By Susan Heavey and Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Walmart Inc., the largest U.S. retailer, has joined Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. in raising the minimum age for purchasing firearms to 21 after the massacre at a Florida high school reignited a fierce debate about gun control in America.
Walmart said it was raising the minimum age for purchasing firearms and ammunition from 18 to 21 “in light of recent events.” The retailer also removed items from its website that resemble assault rifles, including non-lethal airsoft guns and toys. Walmart stopped selling assault rifles and accessories in 2015 and now sells handguns only in Alaska.
Dick’s, a U.S. retailer of camping supplies, sporting goods and guns, will stop selling assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. The company will no longer sell guns to anyone under the age of 21, Dick’s CEO Ed Stack said in an open letter on the company’s website.
The announcements came on the same day that classes resumed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people, mostly students, were killed two weeks ago in one of the worst mass shootings in the United States.
The suspected shooter, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, had legally purchased a gun at Dick’s in November, but not the one used in the shooting, Stack said. Cruz, a former student at Stoneman Douglas, is accused of using an AR-15 assault weapon in the killing.
The massacre sparked a wave of youth-led protests. State and federal authorities are considering passing stricter gun control measures. The powerful National Rifle Association has traditionally opposed such restrictions, citing the right to bear arms enshrined in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Dick’s removed assault rifles from its Dick’s stores after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 20 first-graders and six adults, but continued to sell them through another retail brand. With Wednesday’s move, they will also be removed from the 35 Field & Stream stores, Stack said, adding the move is permanent.
Some analysts said the 2012 decision did not hurt the retailer’s sales and likely gave management the confidence to take Wednesday’s step.
Stack said he knew the company’s decision would upset some customers, but pointed to the passionate response from students and families in Parkland.
“We heard you,” he said.
Stack wrote in his letter that Dick’s respects the Second Amendment and law-abiding gun owners, but is forced to deal with a national gun epidemic that is killing too many children.
After the Parkland shooting, it was clear that there were not enough systematic safeguards in place to prevent gun sales to potential threats, Stack said, adding that Congress should tighten background checks and include relevant mental health information.
Dick’s, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, operates about 715 Dick’s-branded stores in the United States. It was the last company to take action following the Florida shooting. Other companies have severed ties with the NRA and gun manufacturers.
Amazon.com Inc, the world’s largest online retailer, has long banned the sale of firearms and explosives on its websites, and in most cases ammunition and gun accessories. The online retailer declined to comment on the matter on Wednesday.
According to eBay, the sale of high-capacity firearms and magazines containing more than ten rounds is prohibited under the company’s policies.
Since the Florida shooting, gun control advocates have called on Amazon, Roku, Apple Inc. and others to remove National Rifle Association programming from their streaming services.
Outdoor retailer Bass Pro Shops, which acquired Cabelas Inc. last year and sells guns under both brand names, did not respond to requests for comment.
Following the Florida shooting, parcel delivery service FedEx Corp declined to comment on whether it would change its shipping policies for firearms. Competitor United Parcel Service Inc said it would not change its policies.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington, Nandita Bose in New York and Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco and Eric Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Ben Klayman, Leslie Adler and Cynthia Osterman)
