Dick's Sporting Goods Stops Selling Assault-Style Rifles
Posted on February 28, 2018
Dick's Sporting Goods has announced that it will no longer sell assault-style rifles at any of its stores. This includes all 35 Field & Stream stores. Dick's stores had stopped selling the rifles after the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. Dick's also announced the it will not sell guns to anyone under age 21. The company has never sold bump stocks.
The news follows the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where 17 people were killed. Surviving students from the school have started a movement to ban the weapons.
Dick's chairman and CEO Ed Stack appeared on Good Morning America to make the announcement. He said, "We looked at what happened and we were truly deeply moved and disturbed by those events. When we saw what the kids were going through and the grief of the parents and the kids who were killed in Parkland, we felt we needed to do something."
Dick's is also calling on elected officials to take the following actions: "Ban assault-style firearms. Raise the minimum age to purchase firearms to 21. Ban high capacity magazines and bump stocks. Require universal background checks that include relevant mental health information and previous interactions with the law. Ensure a complete universal database of those banned from buying firearms. Close the private sale and gun show loophole that waives the necessity of background checks."