That assertion seems to be a disconnect of language. But - Selling firearms in Wal-Mart is bad enough, but it does tend to be more rural Wal-Marts than suburban (and not at all urban).
Said firearms are under lock and key in the same way they would be at gun stores. There are many gun shops in the same areas where Wal-Mart sells firearms. At least - where I live, which is a blue state. All bets are off for Texas.
We have everything locked up too just as you describe. We just have a lot of places to buy them, it's not like Wal-Mart here has a bin in the middle of the isle full of AR's next to the bin of Pokemon stuffies. Only pellet and BB guns are found on the shelf.
I don't know why I'm being pedantic, guns here are insane for many reasons but not because of this one. What bothers me is once you do buy it, you can just carry it anywhere you want now. Like random guys in MAGA hats holding what looks like a machine gun on a street corner is no longer an unusual sighting. It's weird, when I was a kid, my dad had rifles mounted to his truck rear window and it was common. Then, there was what seemed like a zero tolerance decade or two when guns were only on the news (gang violence) or in a gun safe (for hunting only). Then the pendulum swung to the wacky side of guns everywhere.
My kids school recently hosted a "gun recycling day" recently, with good intentions I think, but obviously once it occurred the parents were riled up with "you seriously invited people to bring their guns to the school! Where are the guns? Did they get moved off campus? etc" It's technically a private school and the event was hosted by the affiliated church, but still, pretty tone deaf to have that kind of event on the same property as a couple hundred elementary students
I live on the edge of the suburbs in a Blue state, at least where I live (and further on towards the city) open carry gets you the attention you're looking for from the police. People don't tend to do it.
I am not sure about further out. I know people in Michigan who keep a piece in their glovebox. I've seen in the movies what you talk about - the gun rack in the truck cabin. None of my rural relatives ever did that, not even in Michigan which is pretty gun-friendly away from cities.
> I don't know why I'm being pedantic, guns here are insane for many reasons but not because of this one.
Yeah, I mean. In Illinois at least, the guns get into the hands of the bad guys overwhelmingly because of straw buyers. Not because of "the gun show loophole". A small number of guns are obtained through theft. Mostly it's straw buyers, at least when it comes to guns used in crimes.
My family is filled with outdoorsy people (myself included), and although the numbers don't paint a picture of legal CCR owners being problematic, the wide array of people I've known who do carry makes me wonder how the hell it isn't a bigger problem. All manner of unhinged weirdos, some of whom pretty openly muse about the opportunity to shoot the kind of person they don't like. (Lots of normal people too - but plenty of weirdos)
Texas only got open carry a little while ago. Their whole reputation with guns is a hyperbolic fantasy, many northern and blue states have always had less restrictive firearm laws.
Walmart isn’t a supermarket, it’s a hypermarket, which isn’t really the same thing. This isn’t specifically a US distinction: it would also not be called a “supermarché” in France for example.
Most of them do have a (relatively small) grocery section, but are primarily dedicated to non-consumables like clothes, children’s toys, furniture, electronics, etc.
Whereas a typical supermarket (e.g. Safeway, Fry’s, Albertsons, Whole Foods etc.) might have a relatively small section of all of the above, but are primarily dedicated to food.
Exactly. His talking point seems to be, "In America you can go to a Tesco and buy a gun!" which is not remotely true. Replace with whatever stores you like in Europe (Carrefour, Aldi, whatever).
Calling Wal-Mart a supermarket is a giant stretch. As TFA says, some Wal-marts have groceries, and some have guns, and there is some small overlap between the two, but Wal-Mart is not what anyone would call a "Supermarket" - they are more an "Everything Store" where the "Everything" can vary by location which sometimes includes guns and groceries, but always includes TV's and frozen food and fishing supplies and clothing and shoes and candy and shampoo and razors and so on...
Most people are not buying groceries there, they go to actual supermarkets - near me Jewel-Osco, Mariano's, Aldi, Whole Foods, Kroger - none of which sell guns. Grocery stores do not sell guns by any common definition of the term "grocery store". You've got a corner case off of which your talking point is built. Corner cases do not make good foundations of arguments.
My advice: Come to the US and do some grocery shopping before making more such arguments.
I specifically said supermarkets, not grocery stores. I acknowledge they're not the same thing, but Walmart absolutely is a supermarket.
And I'll pass on visiting the US why y'all have armed police running around tackling people & disappearing them, and are demanding social media passwords only to refuse entry if you've been critical of Dear Leader. Sort your shit out, then maybe.
I agree with your first statement, but I'd point it the other way around. I often call big supermarkets grocery stores even when I shouldn't. And I never use "superstore" or "box store".
Language is clearly missing something if we don’t have a different word for Walmart, Target, etc. versus Albertsons, Fry’s, etc. I think if the latter set are grocery stores, then the former are clearly something else.
As I said, even though I'm reluctantly willing to entertain this, it's an incredibly niche talking point. Except for this one corner case which is only kinda-sorta true, people cannot buy guns at grocery stores. That's nonsense, and your talking point is nonsense.
Sure, it's just really funny to worry about people having to wear helmets ona bicycle when you have so many mass shootings per year it's been normalized to the degree that they don't even make the news anymore.
Apparently, just this year, a total of 366 people have been killed and 1,668 people have been wounded in 374 shootings, as of October 31, 2025.
Yeah! Like the NRA says, "From my cold dead hands!"
And like the NRA also says, "Unless you're attending an NRA convention, in which case please leave your firearms at home or use one of our provided lockers, because gun-free zones are a communist hellscape except here, and please pass through this metal detector too."
And believe it or not, a good proportion of us are not happy about that either.
Not really...
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAmericans/comments/184oag8/can_y...
That assertion seems to be a disconnect of language. But - Selling firearms in Wal-Mart is bad enough, but it does tend to be more rural Wal-Marts than suburban (and not at all urban).
Said firearms are under lock and key in the same way they would be at gun stores. There are many gun shops in the same areas where Wal-Mart sells firearms. At least - where I live, which is a blue state. All bets are off for Texas.
> All bets are off for Texas.
We have everything locked up too just as you describe. We just have a lot of places to buy them, it's not like Wal-Mart here has a bin in the middle of the isle full of AR's next to the bin of Pokemon stuffies. Only pellet and BB guns are found on the shelf.
I don't know why I'm being pedantic, guns here are insane for many reasons but not because of this one. What bothers me is once you do buy it, you can just carry it anywhere you want now. Like random guys in MAGA hats holding what looks like a machine gun on a street corner is no longer an unusual sighting. It's weird, when I was a kid, my dad had rifles mounted to his truck rear window and it was common. Then, there was what seemed like a zero tolerance decade or two when guns were only on the news (gang violence) or in a gun safe (for hunting only). Then the pendulum swung to the wacky side of guns everywhere.
My kids school recently hosted a "gun recycling day" recently, with good intentions I think, but obviously once it occurred the parents were riled up with "you seriously invited people to bring their guns to the school! Where are the guns? Did they get moved off campus? etc" It's technically a private school and the event was hosted by the affiliated church, but still, pretty tone deaf to have that kind of event on the same property as a couple hundred elementary students
I live on the edge of the suburbs in a Blue state, at least where I live (and further on towards the city) open carry gets you the attention you're looking for from the police. People don't tend to do it.
I am not sure about further out. I know people in Michigan who keep a piece in their glovebox. I've seen in the movies what you talk about - the gun rack in the truck cabin. None of my rural relatives ever did that, not even in Michigan which is pretty gun-friendly away from cities.
> I don't know why I'm being pedantic, guns here are insane for many reasons but not because of this one.
Yeah, I mean. In Illinois at least, the guns get into the hands of the bad guys overwhelmingly because of straw buyers. Not because of "the gun show loophole". A small number of guns are obtained through theft. Mostly it's straw buyers, at least when it comes to guns used in crimes.
My family is filled with outdoorsy people (myself included), and although the numbers don't paint a picture of legal CCR owners being problematic, the wide array of people I've known who do carry makes me wonder how the hell it isn't a bigger problem. All manner of unhinged weirdos, some of whom pretty openly muse about the opportunity to shoot the kind of person they don't like. (Lots of normal people too - but plenty of weirdos)
Texas only got open carry a little while ago. Their whole reputation with guns is a hyperbolic fantasy, many northern and blue states have always had less restrictive firearm laws.
Right, so they sell guns at a super market? Walmart is a super market and like you say, they sell guns.
How is this "not really"?
Walmart isn’t a supermarket, it’s a hypermarket, which isn’t really the same thing. This isn’t specifically a US distinction: it would also not be called a “supermarché” in France for example.
Most of them do have a (relatively small) grocery section, but are primarily dedicated to non-consumables like clothes, children’s toys, furniture, electronics, etc.
Whereas a typical supermarket (e.g. Safeway, Fry’s, Albertsons, Whole Foods etc.) might have a relatively small section of all of the above, but are primarily dedicated to food.
Exactly. His talking point seems to be, "In America you can go to a Tesco and buy a gun!" which is not remotely true. Replace with whatever stores you like in Europe (Carrefour, Aldi, whatever).
Never mentioned Tesco, never mentioned grocery stores. That's just you putting words in my mouth.
“Grocery store” and “supermarket” mean the same thing in most contexts in colloquial American English. What distinction are you drawing between them?
Calling Wal-Mart a supermarket is a giant stretch. As TFA says, some Wal-marts have groceries, and some have guns, and there is some small overlap between the two, but Wal-Mart is not what anyone would call a "Supermarket" - they are more an "Everything Store" where the "Everything" can vary by location which sometimes includes guns and groceries, but always includes TV's and frozen food and fishing supplies and clothing and shoes and candy and shampoo and razors and so on...
Most people are not buying groceries there, they go to actual supermarkets - near me Jewel-Osco, Mariano's, Aldi, Whole Foods, Kroger - none of which sell guns. Grocery stores do not sell guns by any common definition of the term "grocery store". You've got a corner case off of which your talking point is built. Corner cases do not make good foundations of arguments.
My advice: Come to the US and do some grocery shopping before making more such arguments.
I specifically said supermarkets, not grocery stores. I acknowledge they're not the same thing, but Walmart absolutely is a supermarket.
And I'll pass on visiting the US why y'all have armed police running around tackling people & disappearing them, and are demanding social media passwords only to refuse entry if you've been critical of Dear Leader. Sort your shit out, then maybe.
Supermarket and grocery store are basically synonyms in the US.
Walmart would be called a superstore or box store.
I agree with your first statement, but I'd point it the other way around. I often call big supermarkets grocery stores even when I shouldn't. And I never use "superstore" or "box store".
I'm fine calling walmart a supermarket.
Language is clearly missing something if we don’t have a different word for Walmart, Target, etc. versus Albertsons, Fry’s, etc. I think if the latter set are grocery stores, then the former are clearly something else.
> Walmart absolutely is a supermarket
As I said, even though I'm reluctantly willing to entertain this, it's an incredibly niche talking point. Except for this one corner case which is only kinda-sorta true, people cannot buy guns at grocery stores. That's nonsense, and your talking point is nonsense.
I never said grocery stores and you already agreed that what I did say is correct: You can buy guns at the supermarket in America.
That’s completely unrelated to whether these bikes are safe. HN articles are not part of some zero-sum competition between the US and Europe.
Sure, it's just really funny to worry about people having to wear helmets ona bicycle when you have so many mass shootings per year it's been normalized to the degree that they don't even make the news anymore.
Apparently, just this year, a total of 366 people have been killed and 1,668 people have been wounded in 374 shootings, as of October 31, 2025.
Actually, I don’t find it funny at all.
So what? Not everyone wants to live in a communist hellscape where everything is regulated to death.
Yeah! Like the NRA says, "From my cold dead hands!"
And like the NRA also says, "Unless you're attending an NRA convention, in which case please leave your firearms at home or use one of our provided lockers, because gun-free zones are a communist hellscape except here, and please pass through this metal detector too."
Yeah! We want V8s and powder, we want diesel fumes and school shootings in our land of the freee just as God intended it to be.
Most actual communists support civilian gun ownership, Karl Marx was himself a big fan of a well armed working class.
It is authoritarians that want gun control the most because they want a monopoly on force through the military and police.