# In the wake of Columbine; Are K-Mart still selling those bullets? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 23, 2003, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060 "2003-10-23T06:17:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Turbo\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Turbo\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turbo_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060/21 "2003-10-24T03:20:59Z")
**DougC** cross the river man. Our Kmart still sells shotguns, some rifles and a bunch of ammo. Don’t remember offhand if they sell evil handgun ammo though. Great post BTW… took many words right out of my mouth. And that isn’t easy:) ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060/22 "2003-10-24T03:54:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Turbo Dog \* > **DougC Our Kmart still sells shotguns, some rifles and a bunch of ammo. Don’t remember offhand if they sell evil handgun ammo though** Why is handgun ammo “evil”??? ---
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060/23 "2003-10-24T09:03:12Z")
I think it’s cool that someone else out there respects the difference between “Cartridges,” and “Bullets;” and “Clips” and “Magazines.” I have done many pushups for misusing these terms, and I wish other people would adopt the proper nomenclature. ---
**Author:** ![sanguine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@sanguine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sanguine)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060/24 "2003-10-24T10:45:43Z")
Wow, talk about cultures crashing. This is like being portugese and discussing snow with an eskimo. Here in Sweden a gun is a gun, which is really any kind of firearm, and should you own one you’ll at best be regarded as a criminal and at worst a complete lunatic (This isn’t my personal opinion, just the widespread one. Whatever floats your boat and all that). I think I’ve seen ONE gun/ammo shop in my entire life. So this whole bullets/cartridges discussion is, although very interesting, something completely foreign to me. Do carry on though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sanguine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@sanguine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sanguine)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060/25 "2003-10-24T10:56:02Z")
That would probably be “clashing”, not crashing. Dang. ---
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060/26 "2003-10-24T12:21:15Z")
As a Canadian, I always figured cartridges were what I replaced in my printer, magazines were what the 7-11 guy told me I wasn’t allowed to read since it wasn’t a library, clips were what my girlfriend used to hold her hair back, guns were things that people kill people with, and bullets were the things that you replace in guns, a la printer cartridges. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060/27 "2003-10-24T12:29:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CurtC \* > I think Crafter\_Man was making the point that the _bullet_ is the part that actually is the projectile, while the _cartridge_ is the bullet sitting at the end of a metal case with a charge of gunpowder in it. K-mart prolly never sold just the bullets by themselves, but sold the whole ready-to-use cartridges. Does anyone buy separate bullets? I know reloaders who make their own shotgun shells. So if I understand this right, then saying that K-Mart doesn’t sell bullets is kind of like saying they don’t sell soda. They sell _bottles of soda_. Something like that? ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060/28 "2003-10-24T13:23:02Z")
No, the bottle is just a container. It would be equivalent to saying that Kmart doesn’s sell cloth, they sell _clothes_. Or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060/29 "2003-10-25T21:43:35Z")
[http://www.hardylaw.net/Truth\_About\_Bowling.html](http://www.hardylaw.net/Truth_About_Bowling.html) Why is this crap being shown in school? ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060/30 "2003-10-25T23:03:41Z")
Pedantics aside, I actually checked one of our local K-marts on this point. At one point in my life, I can remember buying .44 Mag for my dad at a K-mart… that particular store has since closed down, but I did check at another one in the same city after seeing Moore’s film and noticed that other than .22 LR, they did not seem to carry calibers that would normally be used in handguns. Of course, as has been noted, there’s a bit of overlap… like the .44 Mag, which of course is chambered in both rifles and pistols. ---
**Author:** ![viking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@viking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/viking)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060/31 "2003-10-25T23:05:28Z")
Quick anatomy of a cartridge, for those who are actually interested: There’s basically four parts to live ammo: -Case: this is the (reusable) brass container. -Primer: this is an explosive that goes off when crushed. It’s small and fits into a little hole at the bottom of the case. when you fire the gun, a firing pin slides into it and crushes it. -Gun powder: technically a flammable, rather than an explosive. It is ignited by the primer and burns very fast when confined, generating gas that propels the bullet. -Bullet: the piece that actually flies out the end of the gun. So yeah, CurtC’s analogy about cloth vs. clothes is closer than the soda/ bottles of soda one. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060/32 "2003-10-25T23:14:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blown & Injected \* > \*\*[http://www.hardylaw.net/Truth\_About\_Bowling.html](http://www.hardylaw.net/Truth_About_Bowling.html) > > Why is this crap being shown in school? \*\* Apologize for the IMHO response, but the reason is obvious: The teacher is very likely a gun bigot, and he or she wished to use their position of influence to impose their anti-freedom propaganda on impressionable students. Happens all the time. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![robo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@robo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robo99)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060/33 "2003-10-26T00:04:30Z")
I dunno, I consider myself a liberal I suppose but I thought that Bowling for Columbine was not a very honest movie. I even considered that the movie was made by conservatives to discredit liberals - much like how the Socialist party is actually run by the Republican party.😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-wake-of-columbine-are-k-mart-still-selling-those-bullets/209060.md?page=1)