Local stores are the next issue. There are a decent amount of them around me but they all suck. Most of them cater to the mall ninja crowd and don't stock the kind of stuff I typically buy and to order it they all want MSRP which is outrageous. I understand they can't sell as cheap as online stores especially with northern virginia overhead but $200 over what those online stores sell for is getting up there. I had a store that I bought thousands of dollars of stuff from that was 1.5 hour rounds trip but they fucked me on two suppressors I bought. Each time they did the paperwork and handed it to me to take to the SO and both times they fucked up on it and I had to drive back out for them to correct it. Both times they said "we'll make it up to you", when I asked them to make it up to me was when I had three AR lowers paid for and waiting to be shipped, they charge $30 per gun plus the $2 state fee so it would have been $92 to transfer. Owner said sorry, we'll give you 5% off a new gun but thats the best I'll do. I found a home FFL that did all three for $30. Now that same shop has had a lower sitting there for 11 months that they won't transfer to him because he has a PO box on his DL despite ATF saying they can with additional ID's.
I've struck out finding a decent local shop but up until now I've had great luck online with the exception of buds and these darc ops armory assholes on gunbroker that I bought a few KAC rifles from. I've had good experiences with grab a gun, one purchase was a G23 that came out of the box with a heavy scratch in the finish but I didn't notice at the FFL. No questions asked they offered to take it back and refund all shipping and my FFL fee (despite my own negligence to inspect it) or send me a couple extra mags for the inconvenience. I took their offer for the extra mags to avoid the hassle of shipping it back and all. I'll see if they have what I want in stock and start sending my money their way.
I can relate, as local stores by me have all been horrible. MSRP plus tax is the norm at these joints. They stock junk, and prey on the naive. At one time, I didn't know any better, and got taken on multiple occasions. They do their best to dissuade you from buying good stuff, simply because they are not dealers of those particular names. It really is sad to watch some unsuspecting guy walk out of the store having spent almost 3k on a pinned and welded bushmaster AR, an eotech, and 500 rounds of ammo.