Dick’s Assault Weapons

Dick’s Sporting Goods made an announcement this morning: it was immediately ending sales of all assault rifles in its stores. They said also said that it would no longer sell high-capacity magazines and that it would not sell any gun to anyone under 21 years of age, regardless of local laws. Dick’s made the important announcement in response to the shooting in Florida a few week ago. It also carries symbolic weight, since it comes from a popular gunseller. Edward Stack, the chief executive of Dick’s made clear that the new policy was a response to the Florida shooting. He hoped that announcement would influence politicians. As part of its stance, Dick’s is calling on elected officials to bring common sense gun reform by passing laws to raise the minimum age to purchase guns to 21, to ban assault-type weapons, and to conduct deeper background checks that include mental-health information and previous interactions with law enforcement. Mr. Stack spoke of how they began looking into their records shortly after the identity of Nikolas Cruz, became known. The company soon discovered it legally sold a gun to Cruz in November, however it was not the gun used in the school shooting. Dick’s made it clear that all magazines would be removed from shelves, no semi-automatic rifles were sold, and other guns would only be sold people over the age of 21.