Wal-Mart, largest gun retailer, to videotape all transactions
by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor
Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest seller of firearms, announced on Apr. 14 that it will adopt new rules for gun sales, from storing videotaped records of purchases to creating an internal log of which guns they sell that are later used in crimes.
J.P. Suarez, the chief compliance officer for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., appeared with outspoken gun control advocate Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City to announce the changes at a gathering of Bloomberg’s group Mayors Against Illegal Guns in Washington, DC.
The announcement was part of the “MAIG National Summit” held in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center as part of a two-day anti-gun effort in cooperation with the Congressional Task Force on Illegal Guns, which conducted a “public hearing” on Capitol Hill the following day. Gun Week learned that no pro-gun or firearms trade organizations were invited to either the MAIG Summit or the House panel’s hearing.
According to Associated Press (AP), Wal-Mart will be:
Creating a record and alert system to record when a gun sold at Wal-Mart is later used in a crime. If the purchaser of that gun later tries to buy another gun at Wal-Mart, the system would alert the sales clerk of the prior buy and could refuse to make the sale;
Retaining the recorded images of gun sales in case law enforcement wants to view them later as part of an investigation;
Expanding background checks of employees who handle guns, and
Expanding inventory controls.
Suarez said the tougher standards will come with some additional cost to the company.
“The costs are, we think, part of what it takes to be responsible. Everything is not pain-free,” he said, adding that small sellers can implement many of the same rules. He did not say how long it would take to implement all the changes, but noted that software must still be created for an internal log of guns later used in crimes.
Suarez said his company may receive some pressure from gun rights groups, but added, “This is not a signal that we’re getting out of firearms.”
However, neither Suarez nor any other representative of Wal-Mart has explained the retailer’s growing list of stores which are getting out of retail firearms sales to American consumers. When questioned by Gun Week with respect to reports from various states that Wal-Mart was discontinuing firearms sales while continuing to sell ammunition, the company’s explanation is that the decisions have been based on market and consumer demand.
Reaction
Some firearms dealers, many of whom have been on the short side of competition with Wal-Mart for firearms, ammunition and accessory sales wondered if a backlash against the discount retailer would bring business to their doors.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) immediately denounced the Wal-Mart’s move.
“I view it as a public relations stunt that stigmatizes law-abiding firearms purchasers exercising their freedom under the Constitution,” said NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, according to AP. He said that if politicians were serious about reducing gun crime they would worry less about legal sellers and buyers and get tougher criminal sentences for illegal gun dealers.
“I honestly think it’s a corporation trying to curry favor with politicians as opposed to doing anything meaningful about stopping crime,” said LaPierre.
Wal-Mart sells only rifles and shotguns in some of its US stores, with the exception of Alaska sites, which also sell handguns.
Of course, Bloomberg urged other companies to join Wal-Mart in the initiative called the Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership.
But the response from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF)—the firearms industry’s trade association—said the partnership’s name gives the false impression that federally licensed firearms dealers are somehow irresponsible.
“Today’s announcement reflects Mayor Bloomberg’s troubling ignorance and misunderstanding of what can—and cannot—be gleaned from data of guns recovered by law enforcement and traced from the manufacturer to the first retailer purchaser,” said NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) maintain this trace data.
ATF has said repeatedly, “The appearance of (a licensed dealer) or a first unlicensed purchaser of record in association with a crime gun or in association with multiple crime guns in no way suggests that either the federal firearms licensed dealer (FFL) or the first purchaser has committed criminal acts. Rather, such information may provide a starting point for further and more detailed investigation.”
NSSF has never opposed background checks on firearm retailer employees. “We have had a program to assist our members in running background checks on their prospective employees at a discounted rate,” said Keane. “NSSF would consider supporting legislation to allow gun dealers to conduct background checks on prospective employees through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is currently prohibited by law.”
“It is stunning that a mayor who claims to be interested in combating the criminal acquisition and misuse of firearms would continue to insult ATF and federal firearms licensees,” continued Keane. He was alluding to Mayor Bloomberg’s March 10, 2008, deposition—part of a lawsuit filed by the City of New York against several out-of-state firearms dealers. During the deposition Bloomberg testified he stood by his earlier statements that ATF is “asleep at the switch,” and added that the agency is “not doing their job.”
Bloomberg Admissions
NSSF noted that perhaps the mayor’s insults stems from his self-professed ignorance of our nation’s firearms laws and regulations, business practices of firearms retailers and the duties of the ATF. “I don’t know what the law is and what procedures are,” responded the mayor to a deposition question on illegally purchased firearms, NSSF quoted him. “I have no knowledge of what appropriate safeguards are for a dealer to comply with the law or what standard practices are in the arms business,” they quoted him.
In the same deposition Mr. Bloomberg admitted he did not know that ATF conducted inspections of firearms retailers. “I didn’t even know they had inspections,” the bewildered mayor offered and Bloomberg also noted that he did not know what a Federal Firearms Transaction Record, commonly known as a Form 4473 was or a NICS background check.
NSSF said that Bloomberg has rebuffed past firearms industry requests to educate him about industry’s cooperative relations with law enforcement in assisting them in their efforts to reduce criminal access to firearms, such as the partnership program between NSSF and ATF called “Don’t Lie for the Other Guy.”
“The mayor’s deposition and past statements make it clear that today’s announcement was nothing but a publicity stunt,” concluded Keane.
“We didn’t pressure them, they’re doing it because they think it’s the responsible thing to do,” Bloomberg he said.
However, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, had previously tried to establish a store in New York City but failed.
The MAIG gun summit also unveiled a new lobbying effort to close what they call the “gun show loophole,” which allows private sales of firearms without background check.
Bloomberg founded the group two years ago with Boston mayor Thomas Menino, allegedly to reduce the flow of guns from store displays into the hands of criminals.
The group, largely funded by Bloomberg’s personal fortune, announced it was spending more than $100,000 on television ads, effective Apr. 16, featuring all three of the current main presidential candidates voicing their opposition to the “gun show loophole.”
The ads will run in the home states of the three candidates—John McCain of Arizona, Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois. It also was scheduled to air across Pennsylvania before the Keystone States Apr. 22 presidential primary, as well as Florida, Maryland and Massachusetts.
Congressional Agenda
The mayors group really doesn’t have a new agenda; it is largely a rehash of older anti-gun initiatives that have been in Congress before, in some cases for years. However, MAIG, with the help of sympathetic lawmakers, is trying to gather support new support in Congress to:
End the gun show loophole, and require all private gun transfers to be conducted through FFLs.
Require gun dealers to perform criminal background checks on all gun-handling employees.
Close a so-called fire-sale loophole that allows gun dealers whose licenses have been revoked by the government to sell off their inventory without background checks.
Add those placed on the terrorist no-fly list, whether they are or are not suspects, to the list of people prohibited from purchasing a firearm.
The House Task Force hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on the morning of Apr. 16 apparently got little media attention, and perhaps limited congressional attention. According to Gun Week sources, representatives on the Task Force were not all ears. In fact, members seemed to take turns attending the hearing which included testimony from Bloomberg and the mayors of Jacksonville, FL, and Baltimore, MD.
Co-chairs of the Task Force are Reps. Charles Rangel (D-NY), John Conyers (D-MI), Peter King (R-NY) and Mark Kirk (R-IL). The principles didn’t attend the whole hearing and other members took turns in presiding.
In addition to the four mayors, the Task Force had invited a former gun store employee who had observed problematic retail practices; a straw gun buyer; a gunrunner and a street criminal who had shopped in the black illegal market.
Poster's note:
I can see, having read Bloomberg Admissions, why anti gun U.S. District Court Judge Jack Weinberg has blocked Mayor Bloomberg from testifying in the suit brought against him by Jay Wallace, proprietor of Adventure Outdoors, a Georgia gun dealership. I expect that, given his antics, that a trial jury might have found Bloomberg's admitted ignorance "interesting", to say the very least.
by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor
Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest seller of firearms, announced on Apr. 14 that it will adopt new rules for gun sales, from storing videotaped records of purchases to creating an internal log of which guns they sell that are later used in crimes.
J.P. Suarez, the chief compliance officer for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., appeared with outspoken gun control advocate Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City to announce the changes at a gathering of Bloomberg’s group Mayors Against Illegal Guns in Washington, DC.
The announcement was part of the “MAIG National Summit” held in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center as part of a two-day anti-gun effort in cooperation with the Congressional Task Force on Illegal Guns, which conducted a “public hearing” on Capitol Hill the following day. Gun Week learned that no pro-gun or firearms trade organizations were invited to either the MAIG Summit or the House panel’s hearing.
According to Associated Press (AP), Wal-Mart will be:
Creating a record and alert system to record when a gun sold at Wal-Mart is later used in a crime. If the purchaser of that gun later tries to buy another gun at Wal-Mart, the system would alert the sales clerk of the prior buy and could refuse to make the sale;
Retaining the recorded images of gun sales in case law enforcement wants to view them later as part of an investigation;
Expanding background checks of employees who handle guns, and
Expanding inventory controls.
Suarez said the tougher standards will come with some additional cost to the company.
“The costs are, we think, part of what it takes to be responsible. Everything is not pain-free,” he said, adding that small sellers can implement many of the same rules. He did not say how long it would take to implement all the changes, but noted that software must still be created for an internal log of guns later used in crimes.
Suarez said his company may receive some pressure from gun rights groups, but added, “This is not a signal that we’re getting out of firearms.”
However, neither Suarez nor any other representative of Wal-Mart has explained the retailer’s growing list of stores which are getting out of retail firearms sales to American consumers. When questioned by Gun Week with respect to reports from various states that Wal-Mart was discontinuing firearms sales while continuing to sell ammunition, the company’s explanation is that the decisions have been based on market and consumer demand.
Reaction
Some firearms dealers, many of whom have been on the short side of competition with Wal-Mart for firearms, ammunition and accessory sales wondered if a backlash against the discount retailer would bring business to their doors.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) immediately denounced the Wal-Mart’s move.
“I view it as a public relations stunt that stigmatizes law-abiding firearms purchasers exercising their freedom under the Constitution,” said NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, according to AP. He said that if politicians were serious about reducing gun crime they would worry less about legal sellers and buyers and get tougher criminal sentences for illegal gun dealers.
“I honestly think it’s a corporation trying to curry favor with politicians as opposed to doing anything meaningful about stopping crime,” said LaPierre.
Wal-Mart sells only rifles and shotguns in some of its US stores, with the exception of Alaska sites, which also sell handguns.
Of course, Bloomberg urged other companies to join Wal-Mart in the initiative called the Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership.
But the response from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF)—the firearms industry’s trade association—said the partnership’s name gives the false impression that federally licensed firearms dealers are somehow irresponsible.
“Today’s announcement reflects Mayor Bloomberg’s troubling ignorance and misunderstanding of what can—and cannot—be gleaned from data of guns recovered by law enforcement and traced from the manufacturer to the first retailer purchaser,” said NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) maintain this trace data.
ATF has said repeatedly, “The appearance of (a licensed dealer) or a first unlicensed purchaser of record in association with a crime gun or in association with multiple crime guns in no way suggests that either the federal firearms licensed dealer (FFL) or the first purchaser has committed criminal acts. Rather, such information may provide a starting point for further and more detailed investigation.”
NSSF has never opposed background checks on firearm retailer employees. “We have had a program to assist our members in running background checks on their prospective employees at a discounted rate,” said Keane. “NSSF would consider supporting legislation to allow gun dealers to conduct background checks on prospective employees through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is currently prohibited by law.”
“It is stunning that a mayor who claims to be interested in combating the criminal acquisition and misuse of firearms would continue to insult ATF and federal firearms licensees,” continued Keane. He was alluding to Mayor Bloomberg’s March 10, 2008, deposition—part of a lawsuit filed by the City of New York against several out-of-state firearms dealers. During the deposition Bloomberg testified he stood by his earlier statements that ATF is “asleep at the switch,” and added that the agency is “not doing their job.”
Bloomberg Admissions
NSSF noted that perhaps the mayor’s insults stems from his self-professed ignorance of our nation’s firearms laws and regulations, business practices of firearms retailers and the duties of the ATF. “I don’t know what the law is and what procedures are,” responded the mayor to a deposition question on illegally purchased firearms, NSSF quoted him. “I have no knowledge of what appropriate safeguards are for a dealer to comply with the law or what standard practices are in the arms business,” they quoted him.
In the same deposition Mr. Bloomberg admitted he did not know that ATF conducted inspections of firearms retailers. “I didn’t even know they had inspections,” the bewildered mayor offered and Bloomberg also noted that he did not know what a Federal Firearms Transaction Record, commonly known as a Form 4473 was or a NICS background check.
NSSF said that Bloomberg has rebuffed past firearms industry requests to educate him about industry’s cooperative relations with law enforcement in assisting them in their efforts to reduce criminal access to firearms, such as the partnership program between NSSF and ATF called “Don’t Lie for the Other Guy.”
“The mayor’s deposition and past statements make it clear that today’s announcement was nothing but a publicity stunt,” concluded Keane.
“We didn’t pressure them, they’re doing it because they think it’s the responsible thing to do,” Bloomberg he said.
However, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, had previously tried to establish a store in New York City but failed.
The MAIG gun summit also unveiled a new lobbying effort to close what they call the “gun show loophole,” which allows private sales of firearms without background check.
Bloomberg founded the group two years ago with Boston mayor Thomas Menino, allegedly to reduce the flow of guns from store displays into the hands of criminals.
The group, largely funded by Bloomberg’s personal fortune, announced it was spending more than $100,000 on television ads, effective Apr. 16, featuring all three of the current main presidential candidates voicing their opposition to the “gun show loophole.”
The ads will run in the home states of the three candidates—John McCain of Arizona, Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois. It also was scheduled to air across Pennsylvania before the Keystone States Apr. 22 presidential primary, as well as Florida, Maryland and Massachusetts.
Congressional Agenda
The mayors group really doesn’t have a new agenda; it is largely a rehash of older anti-gun initiatives that have been in Congress before, in some cases for years. However, MAIG, with the help of sympathetic lawmakers, is trying to gather support new support in Congress to:
End the gun show loophole, and require all private gun transfers to be conducted through FFLs.
Require gun dealers to perform criminal background checks on all gun-handling employees.
Close a so-called fire-sale loophole that allows gun dealers whose licenses have been revoked by the government to sell off their inventory without background checks.
Add those placed on the terrorist no-fly list, whether they are or are not suspects, to the list of people prohibited from purchasing a firearm.
The House Task Force hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on the morning of Apr. 16 apparently got little media attention, and perhaps limited congressional attention. According to Gun Week sources, representatives on the Task Force were not all ears. In fact, members seemed to take turns attending the hearing which included testimony from Bloomberg and the mayors of Jacksonville, FL, and Baltimore, MD.
Co-chairs of the Task Force are Reps. Charles Rangel (D-NY), John Conyers (D-MI), Peter King (R-NY) and Mark Kirk (R-IL). The principles didn’t attend the whole hearing and other members took turns in presiding.
In addition to the four mayors, the Task Force had invited a former gun store employee who had observed problematic retail practices; a straw gun buyer; a gunrunner and a street criminal who had shopped in the black illegal market.
Poster's note:
I can see, having read Bloomberg Admissions, why anti gun U.S. District Court Judge Jack Weinberg has blocked Mayor Bloomberg from testifying in the suit brought against him by Jay Wallace, proprietor of Adventure Outdoors, a Georgia gun dealership. I expect that, given his antics, that a trial jury might have found Bloomberg's admitted ignorance "interesting", to say the very least.