Dick’s Sporting Goods caved into pressure Wednesday and submitted to activist demands. Effective immediately, the company will no longer sell assault rifles in its stores. It also raised the age limit for all gun purchasers; customers must now be 21.
CEO Edward Stack capitulated after days of verbal attacks by gun control advocates. School shooter Nikolas Cruz purchased one of his weapons at Dick’s, a fact that infuriated activists.
“Following all of the rules and laws, we sold a shotgun to the Parkland shooter in November of 2017. It was not the gun, nor type of gun, he used in the shooting. But it could have been. Clearly, this indicates on so many levels that the systems in place are not effective to protect our kids and our citizens,” Stack wrote in an open letter.
“We will no longer sell assault-style rifles, also referred to as modern sporting rifles. We had already removed them from all DICK’S stores after the Sandy Hook massacre, but we will now remove them from sale at all 35 Field & Stream stores. We will no longer sell firearms to anyone under 21 years of age.”
Cruz murdered 17 people when he sprayed a Parkland, Florida high school campus with bullets. Survivors from the massacre have turned political, they’re using the spotlight to keep people focused on gun control- and it’s working.
“We hope others join us in this effort to let our kids know that their pleas are being taken seriously,” Stack said.
“Some will say these steps can’t guarantee tragedies like Parkland will never happen again. They may be correct – but if common sense reform is enacted and even one life is saved, it will have been worth it.”
Americans don’t have a taste for an assault rifle ban, but they can get behind reasonable gun control laws. Dick’s is a private company that’s allowed to make its own choices about its merchandise.
(Source: Daily Mail)