In the last several weeks there has been a lot of talk about Wal-Mart and rampant speculation about the giant retailer discontinuing or continuing to sell AR15s and other tactical type guns.

Steve and I talked about the situation and felt we needed to find out one way or another what was going to happen and why. My task was to get a statement from Wal-Mart corporate in Bentonville, Arkansas and settle the question one way or the other for the readers of TFB.

A week and a half ago I contacted Wal-Mart with an official request for information on the company’s position on selling AR15s now and in the future. This afternoon I got a call from Wal-Mart’s corporate headquarters with answers to the questions I posed. These are the answers I was given.

Will Wal-Mart continue to sell AR15s in any of the retail stores? No, Wal-Mart has discontinued selling AR15s in any of our stores. Are there any other guns that will no longer be sold at Wal-Mart? Yes, we have also discontinued sales of shotguns with 18 1/2 inch barrels as well as .22 rifles that look like AR15s. There will be no MSR guns of any type sold in any Wal-Mart stores. It sounds like Wal-Mart will stop selling any product that could be labeled tactical or defense related would that be true? Yes that’s true we will not be selling accessories for the AR15 and other guns. We are getting back to selling only hunting and sporting guns and accessories. Would this include the Blackhawk brand of add ons for AR15s and various shotgun add ons? Pretty much any product related to tactical guns and gear will be or has been discontinued. I guess my next question would be why? Is it the current political climate? No not at all. Wal-Mart only sells guns in one third of our stores and sales of this type of gun and accessories have dropped off a great deal. It’s a business decision and a decision made by our customers request we sell more traditional guns and accessories. In order to expand our offerings of traditional guns we had to make more space and discontinue guns that were not selling. This is really about providing our customers with what they want to purchase. So I guess this also ties into the run on AR15s a while back and the subsequent reduced sales. Will this be a permanent decision or at some point could Wal-Mart decide to start selling AR15s again? I see this as a permanent decision at this point. Again this was a financial decision due to slow sales and what our customers have let us know they prefer to see at Wal-Mart which is a wider selection of traditional rifles and shotguns. Sir I thank you for your time and answering our readers questions. I’m sure our readers will appreciate it. You’re welcome thank you for contacting us.

That pretty much sums up the situation with Wal-Mart for now and apparently in the future. If you happen to feel abandoned because you purchase these now discontinued products from Wal-Mart we understand your frustration.

It wasn’t the news I hoped to bring you but it’s done and won’t be changing. One thing I didn’t see coming was Wal-Mart discontinuing anything and everything MSR/tactical related. If you live in an area with a Wal-Mart that does sell guns you better get them while you can. I understand there are some pretty hefty discounts.