Walmart is the largest firearms dealer in US; has roughly one-a-week firearms incidents

[Dog Gone at Penigma]

199. Do YOU think this guy, whether a real cop or a rent a cop, should be shooting shoplifters?

One of the elements that I have offered here for debate -- real debate, not the knee-jerk response -- is that WalMart has more people armed with guns. SOME of them are law abiding legally carrying; but some of those are among the stats for bad gun incidents, like accidental firings which destroy men's room toilets or drop them, causing them to go off, injuring other shoppers. SOME are not lawful owners or carriers.

The lax sales policies -- which have been documented repeatedly over decades -- and the deliberate sales policy to sell as many guns as possible to enhance their profits, regardless of safety (and legality) creates a uniquely risky situation at WalMart for shoppers and for sales and other personnel - including security guards.

I'm sure you would agree that we can point to examples of cops making some outrageously bad decisions, on occasion with or without firearms involved, although they tend to be and should be better than less-trained and less-experienced rent-a-cops?

BECAUSE Walmart has more incidents, more armed shoppers, more people illegally carrying than other retailers and because it attracts more people hoping to be able to purchase either products not sold elsewhere in the area (like the Indiana example, where specific weapons were not allowed) from lax sales people, or to shop lift those items, I would argue that this off-duty cop expected and anticipated a greater level of danger in apprehending a shoplifter, and therefore was more likely to use excessive force - in this case SHOOTING.

While I'm sure you will object to this uncomfortable fact, it is also true that there are lawful gun carriers who engage in acts of road-rage style gun intimidation outside their vehicles as well as inside them, when confronted by something that upsets them.

A perfect example was this guy, who resorted to his gun, not AT a Walmart, but while driving from one WalMart to another, for example - this could as easily have occurred in a WalMart parking lot because of who WalMart intentionally attracts to their stores.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/27/tennessee-man-shoots-black-friday-shoppers-car/1730475/

9:01PM EST November 27. 2012 - A Tennessee man rushing to Walmart before dawn on Black Friday was arrested for allegedly shooting at another motorist because she "wouldn't get out of my way."

According to the arrest report, Poe said he had waited in line for five hours at the Clinton Walmart to buy his grandson a stereo that was on sale, but the store sold out before he could get one. Just before 5 a.m., he decided to race to another Walmart.

Sgt. Michael Butcher, of the nearby Union County Sheriff's Department, said he saw the suspect swerving behind his wife's vehicle before tailgating it, driving beside and then firing a shot, apparently from a 40-caliber semiautomatic pistol.

Yes, this woman in the suspected shop lifting incident drove over the off-duty officer's foot, but it could easily be argued that was accidental, and as much the fault of the cop as the driver, and therefore did NOT warrant his shooting her or the car. People who work at WalMarts are well aware of their problems with guns, and have reasonable expectations and fear as a result -- and in this case that resulted in an employee having a dangerous gun incident.