In the world that existed before the internet and big box stores, especially in more rural areas, Sears, Montgomery Wards, and J. C. Penney were by far the most familiar retail outlets for almost everything. Sears is the only one which retains any of the character it had back then. MW ceased to exist, and J. C. Penny is now mainly soft goods. All three sold guns and ammunition, but they were not big items for J. C. Penny which had a much more limited selection, and maybe not in all stores. When I was a kid, Sears and MW stores both had fairly large sporting goods departments, with sizable offerings of rifles and shotguns, mainly their house brands. I do not remember handguns being sold, at least in the stores I knew. I do remember MW was selling military surplus guns back in the 1950s, but I don't think Sears did. Sears got out of the gun business in the later 1960s, I think mainly because of the JFK assassination. Until recently I had a somewhat plain but very nice Sears 12 gauge O/U shotgun made by Antonio Zoli, which I got in a trade. As good as it was, I never got very attached to it, probably because I also had (and still have) an even nicer Browning Citori and used it the most.
