Guns in a LA Sporting Goods Store?

You have to realize, this was the 80's. Laws, background checks(extremely rare back then) and restrictions on firearms were FAR less rigid. You just basically had to be 21 in CA, and you could walk into a gun store, a sporting good store, a gun expo, a swap-meat(flea-market), or even Trader Joes, and walk out with a gun.

And yes: You could buy a lot of automatic weapons in these places. M16's, 223's, AK-47's, etc, etc, etc... This was one of the reasons a lot of gangs in the L.A. area were so heavily armed.

Different times my friend...

If that was the reason the l.a. gangs were so heavily armed then why are they so heavily armed now?

When I lived in FL for awhile Walmart sold them. Not sure they still do. That was 4 years ago.

I really don't believe it was like that. I went to plenty of sporting goods stores around the time this film was shot and never saw firearms merchandised like that. Ammo, yes, but not firearms.

In fact, if you listen to the commentary track on the DVD, even the filmmakers chuckle at that scene. They acknowledge the influence of a similar scene from "Dawn of the Dead" and laugh at how the guns are right out in the open next to the ammunition. The shop itself was entirely created as a set as well.

I think the entire sequence should be taken with a grain of salt.