Dick’s ends sale of assault-style weapons while Walmart, which has already halted their sale, raises age to purchase all guns

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc, one of the US’s largest sports sellers, is ending the sale of all assault-style weapons in its stores in the wake of the recent massacre at a high school in Florida.

Later Wednesday, Walmart joined Dick’s in tightening company controls on gun sales, raising the minimum age at which customers could buy firearms and ammunition to 21 years. The US retail company, which stopped selling assault-style weapons in 2015, said in a statement that it was also removing items from its website resembling such weapons, including non-lethal airsoft guns and toys.

“We take seriously our obligation to be a responsible seller of firearms and go beyond Federal law by requiring customers to pass a background check before purchasing any firearm,” Walmart said, adding: “Our heritage as a company has always been in serving sportsmen and hunters, and we will continue to do so in a responsible way.”

Dick’s CEO Ed Stack, in an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, said the company would no longer sell assault-style firearms or high-capacity magazines. “We’re taking these guns out of all of our stores permanently,” Stack said. He also announced that Dick’s would impose a ban on sales of guns to those under age 21.



Pennsylvania-based Dick’s is one of the nation’s largest gun sellers and sells weapons through its Dick’s Sporting Goods and Field & Stream stores.

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Stack said the decision was inspired in part by the revelation that the 19-year-old Parkland high school shooter purchased a weapon at a Dick’s store. The firearm – a shotgun – was not used in the shooting.

“We did everything by the book. We did everything that the law required, and still he was able to buy a gun. And when we looked at that, we said the systems that are in place across the board just aren’t effective enough to keep us from selling a gun like that,” Stack said. “And so we’ve decided we’re not going to sell the assault-type rifles any longer.”

Stack said there were not enough systematic protections to prevent gun sales to people who are potential threats, and urged Congress to act comprehensively not only on background checks but also on mental health and other possible solutions.

Stack said Dick’s was prepared for any potential backlash, but would not change its policies on gun sales.

“We’re staunch supporters of the second amendment. I’m a gun owner myself,” Stack said on Wednesday. “We’ve just decided that based on what’s happened and with these guns, we don’t want to be part of this story.”

Walmart stopped selling AR-15 guns and other semi-automatic weapons in 2015. It does not sell bump stocks, the accessory attached to semi-automatic guns that makes it easier to fire rounds faster. It also does not sell large-capacity magazines.

The decisions by Dick’s and Walmart come after a number of corporations including Chubb, Best Western, Delta and Hertz have cut ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA) amid a consumer backlash against their ties following the shooting.

Gun companies are also facing calls from investors to improve weapon safety and impose their own limits on gun purchases.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report