Eh, it depends.
The local selection of firearms is poor outside of the big brands, and I don't want to spend the whole day on the phone trying to track something down. If I want to buy something specific, interesting or niche, I will probably have to buy it online regardless.
From there, local prices are highly variable. Even well after the panic was over, one local gunshop had all kinds of great stuff at panic prices, several hundred dollars over MSRP. In that case, even with ~$50 shipping and transfer, I'd still save hundreds of dollars buying online. But that's an extreme case.
I think that, generally speaking, it doesn't level the playing field much. I'd probably have to order online anyways, and local prices+tax are still generally higher than online+$50 shipping&transfer+tax anyways.
The local selection of firearms is poor outside of the big brands, and I don't want to spend the whole day on the phone trying to track something down. If I want to buy something specific, interesting or niche, I will probably have to buy it online regardless.
From there, local prices are highly variable. Even well after the panic was over, one local gunshop had all kinds of great stuff at panic prices, several hundred dollars over MSRP. In that case, even with ~$50 shipping and transfer, I'd still save hundreds of dollars buying online. But that's an extreme case.
I think that, generally speaking, it doesn't level the playing field much. I'd probably have to order online anyways, and local prices+tax are still generally higher than online+$50 shipping&transfer+tax anyways.