Dick’s Sporting Goods in Stroudsburg, Pa. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

Dick’s Sportings Goods sales continued to decline last quarter in the wake of their new restrictions on gun purchases.

Dick’s sales fell 3.9 percent from August to November, due largely to poor performance in their technology and hunting departments, company executives explained in a conference call with analysts on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sales have declined for the last five consecutive quarters.


Following the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla. in February, Dick’s announced it would no longer sell assault-style weapons and would stop selling guns and ammunition to customers under the age of 21, prompting backlash and legal challenges from gun rights activists. Walmart made similar policy changes but its executives say they have not experienced the same slow-down in sales.

Company executives said that declining gun sales have pulled down the broader outdoor sector as hunters are no longer coming to their stores in high numbers. They also cited Republican control of the White House in explaining the drop off.

“In addition to the strategic decisions we made regarding firearms earlier this year, the broader industry has decelerated and remains weak as evidenced by most recent national background check data,” Lee Belitsky, Chief Financial Officer, said on the call.

A number of prominent gun manufacturers announced in May that they would no longer sell their products to Dick’s after it was revealed that the company hired Washington, D.C. lobbyists to advocate stricter gun control regulations.

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