on me, making sure I didn’t get too out of hand. Also, my father had already deeply instilled in me the importance of being safe. Well maybe I deviated a little. My point is we think of kids who have been properly trained in firearms not being allowed to by ammo, but imagine if kids in the inter cities could just walk in and by ammo, not to shoot, but to experiment with. ie taking bullets apart for the powder to make a bomb.

Inner city ''kids'' try shooting a 380 in a 9 or 40 in a 9 or 9 in a 40, The police applaud the ignorance.
It wasn't or still isn't unusual for the sporting goods clerk to find and open box of 9's or 40's broken open with a few shells missing and the box placed back on the shelf, Reckon its easier to palm a few bullets out of security's eyes, Inner city kids and games they play?

[Dekota56]

Like a lot durning the 60’s bought 22 ammo on my own, I took gun to school, to hunt ground hogs or squirrel on the way home. I had a rifle or two in the gun racks in the back of my truck window, durning deer season in the school parking lot when in High school. I am sure we miss those days.

[jonp]

" uncommon to buy 22lr on the way to hunt woodchucks at the hardware store " jonp
Did you mean buy 22lr at the hardware store on the way to hunt woodchucks?"

haha...yes but I think you missed the "not" in front of that

[john.k]

wernt no gunshops when I was a kid,the barbershop used to sell 22rf and 32 rf in a few as 5 shots if thats all you could afford.......More grown up,youd go to the hardware store .....but all their ammo was in big boxes of 100 or 500 or so,and not affordable for a kid......From about 12 yrs of age ,used to go to the hardware and buy dynamite in a paper bag,as very few had need of a case ......the explosive store was an old outhouse in the yard of the hardware,and the clerk would hand you a little packet of detanators,and say...be careful with these riding your bike ,now.

[frkelly74]

Do BB guns even have a serial number?

The last 22 I bought was a High Standard Sport King semi auto. It has no serial number on it being of pre 1968 manufacture. On the 4473 the dealer just wrote NSN in the place where the serial number is supposed to be. ( no serial number)

[lksmith]

Unfortunately that seems the norm in left coast states. Around here at the local gun shops they will let "kids" buy ammo. chains like walmart or atwoods won't. My daughter is 3 and as soon as she can handle it she has a cricket 22 that I refinished for her.

[Burnt Fingers]

Unfortunately that seems the norm in left coast states. Around here at the local gun shops they will let "kids" buy ammo. chains like walmart or atwoods won't. My daughter is 3 and as soon as she can handle it she has a cricket 22 that I refinished for her.

Those stores are violating FEDERAL LAW.

Doing so is a great way to get a visit from a BATFE agent. The clerk that sells ammo to underage people is the one that will take the hit. At a minimum it's going to cost them several thousand dollars, either in fines or shyster fees.

Doing so is also food for those that would want us to return to having to log ammo (handgun and rimfire at the time) ammo purchases in a bound book AFTER seeing ID.

Walmart and Atwood's are following Federal Law and keeping their clerks and the store out of trouble.

[Scrounge]

In the early 50s when I was 10-11 years old my dad would call the hardware store and tell them I would be stopping in to get a box of .22 or 3 or 4 shotgun shells. By the time I was 15 or so no phone call was necessary.

BBs we bought on our own whenever we had the money. No age restriction. We were always collecting empty pop bottles to cash in for BBs.

Depends on where you were, I guess. Mom and Dad had to get married because I was on the way. Mom was 15, Dad was 17. Mom had to buy BB's for his BB gun because she was a legal adult as a married woman. I was born the middle of the year, and she turned 16 the next month. Dad's birthday was in February, when he turned 18. He was not a legal adult until he hit age 21. This was SoCal in the mid-50's.

Bill

[GL49]

I can remember my brother and I leaving home early in the mornings with our .22's. We'd spend all day hiking to the top of Grizzly Peak, returning home late in the evening. Nobody ever said a word about a couple of kids about 12 years old packing rifles, walking the streets of Ashland. My dad always took us to Eberhardt's Sporting Goods the night before, we'd plunk down our pennies and nickels, (22 shells were a penny apiece/50 cents a box), the clerk always had an open box. I don't know if an adult needed to be present in the early '60s for the purchase to be legal. I do remember Mr. Eberhardt always grinned when the money would come out of our pockets.

[fixit]

I grew up in small town Indiana, and as a teenager, it was not strange to see a teen walking or riding a bike with a rifle or shotgun slung over the shoulder, and as long as we weren't being stupid, the town sheriff never gave it a second thought. I was even enlisted one timeto take out a stray that had bitten several people over a period of weeks. You won't see that happening today.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Many years ago a friend called and asked if I needed any 38 or 357 reloaded. His family had bought him a Dillon for Christmas and he was having a great time. He had loaded a lot of rounds. I asked, what powder he used? He said it was called Bullseye. I said, I will be right over. When I got to his house I saw that it was indeed Bullseye. I asked how many grains he used and he replied, 7.5. He went on to say that the clerk had told him that it was a recommended load. I informed him that it was a good thing he had called me, otherwise he could have lost his right hand at least or worse. I asked why he bought bullseye and he said the young clerk had told him, since it and Unique were both made by the Hercules company and 7.5 grains of Unique was the recommended load, Bullseye should be OK. I gave him the sad news that he would have to pull every bullet and start over again with Unique powder. I should have gone to the gun shop and told the owner what happened, sadly I didn't.