Source: Dick's Sporting Goods; Photo: Getty Images
Dick’s Sporting Goods has announced that it will no longer sell the AR-15 rifle and similar firearms after the recent murder of 17 students and teachers at a high school in Parkland, FL. Teens who survived the attack have led a public campaign calling on state and federal lawmakers to enact legislation that may prevent similar mass shootings from happening in the future.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims and their loved ones. But thoughts and prayers are not enough,” said Edward Stack, Dick’s chairman and CEO, in a statement. “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. We have heard you. The nation has heard you.”
The retailer, which stopped selling the same class of rifles in its Dick’s stores after the Sandy Hook Elementary School attack in 2012 that took the lives of 20 small children and six teachers, has stocked them in its 35 Field & Stream stores. While Dick’s had announced a suspension of sales following Sandy Hook, Mr. Stack, whose father founded the company, said the latest decision is permanent.
In an interview on Good Morning America, Mr. Stack said the company researched its records to see if it had sold the weapon in the Parkland murders. While it did not, the internal investigation found that it had sold a gun to the accused in 2017.
"We did everything by the book,” Mr. Stack. “We did everything that the law required and still he was able to buy a gun. 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.’"
Dick’s also announced that it is raising the minimum age to purchase firearms and ammunition in its stores from 18 to 21. It also said it will no longer sell high-capacity magazines.
Mr. Stack, who is a gun owner and a longtime donor to the Republican party, called on Congress to pass legislation that would:
- Ban the sale of “assault-style firearms” along with bump stocks and high-capacity magazines;
- Raise the age to purchase guns to 21 and;
- Require universal background checks including “relevant mental health information and previous interactions with the law.”