Dick's Sporting Goods: NJ gun dealers take cover as Dick's stops selling assault-style weapons

Dick's Sporting Goods will not sell firearms to anyone under 21 and the company is pulling assault-style weapons off its racks, the company announced Wednesday.

The decision was announced amid the growing national clamor for stricter gun control after 17 students were killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Wednesday night Walmart also announced that it is raising the age to purchase firearms and ammunition to 21.

Local gun dealers reacted with weary skepticism at the move.

Many mom-and-pop stores see Dick's move as jumping on the corporate bandwagon that began rolling after three car rental companies, Enterprise, Avis and Hertz severed their branding agreements with the National Rifle Association.

"They're a huge company with many stores, and guns are just a small part of their business," said Paul Sconcifuro, a manager at Ottomanelli's Sporting Arms in Woodland Park. "They sell sneakers, clothing, and gym equipment. But they could lose a lot of business."

Lisa Caso, the owner of Gun-A-Rama in Jersey City, doubts that any small gun shops in New Jersey are going to follow Dick's lead. There are already plenty of restrictions on how you can modify a semi-automatic rifle in New Jersey — rifles with folding stocks, muzzle flash suppressors and bayonet lugs are already illegal — and taking them all off the shelves won't solve anything, she said.

"It comes down to the mental health of the individual. There were like 40 phone calls to police and the FBI about this kid" Caso said, referring to Nikolas Cruz, the alleged shooter in Parkland. "And what did they do with those phone calls? Nothing."

The gun used in the Parkland shooting, an AR-15, is one of many models of assault weapon that are already banned in New Jersey. The state Legislature is now considering a number of measures to enact even tighter controls, including reducing the magazine capacity from 15 rounds to 10.

Cruz was 19 years old when he allegedly pulled the trigger. He was reportedly a troubled teenager who'd had lots of run-ins with the police, but he was still able to purchase a hunting rifle at the Dick's outlet near his home. And although he didn't use that gun in the massacre at Marjory Stoneham Douglas High School, it was the motivating factor behind the company's decision to change its gun policies.

Dick's CEO, Ed Stack, announced the decision on ABC's "Good Morning America" and said Cruz had purchased the rifle from the retailer last November.

"We did everything by the book. We did everything that the law required, and still he was able to buy a gun," Stack said. "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."

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The retailer will also end sales of high-capacity magazines and sales of guns to people under 21 years old.

Assault-style weapon sales ended at Dick's-branded stores after the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting in 2012. But the company was still selling them at its 35 Field & Stream locations, which specialize in hunting and outdoors products.

"I think it's a feel-good move, more of a way of we're one of the crowd," said Charles Kaplan, who runs The Yankee Armorer in Mahwah, a shop that sells rare guns to collectors. "They want to look like the good guys."

Although Dick's decision drew praise from gun-control proponents, it is unlikely to make a big impact on gun sales. Sales of guns and ammunition are "highly fragmented and characterized by a large number of small players," according to market-research firm IBISWorld.

The four largest gun sellers control only 5 percent of the market. The U.S. had about 6,550 gun shops as of November 2016. And although online sales have increased in popularity, federal regulations requiring local dealers to fulfill gun purchases have empowered mom-and-pop shops.

In New Jersey, Dick's decision to limit the purchase age to 21 would limit the sale of shotguns, given that state law currently allows a person to buy one at the age of 18, following a background check. The legal age to buy a handgun in New Jersey is 21.

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Local gun dealers who were interviewed on Wednesday all said there needs to be more uniformity in the country's gun laws, instead of 50 states each having their own set of rules. The idea of raising the purchase age to 21 made sense to some, but it also conflicts with the idea of military service.

"Say I'm 19 or 20 years old and I'm in the military," said James Hayden, who owns Jim's Gun Shop in Harrington Park. "I can learn to shoot in the military but I can't buy a hunting rifle?"

USA Today staff writer Nathan Bomey contributed to this report.