Strange to today's society-places you bought guns from

I was visiting my cousin a few years ago and we went into a gas station/Hardee's and to my astonishment they had a fully stocked ammo cabinet. No guns but I still thought it was pretty cool. I actually ended up picking up a box of 9mm ammo that I didn't really need (this was before the current ammo shortage).
 
We tend to forget that guns, once upon a time, were just another tool for sale. A store, of any kind, did not have to get the government's permission to stock and sell one.
 
Hey Psyfly
I don't think we have forgotten that, just been regulated almost to the point of taboo.

And on the pawnshops...Oh yes I do love browsing pawnshops.
Back in California as a kid, I always tagged along with Pops on his 2x a month excursions.

2 years ago I was back in Cali on vacation, so I walked into our old favorite shop and within a few minutes, it was "Hey your Bob's son"
Almost like family...sniff sniff
 
I bought my first shotgun when I was fourteen at a general store in 1971. They sold gas, groceries, hardware, ranching supplies, guns, and ammo. They also fixed flat tires and did minor mechanic work. Mom actually had to sign for the gun, but it was definitely my purchase. They still sell guns along with all the other things, but we are in rural Texas.

Also, one of the best stocked ammo stores is a local supermarket not far from here. Sort of a local or regional chain store I think.
 
Woolworth's, in the (local) mall, had a freaking huge gun department!

I believe the sporting goods manager or the store manager there had to have been a gun nut of some kind.
Easily 20% of that store was devoted to guns.
They had rack after rack after rack of some surplus bolt action military rifles.
I don't recall what they were, only that they had a bunch of them and they were pretty cheap.

There were other Woolworth's stores around, but, none had anything even close to the one in the mall.
 
@ Kev. $1000. Put another $900 into it and now it looks like this.

8aru7aby.jpg
 
Back in the late 60's, my dad bought 2 WW2 Mausers (matching #'s) for $19.95 ea, & 2 Mauser barrelled actions for $7.99 ea from K-Mart. I have one of the rifles and my brother still has the barrelled action. My dad apparently sold the others somewhere aalong the way.

Edit: Oops...I see this is supposed to be handguns?
 
Aldens mail order catalog,,,

Aldens was one of those catalogs that sold anything and everything,,,
They has more than half a dozen pages of military surplus rifles,,,
And 3-4 pages of ,military surplus pistols and accessories.

Heck, you could even buy a French 20mm anti-aircraft gun through them,,,
But no ammunition for it like for the rifles and pistols.

I bought a British .303 from them for $19.99 and a buck or two postage,,,
I bought a crate (carton) of FMJ ammo that ran about 4 cents each,,,
All delivered to my door by the U. S. Postal Service.

I literally wore the ink off the pages drooling over all the different rifles.

Italian Carcano carbines for $14.99,,,
Mom and dad wouldn't let me order a pistol,,,
But I remember the revolvers going for about $20 to $25 bucks.

Those were the days my friend,,,

Aarond

.
 
It's been a few years ('80s?), but my late father-in-law used to pick up a lot of his gun stuff, including reloading supplies, at Longs Drug Store in Nevada.

He also had a Marlin(?) .22 rifle he bought from Western Auto for $50 when they were shutting down. I was at the range with him when he was out-shooting a kid with an expensive Kimber .22 with it. Obviously, the quality of the shooter is more important than the quality of the firearm when it comes to accuracy. :D
 
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Those in fact were the days!
I have an old ad for S&W 38/44 for $15.00 or some nonsense from Sears.
I'd love to be able to send a check by mail and get a brand new S&W for 15.00 (plus P&H of 0.25 cents, lol)
 
I think a lot of small town hardware stores still carry guns and ammo. Last year I bought a Marlin .22 rifle at such a "we have everything" True Value store in NW Pa. They actually have an excellent selection of ammo in fairly obscure calibers and take pride in stocking such. I love to give such stores my business when possible.
 
Last year I bought a shotgun in a Menard's parking lot.
Found out about it on a Facebook page for people wanting to buy/sell/trade firearms.
I didn't think it was unusual but my wife sure did.

There is a meat locker/butcher shop in a small town in my area that also stocks and sells all kinds of firearms and shooting accessories.
 
I almost purchased a handgun from a car trunk back in the 70's, but I didn't go to the sale and glad I didn't. I was working nights at a gas station while going to college. One of the guys had purchased some guns for a low low price and said that this sale would be going on again and gave us the location and time. Turns out it was being watched that night. The guns came from a truck robbery months eariler in another state. They were being sold from car trunks up and down the east coast...I have always had a sense called "to good to be true" and followed it.
 
Few years ago I bought a Smith & Wesson 25-5 from an undertaker in Oklahoma.

He said that, after years of questions from widows about what to do with their deceased husband's guns, he finally got his FFL and started listing them online for them.


As for parking lots, I've never actually bought a gun in a parking lot, but I've made final transfer for several guns in a parking lot.


Up until a few years ago Bon Ton or Boscov's (can't remember which, now) was still selling handguns in their stores in Central Pennsylvania. Never bought one, thought.

When I was a very little kid there used to be a chain of stores called Joe the Motorist's Friend, and their stores sold the tail end of the World War II surplus that had come in prior to 1968.

I was probably 5 or 6 (1970, 1971 or so) and I remember racks of rifles amid car parts and the like at the store in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania.
 
About 15 minutes from my house in a small town in south Alabama there is a hardware store that has a sporting goods section. I bought a pistol for my dad there about a year and a half ago. I've been going to that store since I was a little kid with my grandfather. That family owned store has a way of getting their hands on anything you want when their competitors can't.
 
My first shotgun was an H&R Topper, Jr. 20 gauge my parents bought me from Sears one Christmas. I bought my first handgun from a little country store. The owner, an FFL dealer, had about a half dozen handguns in a box he brought out when I asked about buying one.
 
KyJim
My first shotgun was an H&R Topper, Jr. 20 gauge my parents bought me from Sears one Christmas.
Click to expand...

Same EXACT scenario for me. Still have my Topper Jr., do you?

Bought my first gun at Ace Hardware in Bolivar Missouri, and I was 15 years old (well, it was a muzzleloader).
 
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