Top CEO Goes All-In On Gun Control... Major Retailer Refuses Sales Of AR-15s
If you are looking to purchase an AR-15 don’t do so in the aisles of Dick’s Sporting Goods or its subsidiary Field & Stream. The sporting retail giant announced Wednesday that it would no longer be selling the fifteenth model of the Armalite rifle, or others like it, due to the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 14 students and three teachers dead.
In a statement, the company revealed that it was “deeply disturbed” by the events that unfolded inside of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14.
“We have tremendous respect and admiration for the students organizing and making their voices heard regarding gun violence in schools and elsewhere in our country,” the statement continued. “We have heard you. The nation has heard you.”
Dick’s Sporting Goods further revealed that the shooter had actually purchased a firearm from one of its stores. However, the sporting goods retailer noted that the firearm purchased at one of its locations was not one used in the shooting.
The retailer concluded its statement, adding: “Clearly this indicates on so many levels that the systems in place are not effective to protect our kids and our citizens.”
Then, in the following tweet, the company announced it would no longer sell “assault-style rifles” at any of its Field & Stream locations.
As noted in its statement, the company banned the sale of “assault-style weapons” in all Dick’s Sporting Goods stores after the Sandy Hook Massacre in 2012.
However, the company later reversed the decision, allowing Field & Stream, an outdoors and hunting themed sporting goods chain owned by Dick’s, to continue selling the popular firearm.
After the announcement, the company followed up with a tweet calling on elected officials to “enact common sense gun reform” by banning “assault-style firearms” and banning “high capacity magazines and bump stocks.”
CEO and chairman Edward Stack appeared on “Good Morning America” Wednesday to discuss the company’s freshly implemented policy.
“To think about the loss and the grief that those kids and those parents had, we said, ‘We need to do something,'” Stack stated on the morning show. “And we’re taking these guns out of all of our stores permanently.”
When asked to explain the rationale behind the recent change, Stack responded, assuring viewers that his company “did everything by the book.”
“We did everything that the law required and still he was able to buy a gun,” he continued. “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 someone a gun like that.’”
And when questioned on whether the company would reverse the decision like it did after the Sandy Hook shooting, Stack revealed that the rule wouldn’t budge.
“Never,” he said. “We’re staunch supporters of the Second Amendment. I’m a gun owner myself. We’ve just decided that based on what’s happened with these guns, we don’t want to be a part of this story and we’ve eliminated these guns permanently.”
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