Hayley Peterson, a senior correspondent for Business Insider, investigated "the availability of guns at Walmart" by attempting to purchase a firearm but was unable to buy a gun after failing a background check.
"I went to Walmart with the intention of buying a gun last week as part of an investigation into the placement, selection, marketing, and security of firearms in Walmart's stores, and to learn more about the retailer's processes governing gun sales," Peterson said in article should wrote for Business Insider Wednesday. "My journey to bring a gun home from Walmart turned out to be far more complicated than I expected."
Peterson found her attempts to purchase a firearm from Walmart frustrated by the company's lack of advertising and that they only sell guns in certain stores. She also failed a background check and decided it was not worth purchasing a gun at Walmart.
It was nearly impossible to figure out which Walmart stores sell guns (only half of them do). I called multiple stores and Walmart's main customer service line. No one could tell me where I could buy a gun.
— Hayley Peterson (@hcpeterson) August 21, 2019
Peterson failed the background check after the address on her license and her home address did not match. The clerk told her that she would have to bring in another document with the correct address to pass the background check.
"She apologized, told me the rules were strict around background checks, and asked me to come back another time to finish the purchase," Peterson recounted. "At this point, I decided to give up on buying a gun at Walmart."
The reporter's investigation follows calls from liberal groups for Walmart to stop selling firearms. Half a dozen Democratic presidential candidates including Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders also told the company they should end gun sales.















